yesterday i was out walking the dogs at lunch and ran into him. no dogs. he crossed the street to say hi (we've spoken a few times before, waved a lot more), and after my youngest was done barking at him, both dogs milled around for pets. both his dogs are now gone, he told me sadly, and within two weeks of each other. his youngest by seizures, eventually progressing to the point where medication wasn't working. he and his wife were taking a few months to grieve and heal and decide if they wanted dogs again. he'd had dogs for thirty years, he told me, ever since he was nineteen and living back in india.
another couple started walking towards us on the street, and my younger dog started barking at them (bad manners, pandemic puppy, so it goes). we had to leave. we waved a quick goodbye, and i continued on my way.
losing a beloved pet is a special kind of grief, and i can't imagine losing two so quickly. we've had two dogs for the last fifteen yeras, and have always spaced their age a bit to try to minimize the chance of this. our first two had a six-year age gap. our current two, ten.
i don't know how people who keep shorter-lived pets do it. dogs live a while while, cats generally longer, but i've had friends who kept ferrets and rats and such, and their lifespans are much shorter. does it hurt less if you have fewer years together? we got my first dog when i was finishing grad school, and when he died, i was nearly 40. he saw two cross-country moves (plus a couple intra-city), first jobs post university, our friends getting married, our friends getting kids. my now-oldest, our most recent (and hopefully final) move, two job changes, the pandemic. they see a lot.