[2rotties2luv]

Dear Therin,
You were very brave and you did a most kind and beautiful thing for Cody to hold him close to you as his life passed away.

I felt the same way about my beloved Max, who left me in 1994. I wasn't ready yet to give my heart to another dog, but my daughter, then 16, left to live with a friend because she couldn't bear to come home to a place without a dog.

I agreed to adopt Sierra, our first rotti. It took me a few months to really warm up to her, she had such a different personality. But she won me over. A year later I adopted her younger brother, Jazz. Now I can't imagine life without them.

I once read the comments of a little girl who was trying to explain why dogs have such short lives compared to humans. She said it's because dogs are born knowing how to give unconditional love, whereas we humans have to live longer because we have to learn how to do it.

While it is sorrowful to say goodbye to a beloved companion, we are blessed to be able to experience the companionship of several dogs in our lifetime. That's how I look at it, anyhow.

It's not wrong at all to want another rottie puppy - in fact, it's a tribute to the memory of Cody.