Phil goes to Europe and leaves his favorite dog with his brother James.
while in Europe, Phil calls James to check on his dog and asks: "so James,
hows my favorite dog doing??" and James very tersely says

"Your dog is dead" "

What??" says Phil   "you can't just tell someone their favorite dog is dead
without a warning, you have to ease them into it."

"How" says James. "Well, the first day i call, tell me my dog is on the
roof" remarked Phil "tell me the dog is going to be fine and not to worry.

The next day, when I call to ask about my dog, tell me thatyou were about
to get her down, when it junpped off of the roof and broke its leg, tell me
the doctors say it will be ok,but it will have to stay at the vets for a
while. Are you getting all of this???" "Yes" says

James" "Good." remarks Phil. "then the next day when i call back, tell me
that there was severe internal bleeding that the vet didn't pick up and
that my favorite dog died at 2:00 this morning. that way it won't be such a
shock to me. Got it??"

"Yes." "Good, so, hows Grandma doing?" asks Phil.

"Well..." James replies "she's on the roof"