I know there are many who do not love animals, and that is okay, but man, they are truly the best. They love you regardless of what goes on during your day, they cannot wait to see you when you get home, they will do anything to make you feel better, and they fill your heart with so much love. Losing them is so hard.

Toby came to us a few years ago from a friend who did not have the right space for him, Toby needed us, he needed space. He came to us and after his first summer of acting like a lunatic around all the farm animals he became the perfect dog. He was sweet, loving, he was Toby. This boy won my heart and the hearts of all of those who were around him, he would come over and after a bit of craziness and slobber, he would lean on your leg with all of his 165 pounds. All he wanted was for his big, soft ears to be rubbed and to be talked to.

If he came up to you and you were sitting at our camp fire he would want to sit on your lap or so close to you that he might as well have been on your lap. The boy just wanted some love, don't we all?

We lost Dublin at the end of 2015 and I figured we would have at least four years until we would have to deal with this again, but I was wrong.

Toby was fine and then all of a sudden he was not himself, I'm not kidding, he went from a young dog to an old dog in less than two weeks. It was fast, the vet said it may be lymphoma, we tried some things, and then he was gone.

His last day was a good one. I fed him his breakfast of scrambled eggs and gave him some love. He hung out with me by the pool, napped on the patio, napped on the back porch, got some love from Shannon and the kids, and then after a trip to the wading pool...he was gone.

I was dreading having to decide whether or not we should put him down (I did not want him to suffer), and just like all dogs, he made the selfless decision to go on his own. I swear he knew that I was worried about him and what to do. He knew that we were leaving to visit my parents on Long Island this weekend, and he knew I did not want to leave him...so he left us.

When you love someone hard it hurts so much when they are gone, but life would not be the same without them. Animals are good. Dogs are good.

Toby was a good boy.

If you have ever owned a dog you must watch the movie, "A Dog's Purpose". Our family was finally able to sit down together and watch it a couple weekends ago and it was worth the wait. We even rewatched the movie this past weekend with my parents. There were moments that were funny and moments that were incredibly sad, and the narration is from the dog's point of view; it was brilliant. Our family could relate to the thoughts going through Bailey's (the first dog you are introduced to) head and how similar many of those thoughts must be to our dogs. The first time Bailey is brought to the grandparent's farm he gets a big whiff of manure and is so excited for this wonderful new smell. He is introduced to a miniature horse and fondly refers to it as a "horse dog". He finds disgusting smells to roll in and finds joy in running through the fields.

Of course we were sad when Bailey died, but my daughter was sobbing when the German Shepherd died. We all knew that this dog would come back again, but for some reason Lily was really affected by the death of this dog. This brought on the conversation about about losing someone, whether it be a person or an animal, and how those who you love the most are harder to lose and their loss makes you deeply sad. I asked both of the kids if it would be worth it to have pets if they did not mean anything to us. If we had pets that were not special would we be so sad when they died? Is it worth having the short time we do with our pets when we know our hearts will break upon their death? They both love our animals and understood that the more you love someone the more tears you will cry and the harder it will be to get over when they die.

None of us really know what happens when our pets are gone; are they waiting for us on the other side of the "Rainbow Bridge", will they come back as another pet? This movie definitely gave me comfort in the idea that the furry beings in my life will be back to give someone else joy and love. It is hard to imagine these sweet faces not having a soul, they may not be as smart as the humans who love them, but they know things. They know when you need comfort and do the best they can to try and cheer you up and I like to think that once they have fulfilled their time with me they go on to do the same for someone else.

If you love dogs you must see this movie. ​