Last week, my paternal grandma's dog passed away. Daniela, a little snorting Shih Tzu, whom we nicknamed piglet (хрюшка in Russian), died of old age and a sudden heart attack- though I'm not too sure about the latter. She was 13-years-old, which happens to be the average life expectancy of her breed. As fellow dog owners, my family immediately felt the sadness in the room as my dad spoke with his mom, whom we could hear crying, over the phone. With haste, he got dressed and left, driving to Brooklyn to my grandma's home. Although it was already nighttime, he tried to help as much as he could.

My family has dealt with the passing of two pets: my dad's mighty Russian sheepdog and my mom's Persian cat. I don't know how old my dad's dog was but my mom's cat lived until she was 16, longer than expected at the time. She died of old age and kidney failure. Though many can argue that we cannot treat the deaths of pets the same way we treat the deaths of people, as a dog owner I have to disagree. "Dogs are a man's best friend." That saying has been around for ages. And it still is true, except for cat lovers, which is totally fine. (My mom now loves both cats and dogs). However, the sense of attachment and love you feel for an animal is truly indescribable. Yes it is not the same kind of love for a human being, but we can argue that it is much more.

My dog is already 9-years-old. We adopted him from an animal shelter in Long Island when I was in 6th grade. I was still nervous around dogs and since my mom's cat hated me I wasn't too comfortable with cats either when we visited the animal shelter. It might've been fate or pure luck that we ended up bringing him home that day. My dad wanted a dog and my mom wanted a cat and I wanted to get out of there because I was getting a migraine from all the loud barking and sounds.

Yet, just as we were about to leave, a new cage was brought in from Tennessee and while my mom was still falling in love with the kittens, my dad immediately told me to stand guard by the new puppy's cage so we could ask to get a closer inspection of him. The name-tag said Pineapple which was absolutely ridiculous and I laughed and smiled at that cute little face of his. As I watched that poor scared puppy grow comfortable with me near him, I knew he was the one. A woman wanted to have a closer look and I acted as if he were already mine. I didn't let anyone else go near him.

Finally, after my dad's close inspection of him after he was taken out of the cage, we convinced my mom that he was the one for us. He was sick and needed shots and there was plenty of paperwork, and calls, and hours sitting in the waiting room- but that day we came home with a puppy. I still don't know how we came to agree on his name, Barnie, but we argued the entire drive to the animal shelter about possible pet names. And no, not Barney like the purple dinosaur. Barnie, with an -ie. Or to be fancy, my parents tell others it's short for Bernard. Like we're sooo posh.

At the end of September, he turned nine. I already knew in the back of my mind, that he didn't have many years left. And I know that's a terrible way to think, but it's realistic. However, we can never be fully prepared for an animal's death. An animal whom we cared for, grew to love, played with, cuddled with, gave kisses to, ran around with- my dog is my best friend. He's also that annoying little brother that gets the most attention in the family. But he's also my fluffy baby. And I love him with all my heart. And if you're a fellow dog owner, you understand how difficult it is to deal with the challenges of having a dog. We've spent thousands on surgeries and we care so much about his health and his well being.

He could live up to age 10 or 12, in which the latter is his highest average life expectancy since he's a mixed breed. I can only hope that he lives for many more years. But I know I will one day lose him. And it will be heartbreaking. But we must give as much care and love for our dogs while we can.

It's awful that they can't live as long as we can; their life expectancy is barely over 20% of the average human life expectancy. Please, to all dog owners and fellow pet owners, love and care for them; they are real living beings and we often forget how much attention they need. I'm convinced my dog is experiencing separation anxiety and loneliness more than he did before we moved, and there's only so much I can do for him. I show my love how I can and I can only hope that it's enough. Having a dog is never easy, but it's worth it.