by Vicki Brown

Created on: November 19, 2008   Last Updated: February 14, 2009

"A dog is a heartache waiting to happen." I don't know who said that but it is true. When you have dogs, you will eventually have your heart broken when they get old and you have to make the decision to send them to doggie heaven. It's sad but it's their time and they had a good life. At least that's what you tell yourself.

I've always gone to the vet with my dogs and held them in my arms. I tell them I love them and they are good dogs. I let them know that it's okay for them to leave that they have had a good life and I don't want them to suffer.

I've done this with a Bassett hound that was 14 years old, a golden retriever who was almost 15 years old, a Boxer who was 12 years old, and more. I've also done it with cats. All the dogs I had growing up and the dogs we've had as a family lived to a ripe old age. Their passing was sad and left a hole in my life and heart.

Then a small white bundle of fur came to live with us. He was a terrier mix who looked like a miniature English sheepdog. He was the sweetest little dog. When we got him, he fit in my son's baseball glove. He grew to be a 30-pound bundle of love and affection.

He was mainly my daughter's dog. She had wanted a puppy. His name was Bo. Well, his full name was Bo Jackson. Yes, he was named after the football/baseball player. But, we called him Bo and later Scooter. I don't remember how Scooter came about.

When my daughter went off to school, Bo turned his affections to me. We were best pals. We took walks together. We played "Buddy" together. What's "Buddy" you ask? Well, it's like fetch only instead of a ball Bo preferred a stuffed toy that we called his "Buddy". It was white fleece in the shape of a gingerbread man. He had other toys but Buddy was his favorite and the toy that he liked for fetch.

We got Bo in Minnesota. When he was four years old, we very reluctantly moved to California. I say reluctantly because our children stayed in Minnesota. They didn't want to leave the schools they were in. It made sense but that didn't make leaving them any easier.

Bo became a more important part of my life. He was there to greet me when I got home from work. No matter what kind of day I had had at work, it was always made better when I opened the door and saw a white furry thing with a black nose and fur covered eyes. He would stand on two legs and jump up and down, tail wagging making his little welcome home yipps.

I'd put my purse and anything else I had down and held out my arms. In a blink I had an armful of

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