Some dogs are easy to care for their entire lives.

You know the ones that come when you call, and walk without pulling and choking themselves on a leash. And the "easy" ones who also seem to live out their lives with minimal need for runs to the vet or emergency care.

Then there are dogs like Argyle.

Things have not always been so smooth and easy for my 11-year-old Scottish Terrier.

We won't even discuss his stubborn streak or my struggles to get him to walk on a leash without staging a rebellion on the way back. Nor do we need to touch on his almost insane dislike of anything with wheels. Let's just say I have many-a-time carried a miffed Scottie home after some unsuspecting bike rider had the audacity to ride by.

This of course does not count medical calamities along the way.

In his little more than a decade of life he has managed to swallow chunks of supposedly dog-safe toys, and yes a few bandages.

Then of course there have been the emergency races to the vet's office after the feisty Scot got stung by a bee he tried to - well - consume only to find out he's allergic.

This also doesn't take into account the tussles with fleas that apparently mistook his long fringed coat as a Carnival cruise and came aboard.

PHOTO ELA NAYOR FLORIDA WEEKLY Nayor's 11-year-old Scottish Terrier Argyle But through out all of the scrapes, bumps, a case of prostrate disease, Scottie Cramp and oh - yes bloat after wolfing down a can of dog food - Argyle has snapped back happy and believe or not sound as ever.

In between all of the mini-crises, a bond akin to having a child blossomed. Argyle and I became partners in everything. He accompanied me across country during my many youthful adventures including sniffing out the Painted Desert in New Mexico and surveying the immense red craters of the Grand Canyon.

In Hawaii he found divine beaches and love with an older and sizably bigger German Shepherd named Nani.

And in Kentucky he checked out blue grass country and had his first fenced in yard.

When we reached Florida seven years ago he drew the attention and love of many, including neighbors who marveled at his feistiness during one occasion when he leaped into the air and swiped some teens football and ran off with it.

Life might not be easy with Argyle but it certainly has not been dull.

Yet about a month ago his nine-lives or whatever luck dogs have got maxed out when he was diagnosed with cancer.

As many of you fellow pet lovers probably know, there is nothing worse than realizing that our special furry friend will eventually have to depart us.

But I didn't expect to be hit so hard.

My life whirled about me as his vet told me over the phone that a fleshy pink mass recently removed from between his paw pads was not only cancerous but the most d a n g e r o u s type - a level three mast cell tumor.

Cancer - the word alone made me numb.

My bewhiskered protector from spiders, villains and the assorted emotional slings and arrows of life could be taken away from me?

Like I said before things have never been easy with this dog.

Over the next month with the support of family, friends and what seemed an entire medical team including an oncologist from the Tampa based Emergency Vet Services, Argyle and I grappled with extensive tests and talks of treatment.

My heart sunk as I imagined my beloved Scottie hooked up to radiation machinery and IV units dispensing chemotherapy through his furry little limbs for weeks.

After intense discussions with loved ones and caring vets and long soul searching I decided to spare my senior dog the possible implications of treating him. I do not want to prolong Argyle's life at his expense, including a compromised immune system, to alleviate my fear of letting go.

Luckily the cancer has not spread from his paw where the tumor was removed.

But now is the wait and see time.

And I guess that's all any of us can do is wait and hope.

As I write, Argyle is lying next to me wearing a new canary yellow band

a n n a . Somehow the bright happy color suits the situation.

I am going to enjoy and revel in every moment I have left with my cantankerous, stubborn and beloved friend before life forces us apart.

In other pet news:

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