He was a good dog...

even if he did spend the first 8 weeks of his life behind bars.  Along with the rest of his brothers and sisters.
Pie & I had just bought our first home together, we knew we wanted a dog so we went to the local animal shelter and that's where we first saw the cutest little lab cross puppy.  The whole litter had been dropped off right before Christmas so they were named after Santa's reindeer.  Comet had our hearts right from that first day.
That was way back in 2001... and now it has finally come to that inevitable end, we had to say goodbye to our first "child".

(it's taken me almost a week to be able to write this post, I'm only this far and I have tears rolling down my cheeks)

Not only was Comet our first pet together as a couple, he was also Pie's first ever pet. 
He was a great dog, I have tons of wonderful memories of him.
Like when he & I broke the basement window, pretty much in the first week we'd lived in the house ... and Pie walking out the door at just the right moment to witness it.
How he liked to help garden, by digging up freshly planted flowers and following me around the yard with them.
The time he tore the front license plate holder (and license plate) off my car and brought it to the door.
How he loved to help, he'd carry or fetch anything he could.  He knew "remote" and "phone" and would get either one if you asked him to.  He was so obsessed (yeah, that was the Lab in him) that he would follow me around the house when I was cleaning, just waiting for me to drop something so he could pick it up.
He knew how to recycle, when he knew a bottle or can was empty he'd take it to the blue recycling bin.
He wasn't bad too often, but when he was the harshest punishment for him was to put him in time out.  Sit him somewhere out of sight and tell him to stay... that was almost a death sentence to him.
Comet never met a toy he didn't like.  Balls, squeakies, stuffies.   He would play fetch as long as you'd throw.
You could leave food anywhere near him and he wouldn't touch it unless you told him it was okay.  Heck he wouldn't touch the food in his bowl unless you gave him permission. 
His absolutely favourite treat was McDonalds fries.
Even as he got older he still tried to help whenever he could.  He'd carry pails & baskets, the feed scoops, pretty much anything he could.  But old age was slowing him down.
He was having trouble climbing the stairs. He was becoming incontinent.  His hind end was pretty much shot, he had to use his shoulders & front end to drag himself to standing and he was losing weight.  He was easily knocked down by the Bostons and I was worrying about him breaking something if he fell and landed badly.
(one time he fell and landed so awkwardly I thought he may have broken his pelvis, thankfully he didn't)
So we prepared to say goodbye to our boy.  On a particularly bad day last week I told him he only had to hold on for a few more days, I could swear I heard/felt him say Thank You.
Monday our vet (who is amazingly wonderful) came out to our place so we didn't have to try to get Comet in the truck (he could no longer get in the truck).
On that day Comet got his very own order of McDonalds fries all to himself.  Doc gave him a shot to make him drowsy and then walked away to let us say goodbye.  Comet laid down in the grass with his head in my lap while Pie & I talked to him and told him how loved he was and how grateful we were to have had him in our lives and Comet dozed off in the sunshine. 
Doc came back and gave him the lethal dose, he was gone before it was done. 
Thankfully it was perfect, for what it was.  There were no seizures or spasms, he didn't even let go of his bowels or bladder.  After dealing with how badly Cessa's end was I was extremely grateful that Comet's passing was textbook perfect.
We buried him out back in a spot of honour.  I hope he's over that rainbow bridge, running & playing free from pain.