Heartfelt tribute to a beloved dog

MY CHILDREN 12, 10 and 7 sat us down to show us their PowerPoint presentation.

- NIKKI CAMPO

The slides, designed to convince my husband and me that we needed a second dog, included photos of newborn puppies, potential names and how the kids would contribute.

"Turtle would have a friend!" their last slide read.

Turtle, our shaggy, beige 14.5kg labradoodle, was almost 3. From his first puppy weeks, he would stay at my side during the day. Each night, he curled up in bed with whichever kid needed him most.

"Maybe it's not a terrible idea?" I said to my husband.

My sister's dog had just delivered a healthy litter, and soon the puppies would need homes. My sister lived in Nashville and I lived in North Carolina. A chance to adopt one of her pups as a "sibling" to ours felt fun and special. "Okay," my husband said. "But," he continued with his eyes on the kids, "you need to show us you can handle a puppy by taking more responsibility for Turtle now."