I never thought that my heart would be strong enough to welcome another dog into my life after my nearly 14-year-old female German Shepherd, Egypt, died on July 5, 2018 after many months of watching her body fall apart and her quality of life deteriorate, first slowly then unbearable quickly it felt. Losing her was the hardest experience of my life. It's hard for a lot of people to understand, but I grieved for her so intensely that it effected my health, mentally as well as physically. I felt irrevocably changed to my core. She and I had been through an INCREDIBLE life story together. For years, she was my ONLY companion and those years of self-isolation in California with Egypt are some of my most cherished memories. She was my soul mate and taught me how to love. Her infirnment period lasted about 9 months. Those were both the longest and the shortest 9 months of my life. I was forced to grapple with intensely raw emotions on a daily basis, unlike any I ever thought I'd have to face. Each day my only goal was to try and love her as well as she had always made me feel loved. Her body was betraying her, but her mind was as sharp as it had always been and her pure black coat was as shiny and solid black as when she was a pup. She never even went grey, except for a few hairs between the toes of her paws. But I watched helplessly as her hind legs started to weaken. I started with just shortening her walks. Then, about four or five months before her death, I decided that allowing her to navigate the stairs in my house were too dangerous after she stumbled mid-flight while attempting to walk upstairs. She crouched...