Writing from a dog's point of view . . . and getting weepy

Gentle Readers:

I am working on my third novel, and one of the major characters is a Golden Retriever named Grace. She's a service dog, a Hurricane Katrina survivor, and also a READ dog (she listens to children who are learning to read. I am not kidding---dogs are trained to do this and they are wonderful). I am even writing a scene from her point of view (a dog does have a point of view).

Here's the problem: We are currently without any pets at all, after 18 years of having the love and...