Milos sadness his pack mate and hero died

by Jeanette
(Northern Illinois , usa)

Our 13 year old dog , king , died. ( Aussie cattle dog x black lab ) . I and Milo and 29 year old daughter ( bluebell ) went to vet. King was suffering and during the weekend before July 4th ' 2017 he had 2 of his old age related health things went into crisis . There was no choice . So, on July 3rd he was gone.

So at the vet we all said good bye. Then after when king was passed on we said good bye again together. Milo tried to wake king up. He used the let's play Jester and barked loudly and Milo shook king by the shoulders. Also, Milo bit kings ear and made play growl. . When none of this worked. Milo, then laid down next to king and sighed a lot. He licked kings ears. Then Milo walked to the door of the room and sat facing the door , without turning around. We humans had cried of course.

So, we left. After getting home Milo carried kings collar around in his mouth and slept with his face on the collar. And Milo keeps the collar under Milos mat. Milo sometimes sleeps with his head in kings kennel box. He is adjusting. As are we all. One day soon I will remember to get out only one food bowl.

King was my daughters 4th service dog . King by mirroring , role model method taught Milo how to be a service dog. Certain skills that are easiest learned from an admired older dog. Milo had a strong interest to copy king because that is usual from younger to older. Milo is her 5th service. We have that in our family. We've been fortunate that each elder dog taught each younger dog .

Only the first dog taught himself to detect and then signal in a way that we humans could understand . He was Duke, dog # 1 as it were. This was when daughter was in just learning to walk well. She is now age 29 years. I teach the skills related to being what I call simple dog trust and politeness.

Many religious leaders including Billy Graham and the Pope believe pets go to heaven, comforts me. And I am so grateful for this.