Sorry to hear about the pup, Sage. Sucks that you couldn't say goodbye - I know how that feels. I got two guinea pigs when I was in fourth grade, and I took care of them and got closer to them than I will probably ever get to a dog. They knew my footsteps, and would squeal and come up to the side of their cage whenever they heard me walk into the room. I got home from school one day, when they were 6 years old, and my mom told me she had gone up to see them and one of them was just laying there. Turns out she was dead. The other (they were sisters) pretty much gave up after that, but ended up dying during a procedure at the vet that I couldn't be there for. I still miss them both, and my old room still smells like cedar chips.