He wagged his tail to the very last,
and he smiles in his last long sleep.
The troubles of life for him are past;
A shrine in my heart I'll keep.
His soul---for I feel he had a soul
and he thought real thoughts, I know.
He found the ultimate end, life's goal,
In the heaven where good dogs go.

He has lived with me, and suffered with me;
Shed tears, in his doglike way;
He has placed his paws at times on my knee
In a vain attempt to say, "God never gave
us that wondrous power to tell all the
things we feel, but I want to say in my
canine way that my sympathy is real."

So I loved my dog to the very end,
and he in our daily walk was never just a dog,
but a constant friend
and we had no need to talk.
And I hope when the summons comes to me
to embark on the unknown tide,
I shall find his eyes in the paradise
they say is the other side.

--John T. Peck