Despite being diagnosed with aggressive skin cancer in August and the vet suggesting he be put down there and then, my 12 year old dallie not only gave us our xmas wished and lived to go away on holidays with us, he's absolutely bossed it, you wouldn't even know he's sick despite a massive growth on his leg. He even managed to retrieve almost every parrot fish we caught and released by, swimming after them, sticking his entire head under water to grab it, and proceeded to eat them all alive.
Greatest dog ever.