[BarbaRosa]

my dog, who is actually a joint custody dog at this point, which means i see her when i pick up my kid and sometimes get the dog for an evening or overnight, my dog is old.

She has a multitude of issues at this point, eyes going blind, she has both knees rebuilt and sore hips and an old injury that acts up with a ruptured disk in her shoulderblade area and of late has been starting to drop wieght, went deaf, and is starting to have labored breathing.

The odds are that she has a growth in her throat that is also effecting hearing. We are switching her diet, going to start a high dose of antibacterial incase she has somehting else, but, because of her age, we are not going to sedate her for a biopsy cause they could not DO anything with what the likely symptoms are...

now the issue is, I could handle divorce, I can handle tendon issues in my fingers from climbing, I can handle many many things stoicly... but the pending death of my dog.......


just ... is the hardest thing....

what have you all done to grieve? to honor your dogs last days? I have started looking for a dog to have at my house, ideally a puppy ish so I can train it right.... but may do a rescue dog.

feedback?

I do not remember sadness like this... loseing my dog...

 

[LordOpie]

man, that sucks. I'm sorry to hear that. I wish you could spend more time with your buddy.

There's nothing you can do to get rid of the pain of losing someone you care about... just time. Well, drugs, but that road sucks.

If you do want to get involved in some other dog's life, but don't want him forever, you could foster a greyhound. A neighbor brings one home every once in a while to help the dog transistion from racetrack to a new home.

 

[Evel Monkey]

Dont want to sound cruel, but this is it.

Give her some minced steak then do what needs to be done, either the vet or yourself.

Honor her by making it painless, and remembering the years of enjoyment you both provided each other.




(not directed to you, cuz I don't know the situation)

Far to many time I have seen owners try to hold on to their pet, trying to prolong it's life, when the best thing to do is what they are scared to do, say goodbye.

Sorry if this came as harsh.

 

[BarbaRosa]

i agree... luckily my ex does too, not to prolong suffering of animals.

here she is with my kid... Cante (Chan-TEH) is a Lakota Souix name for heart, or 'she who sings from the heart'

 

[reflux]

We had a golden retriever that we had to put to sleep on Valentine's Day. His life was pretty difficult the last few months and we knew that he wasn't going to las tmuch longer. My parents, having gone through this before, did two things right. We made sure he had plenty to eat of both his dog food and the good stuff that he used to rarely get, despite the fact that he would throw the food right back up later. Secondly, my parents put him to sleep at the vet's recommendation. He could've lived a little longer, but his life would've been miserable. He brought a lot of pleasure and happiness to our lives, the least we could've done for him was to make sure he would die happy and as painless as possible.

I wouldn't suggest getting another dog so soon. Give yourselves time to grieve and get over your dog. When you're ready for a new dog, you'll better enjoy that dog for who he/she is, rather than just an animal to replace the empty part in your life.

 

[laura]

my parents yellow lab has a tumor in his head. they think they will have to out him to sleep before the end of june. he is sick, and hasnt been the same dog for months. i hate to see him like that and think they should have put him to sleep a while back. im sorry for your dog. that really is rough.

 

[Rip]

That really bites, sorry to hear.

 

[slcpunk21]

Sorry to hear bro, but it sounds like you know what is going on and have a good heart. I'm sure she see's it too and if you do have to say good bye sooner than you'd like she'll know you are doing the right thing and appreciate the last thing you did for her.. to end her pain.

When it was time for me to put my cat down I took her home and burried her out back next to my tree. I will always remember her, and I know it was her time. The hardest part is realizing what you have.... that her time is here. So no that you have gotten that part done, the rest will seem more right, than wrong.

Good luck... and it will all be well in time.

 

[mplutodh1]

Sorry to hear that.

