Putting your pet to sleep...

Sorry CB.

 

Sorry, I know how much it sucks. Good on you for taking in an older dog and Labs are the best.

 

Good on you for taking care of him.

 

Our mobile is about as special a person as you can get. Remember that they are almost always dealing with people in the worst possible situation and that takes a toll on them as well. I make her a part of the annual health care of our animals as well so she isn't just visiting us when times are sad.

Thank you for taking in the old man. Older animals and those with heavy medical needs often get over looked in favor of younger, healthier puppies. You are a champion.

 

CB I'm sorry for your loss. As others have said, good on you for taking in a senior dog.

 

I will be taking my sweet little Lilly to see the vet one final time this afternoon. She came into my life 10 years ago as an abused rescue, afraid of everything and mean as snot. Over time she became a sweet little beggar and I am really going to miss her. She started to get sick a few weeks ago and we discovered that she had advanced cancer. At my mothers request I brought her home to spend a littl etime before the inevitable and over the weekend I decided that it was time to let her go. I wanted to wait until her favorite vet was available.

My little girl always loved car rides so I can at least give her one more.

 

Thanks guys. I kind of have a soft spot for old Labs. I think we will be staying with just 2 dogs for now though.
Shortly after getting Gordo(we already had Cooper, my best friend), we got another Chocolate Lab puppy(Duncan). Well he's kind of a sensitive little guy emotion wise and doesn't handle change/stress well. We fostered a special needs Lab a couple years ago(so that was 4 dogs), and Duncan was so stressed out he was literally spraying blood out of his ass. We determined it was stress related. So yeah, maybe no changes in the house for a while...

 

I mentioned this in the thread I started about losing my girls, Amber and Ellie. If it’s all all possible, please consider having your pets put to sleep at your home. We used a group called Laps of Love. It was perfect for us. The dogs were in familiar surroundings, with their own blankets/beds, getting treats, etc. Then, when you’re ready, the process begins. I cannot imagine doing it any other way.

 

So sorry to hear of your loss, CB. Hang in there.

 

Absolutely agree. Best option if you have the luxury. Have done it both ways and pet hospice is where it’s at. So much more peaceful.

Sorry for you loss.

 

You did SO much for him.
RIP Gordo

 

This thread really hits home, we had to put our 16 year old Shepherd mix down last Christmas. Now, my 17 year old Husky mix isn't doing well. He's had a good life and it's certainly not unexpected but his hips are weak, I have to help him get up out of his bed at least 2-3 times a day. This has become much worse over the past month. Once he's up he's ok and even jogs around after he poops, must be a big event to him. In addition I'm fairly sure he has dementia. He has to stay in our walk out basement because he can't go up and down the stairs, plus he never gets comfortable upstairs for some reason. Anyways, he whines a lot at night time and sometimes barks for no apparent reason. I try and go down and spend time with I'm but it's not easy with two young kids. The past two nights I've slept on the couch in the basement with him and that seemed to help. How do you absolutely know when it's time to put them down? It was evident with our Shepherd as one day she simply couldn't get up and wouldn't eat anything, even sausage I gave her. Sorry for the long post but it's the only thing that's been on my mind the past few days, thanks.

 

It's hard call but you have to think of his quality of life. It is so hard to tell when they are in pain as their natural instincts are wired to hide weakness so by the time they get vocal about it they are usually in a pretty fair amount of pain. Pack animals want to be with the pack so being isolated in the basement isn't ideal but then falling down a flight of stairs on wobbly legs wouldn't ideal either. I'd try really hard to accommodate him on the main floor if I could. At the point that he can't get up well even with help or it becomes painful then you have to start thinking perhaps about the end. At the moment you aren't sure have the mobile vet come and do an assessment. They can help you by giving an honest opinion. An outside perspective is always good as we tend to see what we want to see.

We do things I think others would find odd for our animals. We had a couple that got old enough to no longer be able to jump up and down off the bed so we moved the mattress to the living room floor and slept in there for almost a year to accommodate them. I'll do whatever I can to make it easy on them. If that means a hardship for me then I'll deal with it if it makes it easier on them.

Losing my little teddy bear this weekend I feel like I didn't make the call when I should have made it. We were on the phone actively arranging for it to happen in the next hour when she erupted in to labored breathing and headed for the basement. In the 5 seconds it took me to get from where I was to the garage door to pick her up she had already collapsed. Not sure what she was panicking about when I picked her up and started out the door to let her throw up, pooh or whatever she needed to do and before I made it across the drive way she took one last breathe and went limp in my arms as soon as the sunlight hit her. I fell like I let her down. It wasn't the peaceful end I wanted for her. You don't want to give up on them too soon but even a little late sometimes is too late.

Think of him first and you can't make the wrong decision.

 

Sounds like a perfect way to go bud.

 

I feel for anyone who has had cause to post in this thread. They give us so much and we're so good at keeping them alive and happy that this is now the most common end (it seems).

The shepherd mix in my profile pic was a healthy 10.5 year old, super active, but had a massive stroke (which he recovered from fast) which led to finding a major tumor on his adrenal gland. Long story short, even though he seemed healthy, it was only a matter of time before the next stroke or heart attack and there was no promise that one would get him either. He got to go out without having to swallow his pride all day every day which would have destroyed his spirit.

 

So are you giving him anything for pain management? If not, talk to your vet about Metacam(like liquid ibuprofen for dogs) or another option. Get him up stairs with with the rest of the family and make sure you spend some time with him. If its tine, its time. It always suck, but you can turn back time, and they only live so long.

 

Went through this yesterday with my 11yr old Shepherd. She just lost all ability to use her back legs over 2-3 weeks. Could barely make it to her water bowl or across the house back to her bed. I thought to myself that if I drove by and saw someone on the lawn like me carrying their dogs back end I’d say that it isn’t fair, that’s about all that’s consoling me. My wife and I are heart broken and it made it especially hard because she was healthy and happy otherwise.

 

We went through that with our terrier, but nowhere near as quick a progression. Got gradually worse over the course of about 2-3 years, and she was almost 16 when we made the decision. Was a condition called degenerative myelopathy, which it seems is relatively common in older dogs of certain breeds.

If it happened over 2-3 weeks, that sounds more like a fast-growing tumor?

Sorry about your pup.

 

It was the same thing (couldn’t remember want it was called). She had troubles for about 6 months but it took a quick turn recently. We had blood work and xrays done a month ago and everything came back ok. I’ve been trying to prepare for it for awhile but we all know it’s impossible.

Thanks for the kind words