This is how I want to go out

[jimnyc]

If I could have any one wish in the world, in addition to my family members, I would want my pups there with me. And if not them, I would take a therapy dog, and hold and squeeze him. Everything else seems to disappear when you are loving a dog!

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[SassyLady]

Very cool, Jim.

My friend, Gary, adopted one of my dogs a few years ago and took him through all the therapy training so he could go visit at the VA Hospital in Tucson. These last couple of months he started slowing down because his arthritis is getting pretty bad. He can't walk down all the hallways and can't get up on the beds to be hugged anymore. Maybe he needs to do the wagon thing, like Baxter.

I think it really affected Gary quite a bit because he wouldn't be taking his pup along anymore. So, now he's a volunteer driver. Keeps him connected with the veterans and still feeling useful at the same time.

I think you all know how I feel about my puppy dog. Even when he was sick he worried about me ... I was really depressed about his being sick and it didn't help him ... they feel so much of what we are going through. Anyway, I decided one day that I would not think of him as being sick anymore. Guess what? He's doing great!

For me, having a pup(s) is essential. I would live in the back of my SUV with my pup if I couldn't find a place that accepted dogs.