Wife and I went to the dog pound 12 years ago to get a dog. I walked right by what I thought was a mangy old dog. Next thing I know Wife is walking that mangy old dog around the shelter's yard.
"Why the heck are you considering that mangy old dog."
"She not old, she's just really dirty."
Her name is Nantucket Rose. We decided on our honeymoon on Nantucket Island in 1989 that if we ever got a dog we would name it Nantucket and call it Tucker for short. Since she is female we added the "Rose" which is apropos if you know Nantucket at all.
She has fatty cysts and cancer bumps all over her body. Two of her feet have some sort of infection that I can hinder by giving her an anti-biotic daily. Her hearing went gradually over the past two years such that I can only communicate with her via hand signals or by putting my chin on her head and saying "Good Girl" and "I love you" hoping she will hear/feel it. She is old and generally sore. She is super obedient even with the hand signals.
She is the happiest being I've ever met.