Pudgie, the Shih-Tzu who Baltimore Sun columnist Kevin Cowherd loved to grumble about -- from the cost of his vet bills, to his gourmet (i.e. expensive) tastes -- died last week.

He was 16.

Cowherd estimates he'd written about Pudgie about once a year in his column since the family got him to help son Sean overcome a fear of animals.

Pudgie succeeded at that, and much more -- even though Cowherd's references to the dog over the years were cloaked in crustiness. Most often, Pudgie appeared in columns about the lengths humans go to to keep their animals happy.

"The truth was," Cowherd writes in today's paper, "everyone in the family loved the little guy, and I would have happily pulled out the VISA card every time he sneezed or eyed a can of top-shelf chow if it gave him more time on this earth." To read Cowherd's full column, click here.