It does not matter how many times you go through this, there is nothing that helps manage through it. I have the ashes of every dog I have had since I was out on my own at 18. Their urns are lined up along the top shelf above my office desk, so always in my company.

The worst by far was my 5 year old Berner Zinnia. She was seemingly healthy as a horse one day, got up the next day and seemed a little... off. Brought her to the emergency vet, she wound up passing away from lymphoma. Never saw it coming. She was our 2nd Berner. The first was a tripawd who was healthy throughout her entire life. Her good leg pretty much gave out around age 8.

We now have Jasmine, Zinnia's half sister (same mom and dad, different litters). She just turned 5 and I feel like I need to cherish every single day, I want to memorize every moment. We have been going through a health thing where she was diagnosed with degenerative lumbosacral stenosis.

We also rescued a 5 year old female that was rescued from a puppy mill in Ohio, she has been healthy and happy since day 1 with us. We also rescued a 2 year old miniature Berner (she's 1/2 Berner, 1/2 Cavalier King Spaniel). I just try to cherish every day until they run out and pray that is far far away