Growing up our dog's health gradually got worse and when we saw this happening we went out and got a beagle puppy, the thought was it might prolong our older dog's life by having a "companion" at first it worked but at the end there wasnt much we could do. We had her put down after her nerve endings started firing uncontrollably and she was stuck laying down in our kitchen for a few hours, we couldnt watch the pain she must have been in and the look in her eyes. I was pissed at my parents for doing it at the time but now that I think about it I am grateful. Having our puppy (the pup we still have today!) made it a lot easier to deal with and has since been an amazing dog. It has sucked being at school and only seeing her when I am home but hey in 3 weeks I get to be home for 2 months with her, haha its great, she usually sleeps at my feet when I am home and when my parents tell her I am coming home soon she checks everynight to see if I am in my room until I actually come home, i love that dog!

 

[arsenic]

quality of life. that's all there was to it when my little australian terrier got to that point years ago. she wasn't eating too much in her last days so we brought her to the vet. turns out she had several teeth that were all but rotten and several other problems going on that would end up being very difficult for her to get over. dinkum was put to sleep at the recomendation of the vet while she was still sedated at the vets office. her quality of life for the time she had remaining would have just been nothing compared to her former years. that's why we made the decision to let her go then.

my grandparents on the other hand were greedy. they wouldn't let their dog go towards the end. the poor guy couldn't walk at all anymore cause his hips were shot. my grandfather would just drag him from spot to spot and blizzard would spend his days outside laying in the grass all day. the last time i saw the dog he couldn't even breath that well any longer. the quality of his life towards the end was not very good to say the least. i think blizzard suffered much more then he should have.

those are my thoughts given my experiences with pets. i don't envy your choices at all. and fwiw, i think reflux is right. give it some time before bringing home a new critter to share your home with.

 

[T-Dog]

Sorry to hear it; I'll be facing the same thing sooner than I care to think about......I guess I'm going to try to decide "when" based upon the level of my friend's dignity and comfort, not mine.......
hang in there.

 

[speedbump]

My thoughts are with you as you go through this. We will be facing this situation as our 10-year old cattle dog has lymphosarcoma. Knowing it is coming is an advantage. We have already discussed final arrangements with our vet even though our dog's treatment is going well and he is currently tumor free. Our vet has a pet funeral home that they deal with and in our case they will send our dog there to be cremated after he is put down. We are electing to pay a little extra for a private cremation so that we can get his ashes back and spread them on one of his favorite trails. Good luck and hang in there!

 

[stevew]

Originally posted by BarbaRosa

now the issue is, I could handle divorce, I can handle tendon issues in my fingers from climbing, I can handle many many things stoicly... but the pending death of my dog.......


just ... is the hardest thing....

what have you all done to grieve? to honor your dogs last days? I have started looking for a dog to have at my house, ideally a puppy ish so I can train it right.... but may do a rescue dog.

feedback?

I do not remember sadness like this... loseing my dog...

With my first dog, it kind of came suddenly one night during a thunderstorm. They always freaked him out and it had been raining and thunderstorming all day. After 15 years his heart was finally giving out on him. I brought him to work with me and later in the day my parents came in for the appointment to put him to sleep. I didn't stay for it and cried like a little school girl.

It isn't easy.

steve

 

[BarbaRosa]

thanks everybody

yeah, cry like a school girl. My eyes are welling up after reading all this. When I got the news/reality from her vet trip this morning... yeah, tear flowage alert.

. . .

thanks for the feedback monkey's

 

[biggins]

Originally posted by BarbaRosa
thanks everybody

yeah, cry like a school girl. My eyes are welling up after reading all this. When I got the news/reality from her vet trip this morning... yeah, tear flowage alert.

