Saying goodbye to a young adult dog is hard, even if you’re sending him off with a wonderful new family. This was arranged months ago, but it was still hard.

I think every dog deserves to be the center of attention in a wonderful family. Once it was clear that Conner was going to grow up substantially more glamorous, it was practically ordained that Jos would be looking for a pet home. Three intact male dogs is a lot. Jos is cute and cheerful and energetic and affectionate, but he is never going to be as handsome as either his father or his . . . let me see . . . half-nephew.

Rather than sharing my attention with a zillion other dogs, Jos now has one playful dog sister and two human children to keep him busy and happy, not to mention mom and dad and various other relatives and friends.

But he does leave a cute, cheerful, energetic, affectionate hole in my life.