saying goodbye

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my boy is going to be 16 later this year and everyday i'm faced with the fact that these are his final days. He has had a heart condition for 5 years now and is in the final stages of heart failure and getting to the point were either his medication wont help him much longer or we will have to up the dosages to a close to dangerous level. I have had this little man since i was 7 years old and have gone through everything with him he was the one i talked to when i got in fights with my parents, he was the one i cried on after my first break up (and several since then) he was the one i moved out with and he was the one who helped me make the decision of which career i wanted for myself. I swear if he was a person he would be my soul mate. Me and him have grown alot together he went from being the snarly puppy that no one could handle (i have several family members with scars to prove it although he never once even growled at me) to a therapy dog and mascot at my work that he is now. He has come to every job I have ever had from delivering newspapers when i was 11 to managing a dog kennel and now working at the local humane society and in a pet food store. HE has been there every step of the way and now that he's getting older and in the final days not a day go's by that i don't shed a tear at the thought of life without him. He has an enlarged heart which causes him to cough frequently which up until the last few week as been kept under control by medication but now he coughs most of the day when awake and i get several comments a day from customers saying its cruel to keep him alive or that I shouldn't let him suffer but every day he still wakes up and run's to the door to go to work even if he stops at the door to cough first. he still gets excited about his meals and he still does his full trick routine when he thinks you might just have a cookie in your hand. he does sleep allot more then before and the cough does seem like it might be uncomfortable although that vet has insured me that he's not in any pain and that his treat of frozen yogurt twice a day is enough to sooth his throat. I know that when the day comes that he no longer gets excited about th simple things in life I will make that decision for him even if its the hearest decision of my life. My question is though why does everyone just assume he's old and I should put him down? even my parents have stated that I should get a new dog instead of keeping him. Is having a dog not a lifelong decision? why now that he's old and requiring some extra care does everyone give up on him?