About six years ago, I got a call from my parents that I was dreading: It was time to say goodbye to my childhood dog.
Alli, the energetic Jack Russell terrier who watched me and my brothers grow up, had been showing signs of her age for a while. She was nearly 17 years old, after all.
Still, the news came as a bit of a shock because less than a week earlier, Alli was running around the backyard and playing like a puppy again.
It was a classic case of an end-of-life rally.
The phenomenon is common in pets and humans alike, but doesn’t change the inevitable.