Sorry for a bit of long wind here...
We lost our little Brewski last week, after a gnarly battle with soft tissue sarcoma. Dogs might only be animals to some, but everyone who ever meet B knew he had more personality than many people out there. Despite the grief, it makes me smile at the fact we were never quite sure if he thought we were dogs or that he was a human. After all this time, I still don't think I can definitively answer that question.
We said "goodbye" to our pup back in October, as cancer crept into his mouth and started working its way down his throat. Somehow, palliative radiation meant to give us a few more days actually gave way to a somewhat unprecedented recovery - something that astonished even our vet. It wasn't a cure, but it wasn't the end. Brewski became a poster child at the practice for stubborn old dogs not quite ready to bury their bones. And he gave us three more terribly happy months. Doing some quick dog math, that's about two whole years ... every human second of which was a blessing and a bonus.
Brewski went out of this world just as he entered my wife's, and later mine - happy, curious, goofy, and forever loyal to his two favorite people. He laid down between the two of us, belly full with salmon, steak, venison, chocolate, bacon, rotisserie chicken (his all-time and paws-down favorite food) ... and yes, a bit of beer, too. He wasn't scared. He wasn't sad. He wasn't in pain. He was simply ready to take a good long snooze with dog mom and dog dad. It was always his favorite thing to do.
Do me a favor and kiss those pooches of yours, and remind them every day they are good dogs. We miss our little guy more than long, drawn out words could ever capture. But our pain is lessened knowing the only thing Brewski ever knew was love. So much love. Because he was such a good dog.
RIP, Bubba.