sorry about jake, sammitch.
alexis really wants to get a burmese mountain dog. they're good dogs, but have some sorta genetic defect that makes their average life span like 5 years, with the final year or so being painful to them.
i grew up with dogs (well, with people, but they
had dogs) so i'm all too familiar with how sad it is when they go. too devastating an experience to get just 5 years out of it.