What an adorable dog! Of course you will miss her. When you decide the time is right for another dog, please consider adopting from a shelter - I'm sure Ariel would approve.
Right now I'm with a stray who's over 13 (don't know how much over). I see it coming, but I don't want to look. In the last year he's much slower, has a harder time getting upright. He'll be with a friend when I return to Europe. A very intelligent animal.
I just try to have as many good walks on the beach as possible, let him go his own speed. Enjoy what time I have with him.
In other words, I've been there before and will be there again. They just don't live long enough. It just shows you how precious each moment really is.
You should adopt another dog, but wait until the time is right to do so. It wouldn't be so great to rush right out and adopt a new puppy right after your dog just died. That's what I did. I had three dogs and they passed more than 10 years ago and just last year, my mom let us adopt my year old newfoundland/lab/collie, Bear and then we adopted last December, my 8 months year old lab Riley.
