putting the dog down

Well it has finally happened, Sparkler the 14 year old mutt who has been a great dog has to be put down. Sparks was my wifes dog who had him since he was a puppy and who moved in with us when we got married. I loathed the dog ever since the 1st time I met him, but I do have to say that he has been 100% loyal, totally obeident, and is an all around great dog.

We woke up this morning to liquid S*#T all over the house, on his bed, and him laying in it on his bed. This is the 2nd time this has happened in less than a month and numerous times the past year. I've usually been the one to clean things up but this time it was my wife who had the pleasure. Now she understand what I've been telling her for the past 2 years that he is failing, and she called the vet and made the decision on her own.

She's beaten up about the whole situation and I must say that I am a little bit too. Hopefully it won't cost an arm and leg to have the procedure done. We'll see this afternoon.

Good luck man, just done this myself, its hard, but better for the dog, they can do this alone, so we have to.

Yeah I know. She doesn't want to be the one to take him there so I am. They are giving us the option of cremation or take him home and burry him. I think cremation cost $200 -$300 not sure yet.

I am sorry for your loss... I had a 90 lb German Shepard since she was a pup. She was 13 when we put her down in April... hips gave out and she could not walk or even stand.

Yeah that's sparks problem too. Can't even support himself with his hind legs, hardly eats at all, and is noticiably in pain. I think he's just hanging around cause he thinks he has to protect us or something.

Sorry for you loss dude. I'm not looking forward to the day we have to do the same thing.

Not an easy decision to make. In the end, it's about what is right for them. If he's in pain, and there's no way to relieve it, it may be his time.

We put ours of 17 years down last January. Put our cat of 13 years down last week. It's always a painful thing.

My recommendation would be to pay for the cremation. You don't want to have to bury him. It's not easy, physically or emotionally.

A buddy of mine just had to make that decision yesterday with his fairly young (7 yo?) German Shepherd who was diagnosed with osteosarcoma. It is never an easy decision, even when you know it has to be done. I had to go through it was a 13 yo Newfoundland which I had since I was 6 years old, and I'm not looking forward to that time coming with my Basset (my first truly "my" dog).

Farking wife decided to prolong the dogs life longer with tests, prescriptions, X-rays, etc...with no damn guarantee on any of it. I'm so pissed! $488 down the tube when the vet said dog could have 2 months to 1 year left. totally bent her over and she wouldn't listen to me cause i'm the insensitive *******.

Sorry to hear that. My wife has had our golden retriever for 13 years now... All I can say is that I'm dreading the day we have to inevitably make that decision.

Time for a tribute brew

Native302 said:

Farking wife decided to prolong the dogs life longer with tests, prescriptions, X-rays, etc...with no damn guarantee on any of it. I'm so pissed! $488 down the tube when the vet said dog could have 2 months to 1 year left. totally bent her over and she wouldn't listen to me cause i'm the insensitive *******.

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My fiancee did the same thing withn her old cat, pumped hundreds of $$ into it to try and keep her alive. Cat had cancer, I was pissed too but got over it, made her happy. Cat eventually got worse and she decided to put her to sleep on her own, already made the vet call by the time she told me. I went with her to vet, very sad day. Felt bad for cat, I sat in back of car during the drive, kept looking at me like it was asking what was going on. really bad to see fiancee cry. Only bad things about pets, we way outlive them.

Let it go (unless you are in forclosure/unemployed) it will pass and you will feel better for it.

It's terribly tough to give up on a friend. Don't blame her for wanting too.

I would encourage letting the dog go at this point. But it's a personal decision. I held off for a while with my last dog and was very relieved when I finally had to do it.

We've had our past 2 dogs cremated. Still keep their ashes in cans. Our young Yellow lab has never tried to play with Ruby's old ball that is kept near there, and she is CRAZY over balls! I wonder if she knows...

I have done this 3 times with the German Shepards I have owned and twice with the Huskies my wife has gotten. Buried all of them in the back yard along with two cats and one of my daughters dogs. Yes it is hard to make the decision, and to let them go, you have to be ready to do it. Burying them is the worse part but for some unknown reason I have never even considered cremation, I always brought them home to rest where they lived.

Yeah you all are right. If it makes her happy then I'm happy. I think now she realizes it's time. He cannot control his bowels and she was cleaning up liquid poop and throwup 3 different times last night. Only time will tell.

I've never had a dog cremated, always burried, both are kinda creepy but I feel that you remember them more if you know they are in the yard.

Native302 said:

Yeah you all are right. If it makes her happy then I'm happy. I think now she realizes it's time. He cannot control his bowels and she was cleaning up liquid poop and throwup 3 different times last night. Only time will tell.

I've never had a dog cremated, always burried, both are kinda creepy but I feel that you remember them more if you know they are in the yard.

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Burial was an option of mine, except that it was winter. So we had Baby cremated. First dog my wife and I got after we were married. Cremation wasn't terribly expensive compared to "disposal" at the vet, so we decided to spend the $$ on our family member.

It turned out great that we can have a memorial in the house. Honestly, it doesn't really matter that Baby's remains are in the tin at all. Just having the tin and her collar around it is a nice reminder.

Plus, I didn't want our other dog to dig her up...