Sorry for the lose, really hit home, we lost our yellow lab Taffy on Tues. 2/10 she would have been 18 in June. She was a great dog, she was just failing, still had a strong heart and was still fairly sharp. She was having trouble getting around and bodily functions were uncontrollable, the vet said it was time. The best thing we did was have the vet come to our house and she was at rest on her favorite bed, my wife and I talked to her and petted her the whole time to make her comfortable. It was really hard, but at some time we have to whats best for her. We really loved her and she knew it to the bitter end.
As hard as that was, we had 17 great years and memories with her. Going into a relation of this sort, this dreaded day has to be in the back of your mind.
Our other male lab is 9 years old and is vary lost, he knew her is whole life. We will grieve for a bit more and then think of getting another pup. They truly are man/woman's best friend.