I ' m so sorry for your loss . I had to put my family dog down in 2013 she was ~ 15 and it still hurts sometimes . I even have dreams she ' s still alive every now and again . She was the best . What helped me the most was reading a blog that a vet wrote about how animals always live from moment to moment so when they ' re dying they don ' t regret their lives or wish that they could live a bit longer or anything like that , when they ' re ready they ' re ready , and it ' s compassionate to end their pain and they ' re not afraid of dying . We buried our dog our backyard and planted a lot of flowers over her . What also helped was knowing that matter is never created or destroyed , so in some ways she ' s still around , as part of the air and the water and the trees . I don ' t know if this helps you , but it ' s all I can offer . Your boy ' s not hurting anymore . Hugs .