Sam has always had four favorite things: 1) going for walks; 2) playing fetch with a toy; 3) barking at activity on the street; 4) gobbling down food in his bowl. We've always joked that he is "bipolar Sam;" he's an extremely sensitive dog with very high "ups" and very low "downs." He's either really, really happy, or really, really sad.

Cancer strips away so much, and it was breaking my heart that his favorite of those four, and the one he has still been able to enjoy, was being taken from him too. So I came up with a tentative solution...a wagon! We can pull him along on his regular route in the cemetery, taking him out occasionally so he can sniff around and mark his territory. But the rest of the route he can ride, and he won't get tired out.

I found the nifty wagon above at K-Mart, and risked $85 bucks (because sometimes my bright ideas don't work out so well). Well, this one did! He loves it. The first time, he was a perfect angel -- and experienced one of his high ups that lasted the whole night. We even saw another couple with two dogs, one riding in a stroller, and Sam got to bark at them. The second trip (yesterday), he tried to jump out twice (once successfully), but it was OK. This is making him happy again.