Dogless

So for over 10 years now I've been a dog owner, Jerry has been a dog owner for far longer than that, at least 15 consecutive years that I know of and I also know of other dogs before that. Yesterday we had to bring Scooter to the vet, the night before I tried to put him out to do his business and he literally could not figure out how to walk out the door. He ended up running into the side of the door then wobbly walked through the garage again got confused at the outside door and ran smack into the fence. He's been acting strange for a couple weeks now, not able to find a treat when you place it right in front of him, wobbly legs, seemed almost blind at times, drinking so much water he should have been floating.
So I brought the boys to visit Maddox and brought Scooter to the vet who said he likely had diabetes, which would require special diet food and shots and would be costly, he also said it sounded like he had a stroke and was likely at least partially blind as a result of both. The vet said that this was all very unusual for such a young dog and that while we might extend his life he would never recover so we had him put down. This all devastated Zachary because he's gotten very close to Scooter, especially since we had to have Maggie put down in June.
We have decided to take a break from having a dog, or any furry animal for that matter. The idea of a puppy sounds great until you remember that they grow up, get big, drag mud into the house, slobber on everything and bark every time someone walks close to the house. Add to that the cost of the vet visits, food and grooming and it will definitely be a while before we have another dog. A small, short haired dog sounds a bit appealing at times, until I remember we like to travel a bit and it's a pain to find someone to feed/water the dog while we are gone.
It has been odd to not have to tell someone to 'let the dog out' or 'get the dog some food' or to make sure the dog goes out before we leave and worry about how hot it is and if the dog should be in or out when we leave for a while.