Well Lori I believe this is something we handle on a daily basis. As I look at my aging collie boy Jake, I see his kind gentle soul. As he ages he gets sweeter. When he was but 1 year old that of course was not the case. He too was a rescue and was but 40lbs and so scared and nervous. He slept across my stomach the first night we had him. As I watch his face gray and his walk become slower my heart hurts to think of what will come one day sooner than I would like. I have lost many dogs to old age or illness and the pain becomes fresh again when you lose another. Jessie is still fresh in your heart. It takes a long time to not dwell on the fear of losing another. I lost Holly in December 2010 and I still have days where I can't think of anything else except dear Jake or Maisie's passing away. What will I do? I know exactly what I will do - pass the love on to another loving soul. Just as you will.

Gloria, this is so sweet and so thoughtful. Love the comment.

It is so hard losing beloved pets. I have had many throughout the years and every time one passes on I too think I can't do this again. I am reminded of something one of my vets told me when I had to put one of my beloved cats to sleep about 10 years ago. He said when we lose a pet it is the price we pay for a priceless experience, and it is so true. I am also faced with 3 pet's over the age of 10 and 2 younger then 10 and I think of it everyday how hard it will be to lose each and every one of them. I have mourned the loss of all of my pets with almost the same sadness as losing my parents. Some people don't and won't understand that but that is their loss. These precious animals rely on us for everything but in return we get sweetness, love and pure joy. It is a priceless experience and I pity those that chose not to have animals in their lives.

Cricket, I love what your vet said. I just dread the day....it was worse for me losing Jessie Mae than it was for losing my parents. Thanks for your comment.

I have an 8 year old beagle that we have had for five years. We almost lost her once. She came to us from a beagle rescue at the age of 3. We think she was in a mill at one time. When the rescue's vet spayed her, he left some of the uterus inside, which got infected. Within one week, our new girl was on the brink of death. The only way to get her the $5000 operation she needed to save her life (which should have not been needed if not for a sloppy spay) was to surrender her back to the rescue. Which we tearfully did to save her life. The kind woman who fostered her for the rescue know all about what happened, and kept us informed of her recovery, and helped me lobby the rescue to return her to us, which after 3 months they did. She is our beagle princess, and she knows it. But her face fur is getting white now, and the rabbits are safer in the back yard as she ages and slows a little bit. Loving a dog is like a marriage - till death do us part. It's just a shorter time-frame, which we all know deep down when we have that joy of the first day home with our new dog. This all will someday end. That's why you love them like they love you - with everything you can. Take times for the little things with them, and when they do pass on, be there for them, and love the next one twice as much.

I grieved when our girls aged 14 and 13, died 2 weeks apart. Our 13 year old from a broken heart after losing her partner. They were our first dogs as a married couple in our new home. My husband and son insisted we go to the humane society and I resisted. I finally relented and we came home with a young boy who was with us for 12 years. I was so lost when he passed that I started looking for another dog that same week. Two weeks later we adopted a 3 year old male who has been with us for 5 years now. There are memories and photographs of all of them around our house and we honor their birthdays and death days every year. Our first young boys collar still hangs on the door knob where I put it when we came home after having to put him down.

The best way to move on is to remember there is another life out their looking for a loving home, who needs to be rescued.

We had to put our dog Daisy down last year. She was a 15-year-old yellow lab mix and my husband's first dog. We got a puppy a month later, but I think we should have waited. We keep comapring our new dog to Miss Daisy. In our minds she was the perfect dog. But we know Dottie, our new dog, is still in the naughty pup phase and we need to give her time to mellow. I'm sure years from now we'll see Dottie in the same light.

Jill, wow. Getting one so quickly is remarkable. I wasn't even out of the fog in the first month. Good for you.I hope you rescued her-or vice versa? Our oldest is close to 7 now. I think he's the perfect age-mellow, lively and full of ____s and vinegar.

I am sorry for your loss. There really is no easy way of saying goodbye to our beloved friends. They give us so much joy and happiness. Like you I lost my 4 year old shipoo in October. He was from a puppy mill also. It was so unexpected and fast. We had him since he was 8 weeks old. I think of omy Buddy everyday and it does get a bit easier. I will forever miss him but we had wonderful times together always there to greet me when I came in from work oh I miss him so much. As the months passed it was still so hard the whole house was different our yellow lab was so depressed without her big brother. One day we went to Elmbrook Humane Society and there we found a new rescue Boomer. Although he is not Buddy he loves us all and it made us all so happy I also feel it was meant to be he was born the same day Buddy was hit. I miss Buddy everyday and will find myself crying. But I am thankful for the time we had together and know that he was with us and happy and now he is happy with my other dogs that I have lost though out the year. I know it is hard and I too think about when my other 2 go what will happen I won't be able to handle it. But I also know that isn't true. There will be others that will need us and we have to be strong for them and show them what we as animal loves can do to help more dogs that will need us. We can never be ready for anyone to pass but we can be strong and show them while we have them how much we care and love them.

My cat Maria Moo (Moo Moo) died in my arms of biliaric cancer after several months of downward spiral. She passed well before her time - it wasn't fair. It was the worst thing that ever happened to me. I was willing to sacrifice myself if it meant saving her, but there was nothing anyone could do. People asked why I just didn't have her put down, but who am I to play god? After all, you never know if and when a miracle could happen, right? So I did the only thing I could do - I loved her till the end.

When it became evident that she was going to die, I brought her home and stayed with her - never leaving her side. I didn't eat, I didn't shower, I didn't sleep. I did nothing but stay with her. It took everything in me to remain positive and refrain from crying, as I wanted her final moments to be happy. And when she finally did pass, for a brief moment, I was relieved and happy for her, knowing that she would no longer have to suffer in the prison of her broken body. She was once again free to run, like she used to love doing over the hill at our old apartment. But after she passed and I was left all alone, it felt like a piece of me had died too and I could hold back no longer. She was my best friend and had the most amazing soul I've ever known.