Sorry for your loss, man. Rescued dogs are the best - I think they know they're lucky to have found a home.
We adopted our Black Lab mix, Shadow, nine years ago today. He was almost four years old and had lived with a family since he was a puppy, but they moved and couldn't have a dog where they were going, so they brought him back to the pound. He'd been there about three weeks when we got him, and once we got to our house, he made himself at home right away. Two years later, we adopted a puppy from another shelter, and Shadow took on the big brother role quite well.