Explain some similarities between Candy and his dog and George and Lennie in Of Mice and Men.

The most evident of the similarities between both
situations is that one in each must die.  Candy lets Carlson shoot his dog when the old
canine is no longer of use and when others fail to support the dog's ability to live. 
Candy lives with the guilt of letting someone else kill something that he loved so
much.  In much the same way, George is forced to kill Lennie rather than let others kill
him.  Both Candy's dog and Lennie are shot away from the eyes of others.  One can even
argue that both Lennie and Candy's dog are unaware of what is happening or going to
happen to them, as Candy's dog really does not offer much in way of resistance when
Carlson approaches him and takes him out.  Lennie's last words the leave his lips are
the vision of his future and the farm that awaits him.  Both George and Candy are filled
with an immense emptiness after their companion leaves them.  It is for this reason that
Candy is so insistent on joining Lennie and George.  It is also for this reason that
George appears disconsolate at the end of the novella, besides himself with a sense of
loss that underscores the pain of what it meant to lose someone so
close.