For the love of a dog....

I adopted Stanley, a standard poodle puppy, when he was just 10 weeks old.  He was already a good sized puppy, bred in a backyard, belly full of worms, when I took him to the vet.  He was a bargain puppy at 150 bucks, but the vet bill soon made him as pricey as any full bred pup would have been.  I knew better.  I honestly did, but if I had to do it over again, I would have.  He had an excellent temperament. 
Stanley grew up to be 70 pounds of love.  People scoff at standard poodles with their dressy haircuts and fluffed fur.  But the truth is, under the fancy is a reliable, intelligent, and protective hunting dog.  Stanley was great with the kids, a little silly, often making me laugh.  He was my therapy assistant when kids would come to my house for speech/language therapy.  He was great for a reinforcement for good works.  He was a good companion, an overgrown lapdog, and a good friend.
When Stanley was five years old, he got into a trash can after we had hosted a cookout and, unbeknownst to us, swallow a corn cob.  He began vomiting and after some time with no relief, I rushed him to the all night vet hospital.  Thousands of dollars later, we brought him home, stitches and all.  It wasn't a great time in my life, stressful is not even the word for it, but when you love dogs like family members, you do what you must.  He recovered from the surgery and was back to his normal self by the fall.
One year later, Stanley ate something else and the symptoms repeated.  Unfortunately, surgery wasn't an option this time, and he didn't make it.
I have had losses in my life, but the loss of a dog is a very real grief.  In some ways, you feel even worse because you want to believe it's just a dog.  But in your heart, it's more than that.
It's been five years since I lost my Stanley.  I write this in encouragement for people to be so cautious about what they give their dogs to play with.  No stuffed animals, no rawhide, no stringy bones, no anything that can form a blockage in the stomach or bowels.
We take pleasure in the things that God has given us.  I look forward to the day that I get to see Stanley in heaven because I truly believe that he will be there.  For me, that is what heaven is.