YouTube, and forums for questions. Many popular patterns have videos.
I think places like apostrophe patterns are good for beginner patterns because they do fully custom patterns based on your measurements.
For a starter machine, definitely do research, because shitty sewing machines suck to use soooo much and pull any fun out of sewing. People online seem to really like Juki. My girlfriend has a brother, and it definitely feels kinda cheap and has trouble with thick stuff sometimes.
If you’re really into sewing, a serger is totally worth it, A cover stitch is nice to have.
As others have said/implied, you should have in inkling “when it’s time”. As long as the dog is still happy, it is cruel to put them down.
We had a 12 year old with back/knee issues. He had trouble getting up on his own towards the end, but there was always someone there to help. Then one day he couldn’t stay up for more than 15 minutes. He was already on meds, and there weren’t any options without him being miserable.