He died this morning on his own. I had just made it to the a jobsite when I got the call from my wife...that sucked. Anyways, initial x-rays showed no blockage, no masses, nothing of note. Bloodwork was clean, no joint problems, what the ####? We thought it could possibly be a tick-related issue. He went to the vet Tuesday for a followup and they kept him overnight for fluids and antibiotics. The vets said it wasn't time and they wouldn't string us along. He did OK inthe night, wife went Wednesday to check on him and he had been out to pee. He ate a tiny bit of food and went back to rest. They did another x-ray and found lots of fluid in his chest mixed with blood. This led us to another couple of potential causes of all his sudden issues. One problem had to do with the esophagus and is treatable. The other(s) are untreatable, especially in older dogs. WE e knew what we probably had to do, but the vet encouraged us to give him another night and see if the diuretic could drain the fluid and help his breathing. Wife said we would do that, but he was staying at home last night. She brought him home and he laid on his dog bed. The kids got to pet him and we each spent some time with him. He actually raised his head up for the kids which was really nice to see. He had some morphine, so he slept some, but his breathing got REALLY labored. I kissed him this morning and went to work. Wife said he got up and followed her into the baby's room while she changed him which was a good sign, up and walking around. Went back into our room to his bed and died a few minutes later...####.