I used to have two dogs, both around 6-7 years old at the time. One day, as I was sitting and scratching their bellies, a thought crossed my mind: how would I feel if they were to leave me? How devastated would I be, how much would I cry?

After that thought passed, I scratched their bellies as if it were the last day I’d get to do it, and I kept doing that every day. Until one day, they truly had to leave. I was still heartbroken, but I learned what it meant to practice death before it actually happens. And to this day, even though it’s been over 10 years, I still thank them for teaching me the truth of life. 

 I did the same. I've always been around dogs, raised around 20 over my lifetime, most did grow old and die, some got killed / poisoned / died of disease so I treated everyday with her like the last, it still hurts.