Peeps that had to put their pets down.

One of my favorite pics.... having a nap with her toy.







She's a lemon Beagle. Now-a-days she's a white Beagle.

 

So sorry you are having to go through this.

For me I just knew when it was time. We had to put our german shepherd to sleep last summer. He was diagnosed with lymphoma and only a few days later he wasn't eating much and was having a hard getting up off the floor. Our last night together I took him out to do his business and he would just lay on the ground. I had to help him up and in the house. He stayed in the kitchen all night and didn't move much. Thats when I knew we were going to have to do it. The next morning I was having second thoughts but when I took him out again and he layed down in the grass and didn't want to move and when I went to help him up he yelped and mouthed my arm telling me he was in pain, and that took away any second thoughts that I'd had.

Something that I have read several times since is to make a list of 4 or 5 things like toys, food, walks, that they love and when they don't show intrest in 3 then it's time. Hope this helps.

 

I know some might think this is kinda weird but WE.
The story I told about my wife's dog.
It was actually kinda nice to do it that way.
The put them out. Let you say goodbye and then are able to stay or go when they push the final drug. After that we actually had her cremated through the vet and were able to pick her up a few days later. She was in a nice small wood chest with her name engraved in it. It was more for my wife but she was happy to still have her around. That was just an option I wanted to let you know of.
Some might think that it's a lot for your dog but some don't realize what a big part our dogs play in our lives.
Whatever your decision when that time comes is not weird or the feeling are just what they are.
Unless you have them stuffed and mounted.

 

Sad stuff. Sorry Renee.

 

Sorry to hear this, it really is an awful thing to go through...we just did it with our two cats (about 6 months apart)... the down side to getting two kittens at the same time...is that they die around the same time as well..it was really hard. I will say when all was said and done, we were glad we made the decision. If anything, I would say we waited too long. It is a very peaceful process...but it is really hard to do. When you spend so much time with your animal, and care for them, its hard to make that decision...but as a loving companion, you owe it to them to make sure they have a great life and a nice exit if you can. You want to make sure you are not going to extreme measures for selfish (unintentional of course) purposes. We waited too long with our first cat because we did not want to lose her...we were much better with the second...and we felt better after the second than the first...we wanted there to be a sign with the first...that she was just not going to make it...and by doing so, I think we cost her some extra unnecassary pain. With the second, we watched the lab levels...we could see him in decline...his blood levels were going in the wrong direction...and he was not eating well, etc. So we were more pro-active. That was the better call in my opinion.

 

Thanks everyone. Your stories really help.

Guarding the house of ghouls. She was 15 here.

 

Renee has only had two dogs in her life, and Chancey (the beagle) was her first, and she's had her since she was a puppy.

Even so, for the past 10 or so years, Chance has been just as much my buddy as any ol' dawg can be. I've lost dogs and cats before, but I've never had to make "the call", which is tuff to imagine, but I do "get it", and know that soon, we'll be having to do that. I suppose I'm having a hard time getting past making a phone call and saying "Hi...can you come over and put my dog down?"

I'm normally not one to get too sad about such things, but this one is hard to consider. However, as Renee mentioned, that darned ol' hound has definitely been getting the royal treatment for a couple of years. I actually suggested to Renee "Why would Chance want to leave THIS? That's why she's sticking around..."

Thanks for all your stories and understanding everyone.

 

I definitely know how it feels! I had a Boston terrier I found limping around the streets in the pouring down rain with a broken leg, many years ago. Posted signs and no one claimed him, so we held onto him, and he became my best friend! He was THE greatest dog I've ever owned, or will ever own! He was so much fun, and made everyone that ever met him laugh! As he got older, he had gotten cancer, and it was removed, and we hoped it was the end of that, but it came back even stronger than the first time. We had him on some special meds that helped him quite a bit, but they cost right about $300 every week for them.

He eventually got to the point where he couldn't control his bladder anymore, and you could tell he felt bad when he would pee in the house just by the look on his face. Especially since he was ALWAYS house trained and never had problems with it. He would be walking through a room and just start peeing all of a sudden. Shortly after that we knew it was time. It was one of the hardest decisions I've ever made, and I doubted myself many, many times before and after that thinking there had to have been more we could've done, even though there wasn't.

And one thing that helped ease my mind, was when he was on the table, the doctor gave him the medicine to relax him, and he wiggled himself around and put his head in my hands, and no more than the doctor started the next injection, he was gone. He had passed before that injection was even finished. He knew it was time, and felt like he was telling me it would be ok, and that he's going to be just fine now.

It's definitely a very hard decision, but you need to decide if your keeping him alive for your sake, or his. Good luck with your decision, and I wish you the best for you and your furry friend!

 

As everyone has said, our dogs really are family members. You dog definitely looks very spunky ......the only thing I can add is that our retriever died while we were gone but I knew he was in bad shape the night before. He was having trouble standing and knew I would be needing to make some decisions soon. When we found him, he looked like he had had a seizure and he was by the door. Although harder for us, I wish we could have been there when he passed so that we could have comforted him....that he suffered alone still haunts me.....