Very comforting to hear how your dog passed. Not a dry eye in your house, I'm sure.
Not a single one. Zeus was very special. He was trained in Holland as a Service/Protection Dog and was supposed to be assigned to the US Army. Interesting enough, while one of the most certified Dogs, he would not stay for over 4 hours without movement and determined not to qualify for service. He would only stay still on command for 3 hours before he would start looking at his commander to release. Thankfully- but his training from birth to 5 y/o was very tough.
As he became a "pet" - you could not get up out of a seat at any time during the day or night without him getting up to follow you. Around the pool, he would circle at all times to make sure everyone was safe and jumped in a few times when he thought someone may be in danger. And he also would try to curl up on your lap, kiss you etc when needed.
We almost lost him to grief when our younger dog died, who was his very best friend. He came back to us when we got a new puppy and he became her older brother.
To see this big strong independent being have to spend a year in complete dependance on us for everything was difficult. But as I said, he stayed with a smile, love, fun, playfulness and without pain. For more than a year, I woke up twice a night to make sure he was clean, comfortable and would flip him from side to side. And he still smiled and wanted his next treat or food.
He only started to fail a couple of days ago and started to refuse to eat or drink. We tried to feed him via a medicine tube. Which worked but we knew he was holding on for us. There are a couple of people on this board who met Zeus, and they know who this gentle giant was.
My wife, she prayed that we would never have to make choice with Zeus and told our Vet a couple of months ago that in her perfect world, Zeus would leave at home, in her lap, with her singing and without pain.
We had just carried him outside on his bed a moment after she told him it was ok to leave. He was laying there peacefully when I felt it. I ran in to get his little sister, we came out and she sat with him, or "on him" my wife singing/crying, head in her lap and I just held him. He took two deep breaths and I felt him stop.
It is painful but may also be one of the perfect, most beautiful and unbelievable moments I will ever experience.