I hear ya. Lost my first rottie after she turned 9, which was a long life....Large dog just live hard and fast. Best dog in the world. I've lost 3 other rotties since then. 2 were stolen and the last one was poisoned. Decided to spare another rottie (and myself) the pain and just wait till I can have enough space to keep 'the humans' away from her. I really hope that it won't get u down too much. Consider yourself blessed for having such a good friend for 8 years straight, right? I'm sure he felt that way ;)