We had a rescue dog, age 1 when we got him. At 10 or 11 he had cancer in his front leg and it needed to be amputated. The cost of doing it, his age, recovery, etc. had us thinking. The vet said he was a very youthful 10 and would manage it fine. I was pondering the cost if he only lived another year or two.
The vet replied “Well - a year is 7 in dog years.”
I went “Oh! Right! Lets do it.”
The first week home we were questioning our decision as he couldn’t stand, was out of it, etc. Really depressing. But he came around.
About a year later he was out with our kids at the city park playing in one of our rare snowfalls acting like a crazed puppy running around. Some lady asked how old our dog was.
He’s twelve. “Twelve! I thought he was a puppy!”
Perhaps five minutes later watching him run around and playing he came back up to us running wildly and the lady exclaimed “Oh my gosh - he only has three legs!!”
How old did he make it to ?