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In my community newsletter there is a column by the local vet. I am including a shortened version.
The doctor had been called in to examine a 10 year old Irish Wolfhound named Belker. The dog's owners and their little boy were very attached and were hoping for a miracle. Unfortunately after examining Belker Dr. Jackson had to inform them that their beloved companion had advanced cancer....and there wasn't anything they could do for him. The doctor offered to come to perform the euthanasia procedure for their dear old dog in their home....so they could say good-bye in a non clinical setting. The parents decided it would be best for their son Shane to be included.
The next day "I felt the familiar catch in my throat as Belker's family surrounded him. Shane seemed so calm, petting the old dog for the last time, that I wondered if he understood what was going on. Within a few minutes Belker slipped peacefully away.
The little boy seemed to accept Belker's transition without any difficulty or confusion. We sat together for awhile after Belker's death, wondering aloud about the sad fact that animal lives are shorter than human lives.
Shane who had been listening quietly piped up, "I know why."
Startled we all turned to him....
He said, "People are born so that they can learn how to live a good life--like loving everybody all the time and being nice, right? The 6 year old continued...."Well dogs already know how to do that, so they don't have to stay so long."
Have heard that touching story before but thanks for sharing as it is a story worth not only retelling but rehearing many times
It was written in the first person by the local vet.....I assumed it was a story from his practice....but maybe it is an old one.... I agree....it is a story worth retelling and rehearing.
I love this piece too and I hope the OP doesn't mind me adding another...along the same vein....
"I have sometimes thought of the final cause of dogs having such short lives and I am quite satisfied it is in compassion to the human race; for if we suffer so much in losing a dog after an acquaintance of ten or twelve years, what would it be if they were to live double that time?"
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I agree....it is a story worth retelling and rehearing. 
