Yes, they will break our hearts.

 I am sitting on my small couch in my small cottage watching and listening to my small dog sleep.  Cooper does not sleep quietly these days. He's an old guy and as old folks do, he whines and whimpers and sighs and yelps in his sleep. He's curled up in his little bed, curled up like a comma. 

Everyone I know who has a dog is facing the same thing: death of our furry pals sooner or later. Cooper is probably about 16 years old.  My kids have dogs that are about 15 years old (talking about you, little Hannah) and 13 years for the Bebe. Brother Steve has Random, who is about 12 years old but suffering from a slow degenerative disease so he seems older.  I have many friends who have dogs older than 12 and some are in fine health, some less so.

The point is that every pet owner knows that the day will arrive when they must take action to let their pet go. We all know that our pets will most certainly die before us and yet we willingly adopted them knowing they would break our hearts. When our dogs or cats or horses were young, it was easy to put that knowledge in a box on the back shelf and ignore it. But at some point, sooner or later, we must take that box down, open it and face the grim truth.

Cooper is spry for being close to 16 years old.  Bebe was given a death sentence six months ago and she still bounces around like a puppy most of the time. Hannah plays the starlet card, being fussy and neurotic a lot of the time but youngish and charming when she wants, which is often. Random has slowed down considerably in the past six months but will bark like a two year old when anyone walks past his fence. These dogs have been loved and cared for and have given all of us so much love..... and they will continue to do so until we must put them in the car and take them to their final vet visit.  That we love them is no mystery. Neither is the fact that they will break our hearts when they die. But that's simply a small price we pay for the life we have had with them. We knew it going in, we know it now.

Here's my guy. Sleeping and happy. While I know he has maybe two more years, I am so happy he can make me laugh every day.