Glen, my condolences. After reading your story, I gave my lab, Stormy, a
tummy rub and a milkbone.
Tony
P.S. I thought the following may be appropriate:

The Final Walk
A man and his dog were walking along a road. The man was enjoying the
scenery, when it suddenly occurred to him that he was dead. He remembered
dying, and that the dog had been dead for years. He wondered where the road
was leading them.

After a while, they came to a high, white stone wall along one side of the
road. It looked like fine marble. At the top of a long hill, it was broken
by a tall arch that glowed in the sunlight. When he was standing before it,
he saw a magnificent gate in the arch that looked like mother of pearl, and
the street that led to the gate looked like pure gold.

He and the dog walked toward the gate, and as he got closer, he saw a man at
a desk to one side. When he was close enough, he called out, "Excuse me,
where are we?" "This is Heaven, sir," the man answered.

"Wow! Would you happen to have some water?" the man asked. "Of course, sir.
Come right in, and I'll have some ice water brought right up." The man
gestured, and the gate began to open. "Can my friend," gesturing toward his
dog, "come in, too?" the traveler asked. "I'm sorry, sir, but we don't
accept dogs."

The man thought a moment and then turned back toward the road and continued
the way he had been going.

After another long walk, and at the top of another long hill, he came to a
dirt road which led through a farm gate that looked as if it had never been
closed. There was no fence. As he approached the gate, he saw a man inside,
leaning against a tree and reading a book.

"Excuse me!" he called to the reader. "Do you have any water?" "Yeah, sure,
there's a pump over there". The man pointed to a place that couldn't be seen
from outside the gate. "Come on in." "How about my friend here?" the
traveler gestured to the dog. "There should be a bowl by the pump."

They went through the gate, and sure enough, there was an old fashioned hand
pump with a bowl beside it. The traveler filled the bowl and took a long
drink himself, then he gave some to the dog. When they were full, he and the
dog walked back toward the man who was standing by the tree waiting for
them.

"What do you call this place?" the traveler asked. "This is Heaven," was the
answer.

"Well, that's confusing," the traveler said. "The man down the road said
that was Heaven, too."

"Oh, you mean the place with the gold street and pearly gates? Nope. That's
Hell."

"Doesn't it make you mad for them to use your name like that?"

"No. I can see how you might think so, but we're just happy that they screen
out the folks who'll leave their best friends behind."



"Glen Duff" wrote in message
...
I'm really sorry to lay this on you guys especially this time of year
and when Annie my shop dog died suddenly a few weeks ago I wasn't going
to say anything, just keep a stiff upper lip. She was an 11 year old
Beagle-Basset cross and was the best dog by far that I ever had. I have
never met a friendlier dog. I was hoping the pain of her loss would go
away after a few weeks but I can't help think of her every time I expect
her to be around and she isn't. The only thing that really helps is to
remember the great times, especially her unconditional love, patiently
waiting in or near my shop. I don't know if it was a premonition or not
but this summer I took more time than ever petting her and enjoying her
company as I realized she was getting older and would not be around
forever.

One of the hardest things I ever did was to build her coffin, just a
simple box of rough pine that her body fit in comfortably. It took
about 30 minutes to build and I cried uncontrollably the whole time.
I'm usually really careful with my wood but she got the best 1 x 10
rough pine boards in the shop. The coffin will be kept out of the sun
in a north facing corner where my shop joins the barn. It will be
insulated with straw bales until the frost is out of the ground next
spring. She will be buried at her favourite spot just to the side of
the driveway under a maple tree overlooking our country road where she
could keep an eye on the action and was always there waiting for us to
come home. A brass remembrance plaque will be fixed to the tree.

For those of you with dogs, take a little extra time to comfort them and
give them back just a little of all that they give you. I am grateful
and privileged to have had Annie in my life for all those years. I
don't know if there is a heaven for dogs but if there is I know one that
will be there.

Happy New Year,

Glen Duff