Timm,
I'm not getting "gushy". Actually, there are some words I didn't say.
My bird dog, Winchester, is 14 now. He's a brittany, and we've shared some memorable October days together. Lately, he's been showing signs that I don't want to see.
Might be time to let go of him too, but as long as he's not in pain, I'll do my best for him. It's only fair. He always did his best for me.
DTS

DTS: just joshing you...that sucks about your dog....it's hard to make that decision!

Timm,
Yes, it's going to be tough.
The way I look at it is that if I had decided to not include him in my life, I wouldn't have had all those good times. The bad ones...well, if I put them on a scale, the good would be more than the bad.
That's about as much as can be hoped for in any life, right?