Mike,
Our sympathies go with you. I never had a dog. We were more a cat family. My son and his wife did, however, have several black labs. I became really attached to them. There for a while I thought we would only have "grand doggers". It was funny at the time when the two labs (at that time about 100 pounds each climbed into my lap). They must not have forgotten that I had the two of them in my lap when they were little guys. The memories we have of them are the most important part of the equation. Sorry for your loss.
Art and Maureen