. . .

thanks for the feedback monkey's

thats is sad man, sorry to hear that. may it be as quick and painless as possible for both of you

 

[BarbaRosa]

Cante is ready... her pain levels are too high for my comfort. she can not do stairs anymore and breaths shallow and while still 'happy looking in her eyes' she is having more siezures more frequently and collapses

i took her out side at 3 am last night, had to carry her from the back yard into the house and set her in her bed. held her paw from 330 to 6 am....

i am making calls to locate a vet that will come out to the ranch where my ex is where Cante has been since 1996 and with the hourses and a small group of people... have her put to sleep ....


i want to share some pictures of her.

this is the hardest part about dogs... i dont feel this way about other pets, just my dogs.

my nieghbor said there is a very smart 12 week old doberman female that she just spayed yesterday... it is at a nearby shelter. what do you all know about doberman's and how would they be in a house with a 6 and 10 yr old, and two cats and two guys and frequent friends who would come over for 'dog time'.... another option is a 2 1/2 yr old mastif mix that has bonded with my housemate at the kennel he works at and needs a home... he is a good boy, big, needs some more training, but very friendly, a lot of energy....

here are the pics following

 

[BarbaRosa]

asking her about it...

 

[BarbaRosa]

dogs and dog kisses

 

[BarbaRosa]

it is time... this week ... making arangements...

I do not know for sure why, but I sure do love dogs more then almost anything else.

Cante will be survived by three cats, Sally, Sassy, MightyMouse, two horses, Bubba, Tubby, and three people, Sheri, Phaelan, and my self.... Justin.

May she catch that ethereal squirrl that she always chases and have endless summer afternoon's in the shade of a big tree sitting in tall grass with a full belly.

Namaste

 

[W4S]

I hear ya, my dog is my best friend. i give up more riding time for him than for anything else, and i look forward to waking up early on a saturday to take him to the park because I know how much he loves going.

be grateful that you're able to say goodbye to your partner and that you two have had a long and everlasting friendship. Giving up something you love is so hard, but you're making the right decision.

 

[jdcamb]

My prayers are with Cante and your family. God bless you all......Jim

 

[Cooter Brown]

i can't even begin to imagine what you're going thru, I have 2 labs and reading this is just tearing me up, I'm sitting at work right now bawling. My prayers are out for you man

 

[arsenic]

i think you're doing what you have to do in a great way that'll make Cante as comfortable as she can be.

be strong - remember all the fun times over the years with her.

 

[DNA]

My condolences

 

[tammy]

My heart truly goes out to you. Here are some websites which was of great comfort to me when during the loss of my cats, Missee and Gillis. http://rainbowsbridge.com/Poem.htm and http://www.petloss.com/

Yeah, I know they have that annoying realplayer popup, but there is still a lot of very helpful and supportive stuff there.

Spyder, Zoe, and I have you in our thoughts.

 

[T-Dog]

Man that's sad.....my condolences. I'm going outside to hang out with my dogs right now.

 

[LordOpie]

that sucks

I'm sorry bro.

I know how you feel... my cat's in the hospital getting tests done. He stopped eating and drinking and was nearing passing away.

If you have free time and you're bummed, come south, we'll get a beer. I'd come up to you, but I have to stay with my little buddy this weekend and feed him every few hours.

 

[BarbaRosa]

i just came home with a doberman mix female pup, 10 weeks old... very bright, responds well to input... she sits already.

this is going to be a long night, puppy crate training ... she is next to my bed.

Ruby




I thank everyone for your input and support, it has helped. my nieghbor is a vet student and had just spayed Ruby last week. and felt that she was a real good smart calm little pup... so up to Cheyenne we went, and here I am... with a pup at my side. i am alone tonight and housemate will be back sunday... my daughter will be over on monday am.... then she and i have a week vaca to spend with Ruby to get her accustomed to us and to train and aclimate her to dogs people cats and all that jazz.

thanks again everyone. I have not cried this much since like ever. it feels right to get a pup right away as i had been wanting one but did not want to infringe on Cante's time.

Namaste

 

[jaydee]

She's a cutie. I went through this with my old best friend a number of years ago, and I never could bring myself to have another dog adopt me. But you know she's used up all her time having a great life, and you will recover from the loss and feel good when you think of the things you did together.

 

[BarbaRosa]

Pic of the puppy....