Sammy has been with us since 1997 when we rescued him at the shelter. He was about 1 1/2 yrs old then, so he was close to 18 today. He was a Wire haired Dauschaund/terrier mix. He had actually died about a year ago at the vets after he was put to sleep for an extensive teeth cleaning, and our vet brought him back! So we got another good year with him. He's had arthritis for at least a couple years, and gradually got worse. He's had problems controlling his bowels/bladder. But this last weekend it got really bad. This morning i had to carry him outside and back in. My husband was home today and had to clean up quite a few messes (plus he was throwing up). Took him to the Vet after work, sat with him as he passed. He's out of pain now....