Hi Katey, Having gone thru the same grief, and still going through it, I feel for you.
But can I suggest the best way around it is to get another older male dog, a needy affectionate dog, who won't replace your lost pet, but will worm his way into your heart as well. I got a wolfhound cross before I felt ready, and he is so needy and affectionate there is no way I can not respond to him. It's not disloyal to my other lost dog, I've just made room for another one.
I know you thought of getting a dog needing a home from interstate but you are probably betting going to Save a Dog, Aaps and Blue Cross and seeing and petting the dogs there There will be one that comes and sticks his head under your arm and looks at you and you will know he is the right dog. And if the right one is not there on the day one will turn up soon.
Good luck. We all go through the loss because their lives are so short compared to ours.
This is a poem that was at my vet's office that was written by Irving Townsend in memory of his greyhound 'Sheba'.
"We who choose to surround ourselves
With lives even more
Temporary than our own
Live within a fragile circle
Easily and often breached.
Unable to accept its awful gaps,
We still would live no other way."
Irving Townsend