The house has been too quiet this week.No heavy paws shuffling down the hallway. No soft snores rising from the corner of the couch. No tail thumping against the floor when I reach for my shoes. Just silence. It’s the kind that settles deep into your bones – the kind that doesn’t just mean something is missing, but someone. That someone was Percy, my dog. My protector, my constant, my friend. He died last week after nine years of being the heart of our home.His absence is felt everywhere. The couch seems bigger and the rooms feel still. In that quiet, I thought about something we all already knew – pets aren’t just pets; they are family. They provide the rhythm in our lives, the soft weight that keeps us grounded and the presence that quietly gives us more love than we ever knew we needed.Percy came into my life when he was just eight months old. I didn’t know it then, but I needed him just as much as he needed me. He walked right up...