Sorry to hear about your loss.

My wife and I decided to wait last year after we lost our dog and within a couple months
my son called from California asking if we could take his beagle.
Bentley is the latest member of our family, and I do mean member.
Bentley grew up in Ca. so he is not used to cold weather,
we got him a hooded sweat shirt so during the colder months he loves to wear it, he even gets upset when you take it off to wash it.

This is Bentley in his hoodie:

http://home.comcast.net/~parishht/pw...28Small%29.jpg

If you are a dog person, the right dog will find you.

BGA...so sorry to hear of your loss...incredible how attached we become to them, but they EARN every bit of it...there's no animal on earth more loyal than a LAB...the only time my kids saw me cry was on the death of a 14 yr old several years back...he ATTACKED FULL OPEN a Bull Mastiff much larger than him one day in my defense...while I still miss him and will never forget him, this gal here has my heart nowadays...

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y90...n/P7200044.jpg

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y90...n/IMGP0194.jpg

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y90...n/IMGP0231.jpg

My youngest daughter said, "Daddy, I think I know why dogs don't live as long as people...if they lived too long, their people would die and they wouldn't have anybody to take care of them."

You'll know when it's time...

I want to thank each and every one of you for your posts of condolences and comfort; they mean a lot to me and I've read each one a couple times over.

I especially appreciate the comments from those of you that have recently gone through this because I'm guessing the OP brought back some sad emotions as you've remembered your losses. Thanks for sharing from a "been there" perspective. There's something comforting about knowing you're not the only one who has gone through this (well, we all know people go through it all the time, but it's a help when others take the time to share their experiences).

Well, we've sent in our applications to two rescue shelters (one for labs and another for golden retrievers). The process will take a number of weeks, which I figure will be good for us.

Thanks again guys, you've all been an encouragement to me through this...

Sorry about your friend going to heaven, he will be there waiting when you get there.

Bygracealone, I read you are adopting another good friend from a shelter.
We just adopted a two year old female Golden Ret. Her owner passed away, and the wife of the man could not keep her because she works and did not have much time to play with her and give her the attention she needs. She was kept on a small yard for about six months until the day we adopted her. The day we took her home, she spent a couple of weeks running and playing like crazy with all the energy and happiness of being able to play with our 10 y.o. Retriever Marmol. Now she is a happy and playfull friend. We kept her the same name because we feel this dog still belongs to the man who passed away, we will just take care of his dog until the day she goes and reunites with him "up there". Her name is Lola.
Thanks for adopting a dog from a shelter, that is a commendable thing to do and he or she will be your friend forever.

sorry to hear that man...you did the right thing he is in a better place

Thanks JJ and Cy. We'll see how it all works out, but we're definitely looking forward to having another pooch in the family. Waiting on the rescue organizations to get in touch with us...

my friend, to the end
 

log in under my dogs name since the day he passed, 7 years ago. still missed.