I'm so sorry for your loss. I know it hurts so bad. My sheltie is getting old and his hearing is almost all the way gone and I'm so scared he will leave me soon. He is home with me all day while my husband is at work and he kept me sane last year when my son was in Iraq and now my daughter is 7 hours away at college and I feel sometimes it's just me and him. I think my dog understands my lonliness more than my husband. He's kind of large for a sheltie but when I'm sad he will jump on the sofa and lay across my lap and tilt his head up on my chest and look at me and it's like he smiling at me to be happy.
Your buddy will always live in your heart and give you smiles with memories.