Goodbye Pugsley

Last Saturday our dog Pugsley suddenly passed away. We have had him for over 11 years, so he was obviously getting old, but he hadn't been sick or given us any indication that something was going to happen. Dave was still sleeping and the kids were in the family room. He started acting differently (laying down and peeing in places he wouldn't normally). Then he layed down in the family room. He wouldn't lift up his head. I thought he must be sick, so I checked on him about 10 minutes later, and he wouldn't react to me. I ran to get Dave. We frantically tried to figure out what to do and got a hold of someone at the animal clinic we've taken him to. Before Dave took him in, I knew he wouldn't be coming back, and so I had the kids pet him and say goodbye to him. It was really heartbreaking. Brynn has been asking lots of questions since then. She wants to know every detail of where Pugsley is, how he will get to heaven if he can't fly, how long Heavenly Father will need him and if Pugsley can come back when Heavenly Father doesn't need him any more. She will randomly get really sad about it throughout the day, and she keeps asking in her prayers if Pugsley can come back. Collin didn't seem very affected by it. At least I didn't think so until the other day. I had gotten out his food and treats to take to my aunt, and Collin had taken a few dog treats out. I told him that he needed to put them back in the box, and he said that he was saving them for Pugsley. I told him that Pugsley wouldn't be coming back, so we were giving the treats to someone else's dog. Collin insisted on saving the treats he was holding, and told me that he would just save them for a long, long time until Pugsley came home. I guess a 3 year old doesn't understand the concept of death. Pugsley was a really good dog. He was always gentle with the kids, even when they weren't as gentle with him. He was a pretty mellow dog, but was also loved attention when it was given to him. As my sister put it, he was our kid when we weren't able to have kids. He has and will be missed.