Jasper was the dog we bought the day we went to view a house, we bought the local paper in the area we wanted to move to and saw an advert for lurchers, on a whim we went and saw them, fell in love with a smoky grey puppy who was all legs and licked my then 4 year old so much he giggled, then jumped in our car, it was meant to be!!
He had a long life and it was time for him but as you say just like a human member of the family you don't want to see them suffer but on the other hand its so hard to say goodbye to them.
Thanks for the words of comfort, I am working from home today and the Jack Russell, who we got 6 years ago to keep Jasper young is wandering the house looking for him and looking at me with a puzzled expression on her face.
I don't think we will get another dog, although they are such good company and as we get older we may change our minds. At the moment we both work full time and I have just taken on a new job that will mean travelling so it would not really be fair.