When you break life down by numbers, we each get a finite tally of experiences. A set total of how many times we will go on holiday, watch the sunrise or sunset, laugh with friends over dinner, walk along the beach or savour that first sip of coffee in the morning.

Knowing that serves as a potent reminder not to fritter our lives away. To appreciate the big and small moments alike that combine to weave the rich tapestry of human existence.

The other day, though, I read something that hit me hard: “Most dogs, on average, only experience 12 summers.”

I felt like the wind had been knocked out of me, tears welling in my eyes as I looked over at my collie Moose, dozing obliviously nearby in a patch of sunshine on the living room floor.

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He is nine now and in the five years we’ve had Moose (he was a rescue dog my husband and I adopted in 2019), I........

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