
Saying goodbye to a loved one is never easy.

So when photographer Maria Sharp saw the days with her beloved dog Chubby were limited, she decided to hold a final photo shoot to pay tribute to her oldest friend.

Chubby’s health began to decline a few years ago and she suffered from cognitive dysfunction.

Recently, she got worse - and Maria made the difficult decision to have Chubby put down.

Maria, from Cleveland, Ohio, dedicated a recent blog post to Chubby with the title: 'My favourite part of myself: An ode to a girl's best friend.

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In a touching tribute to her beloved dog Chubby, Maria Sharp poses with her pet to capture their eternal bond

Sadly, Chubby was put down shortly after the pictures were taken by Maria's friend and Suzanne Price

'We made the decision to let her go': Sadly, Chubby died soon after these pictures were taken

Despite her numerous ailments while these pictures were taken, Chubby holds her pose like a pro

After 16 years together, Maria made the decision to have Chubby put down as she was too weak for surgery

She wrote: 'She started vomiting and stopped eating all together.

'She got some medicine to help with the nausea but that didn’t seem to work. Between her anxiety and vomiting, she was up all night.

'I knew she wasn’t comfortable and her time was coming soon – way sooner than I had anticipated.'

She added: 'Surgery was the only sure fire way to fix it and we knew she was too weak for surgery.

'We made the decision to let her go.'

Maria brought Chubby home from the pound when she was seven and described her as her 'oldest friend'

'She was there for all of my birthdays even if just in the background,' wrote Maria in a heartfelt blog post

'I think I’ll miss her cuddles the most. And getting to come home and pick her up or sneak a peek at her while she’s sleeping'

Pictured at Christmas in the 1998. 'Chubby was always around for Christmas or Easter or whatever holiday I got to open something on,' said Maria

Maria admits that when she moved to college, the hardest adjustment for her was not having a dog

Maria, a 23-year-old photographer from Cleveland, has captured their 16 years together in pictures

But before Chubby passed, Maria's friend and fellow photographer Suzanne Price captured the bond they shared for sixteen years.

Maria, 23, described Chubby as her oldest friend who completed her family when she and her mother adopted the pup from a pound.

'We got her from the pound when I was seven years old,' she said.

'Being the impatient seven year old that I was I would wake her up from her puppy naps so we could play.

'I just wanted someone to enjoy life with. I keep catching myself using human pronouns. Chubby isn’t just a dog.

'She’s my longest and best friend.'

Maria added: 'Since it was just me and my mom in the house, Chubby added something our family really needed. Chubby was my person. The person I ran home to to tell about my day.'

She explains Chubby taught her how to 'listen, love and how to be a friend.'

'I think I’ll miss her cuddles the most. And getting to come home and pick her up or sneak a peek at her while she’s sleeping,' she added.

Chubby suffered from numerous ailments including cataracts and cognitive dysfunction - Alzheimers for dogs

'She was my favorite part of myself': Chubby has been there for Maria for all the big moments in her life

The heart-warming pictures capture a bond that lasted 16 years before Maria made the difficult decision

Chubby was a great teacher and taught Maria how to 'listen, love and how to be a friend' over the years