>
> Tonight I'll return home from work, and there won't be a little ball of fur
> and energy bounding up the stairs to greet me at the door. I expect I'll get
> used to that. Darleen will be there with a hug and a smile. Thank God for
> her. I wouldn't have the strength to do what's right without her.

I know all too well how you must feel. About a year and a half ago, we had to put our dog to sleep. He was only about five, but after our house was broken into when he was still fairly young, he felt the need to mark *a lot*. There was essentially nothing we could do to stop him; he would even do it right in front of us. The smell and constant necessity to clean was pretty bad, but when our son was about to become self mobile, getting into anything and touching everything, we had to make the final decision that we'd put off for so long.
The thought of our Min Pin sitting in an animal shelter waiting for us to get him was pretty sad. But what was worse was the thought of a new owner not being as understanding of his problem, and causing him physical injury. We felt that it was the least awful of fates.
His last day included the thrill of riding in a car with his head out the window. We miss Zeppelin and always will. My daughter still likes to pray for him, that he's doing okay in Doggie Heaven.

Tranio