Ginger, we too had a dog that died quite a few years ago from cancer, and when I read the part about digging your dogs grave, it brought back memories.
My son was digging Lucys
grave because we new what was coming, he turns around and the dog was sitting there watching him. He totally lost it, he loved that dog a lot. I had a bond with that dog that I've never had before, and Ive had a lot of dogs. She lived to be fifteen, but it wasn't nearly long enough.