how their appreciation to their owners, I believe, more than any other for the fact that we saved them and gave them a good and loving home. Most experts will disagree with that statement but I believe animals, especially dogs, are capable of much more thinking, reasoning, and love than we give them credit for and I KNOW that Muncy looked to me as his "savior" and master and the simple act of adopting that dog became the greatest, most successful and well thought out thing that I ever did. And as wonderful a relationship that we had and as dear as I held that dog near me; and the amount of love that I was capable of having for a dog suddenly making itself known in my life; came suddenly and horrifyingly to an abrupt end and all of the fears that I had regarding the loss of that dog became reality in February this year (2012) and I realized then, as I do now, that the love of a dog isn't free. It comes at a great cost in most cases. The grief over the loss is ALMOST as great as the love and memory that I have for him but the love is greater because the memory lasts forever. If it wasn't that way, we would be foolish to ever allow ourselves to love [a dog] knowing that it is going to end. We had a wonderful life together and he was my friend through thick and thin. I loved him as I watched him go gray from a perfect single color of tan, even his toenails were tan. I loved him through the vet visits and through the scary checkups to find that a new lump was only a fatty cyst. I loved him right up until the day that he interrupted my daughter and I and just began to pee on the floor in front of us. Naturally I thought the worst. Turned out he had Diabetes but they told me that it could be regulated with insulin which is what I tried to do with the help from the vet over the phone but we couldn't get his insulin right. I put him in the hospital in December (2012) to the tune of 45 hundred dollars and got him back in just enough time to make the trip to Grammy's house for Christmas. I kept him regulated for a few more weeks until the dreadful morning I had to take him in for not eating or drinking for a few days. They told me I could hospitalize him again but I took him home for the weekend to figure out what to do. The next day he was worse than ever. He couldn't walk, bark, eat drink, he couldn't do anything but look at me with those beautiful eyes that had spoken to me for the last 13 years. I knew it was time and he knew it too. The next day, I packed him up and took him to his destination. That was 6 months ago and I am crying as I write this. When will the pain be over? We can't own anything in this world. God only allows us to "use" things while we are here and I suppose that He even uses the death of our beloved pets to teach us that this life is fleeting and meaningless because everything dies. And just because He allows us to have something for a time, doesn't mean that (in this life) we will have them for eternity. Whether or not He, in His infinite knowledge, allows us our pets back when we are taken up into heaven remains unknown, one thing is for sure, He certainly gave us a huge capacity for love in this world. And He even showed us how much He loves us by dying for us - the ULTIMATE demonstration of love, because, after all, that is what this is all about, right? Love. MUNCY THE DOG (Sung to the tune of "Matchmaker") Munce-diggity dog-diggity, Muncy the dog, fetch me a bone, catch me a frog, Munce-diggity- dog-diggity Muncy the dog, Oh, Muncy the Dingo dog. Daddy misses you, Muncy. So, so very much. I hope to see you again, my special friend! Favorite Activity: Going in the car to "Dog Beach"; all that I needed to do was shake the keys and he was ready.. He was the consummate "dog with his head out the window"! Favorite Toy: one of my old socks. He loved to play "tug toy" and would growl and shake and tug, (that is, until he lost all of his teeth. :( And when I finally wrestled the sock from his grip, he instantly began to bark angrily. Nickname(s): Gaga. (given way before the hedonistic flamboyant, weird pop star) When my baby girl was learning to talk, she called Muncy "Gaga" because I would say to her, "say DOGGIE" and she could only say "Gaga" so the name stuck. He's Gaga she said, after she learned to talk!