Dear TobyDog;

I was so saddened to read your post. What you experienced I have long worried about with our Yorkie, Violet. I am so very sorry you are in such pain right now, but I can totally understand it. What I have to offer may not be of much help, but perhaps in time it may make more and more sense. I have had 2 cats. One I had for 15 years, before he was ravaged by cancer and I had to put him down. The second I had for 22 years, and he died a peaceful death on my lap. Both times I was pretty sure I was not going to be ready for a new pet anytime soon. I am 53 years old now, and realizing how life is short, both for us Humans, relatively speaking, and certainly for our canine friends, I feel that the very best thing one can do is open our hearts and our homes to a pet, if we are ever without one. I am not saying be the stereotypical dog or cat man or lady, but that if you do not have one, there is most certainly a dog dying in his own way to have a home. So, I am proposing to you that not as a means of replacing sweet Toby, but as a means of HONORING him…and allowing him to live on in a way, through a new special friend. Toby will always live on – don’t worry about that. And I am sure that up at the Rainbow Bridge, Toby would be panting his approval. So be kind to yourself and your family. Don’t grieve and feel an absence. Save a life – provide a new home for a dog that needs one. Enjoy the presence of a wonderful creature, while continuing to honor Toby with your fond remembrances. It WILL get easier. Hang in there. Little Toby was a sweetheart, judging from those pictures. But he would understand and appreciate your helping one of his brethren. My very best regards to you.