Terrible decision day-

[UNCC_99XJ]

I can feel your pain. What a tough decision. We had a young Australian Shepard that developed a blood disease, it was my sons dog, spent a couple thousand and she was not getting better, my 10 year old son tells me Dad don't worry, I have plenty of money saved please lets keep trying to save her, At that point I was Screwed, $6,500.00 latter we had to put her down, which my son did sitting on the floor with the vet, holding her in his arms till she was gone. I never cried so much in my life watching him hold his dog while she was put to sleep. We do love our Dogs. Good luck with your Decision.

I went through something very similar with my old Greyhound a few years ago. She also came down with some type of blood disease that caused her nails to fall off, and put her through a tremendous amount of pain. We spent a lot of money as the vet kept saying that she'd pull through (this was my first dog...and she was a birthday present for me when I was 10). We finally made the decision that we had enough, and that she had already suffered a lot longer than she should have. When we told the vet that we wanted to put her to sleep, his words were "well, i'll decide that". After I promptly told him off, we called a different local vet that my neighbor used for their animals and explained them our situation. They told us to bring her in and it wouldn't be a problem at all. There wasn't a dry eye in the place when we left. She went very peacefully in my arms, and it was by far, one of the hardest days of my life....and ironicaly it was on Good Friday too.

SCW...sorry you're having to go through all of this.

 

[bcmaxx]

SCW, Sorry to hear about you difficulties.

If you decide to put your dog down, let the Vet do it. Less personal issues that way and it's 100% guaranteed not to feel anymore than a pinprick.

Ron

My boss had to try twice with horse tranq's, he was pretty broken up, very sorry to hear of your troubles.

 

[FordGuy]

I went through something very similar with my old Greyhound a few years ago. She also came down with some type of blood disease that caused her nails to fall off, and put her through a tremendous amount of pain. We spent a lot of money as the vet kept saying that she'd pull through (this was my first dog...and she was a birthday present for me when I was 10). We finally made the decision that we had enough, and that she had already suffered a lot longer than she should have. When we told the vet that we wanted to put her to sleep, his words were "well, i'll decide that". After I promptly told him off, we called a different local vet that my neighbor used for their animals and explained them our situation. They told us to bring her in and it wouldn't be a problem at all. There wasn't a dry eye in the place when we left. She went very peacefully in my arms, and it was by far, one of the hardest days of my life....and ironicaly it was on Good Friday too.

SCW...sorry you're having to go through all of this.

I must just have to do with a Dogs unconditional love for its Family/Owner, Toughest thing for me ever.

 

[1985xjlaredo]

THis is some very sad shit! WHatever you do if the Vet does put her to sleep make sure that you can take her and bury her yourself afterwards. My Dad had to put our dog to sleep when I was about 5. I didn't know anything about it at the time. He decided to take him to the vet instead of shooting him inside the city limits. Once the vet put him to sleep they wouldn't give Bo back t him so he could bury her. I guess he grabed him and fought his way out of the vet. I remeber the cops showing up about 2 hours after he buried him.

 

[FordGuy]

That is BS! How can they not let you bury your own Dog.

 

[DrMoab]

Wow Shane, knowing you and your dog...this brought a tear or two to my eyes...seriously.

Not to give you false hope and I know its a different situation all together but... My brother has a couple of wiener dogs. One of them had the same thing happen. Same deal, vets said surgery was a must. My brother took him home in quite the same situation you did...to say last good byes and decide if he really could afford the cost of surgery to keep him alive a little longer.

Over the next day or so he showed improvement. After a week he was almost back to normal. Now you would never know.

Hang in there awhile, see how it goes.

I hope everything turns out for the best.

Well, maybe a glimmer of hope. He's standing again but only for a few seconds at a time. The vets think that there is a possibility that we can get the immediate inflamation under control and get him on his feet to a limited degree, and just deal with pain management for the remainder of his life.

I'm going to give it a shot. His running, hiking, hunting rough-housing is completely over, very suddenly, but he can live out his life crapping in the yard and wishing he could play.

Or, he could take a turn for the worse and I take him to the desert later in the week. I've shot my own dog before but this time it's completely different. This damn dog can read my mind (and ignore everything I'm thinking) and I'm really having a hard time with this. One day at a time for now I guess.

 

[SCW]

Thanks Ryan, I've shed a few tears as well.

Right now I'm looking for a good place to plant him I think. Every day is just more pain, the vetwas hoping the inflamation and pain would subside, but it doesn't look like it's goig to work.

What really gets me is that his eyes are still bright and happy. When he sees the door open he shakes trying to get up and run, but can't stand. He's still a young, strong healthy dog- everywhere but in the spine above the hips.
I was thinking about this last night. In the past 6 years I have only been on ONE camping/fishing/hunting/Jeeping/hiking/etc trip without him. He's been attached to my hip for 6 years now.

I'll be taking a pry bar and shovel out tot he desert later this week I think, hopefully it's not too rocky or frozen. there's no way in hell I'll bury him at the house, he hated being stuck in this back yard as badly as I hate this house.

 

[SCW]

Good news today. Last night I BBQed some Venison backstrap and shared it with him for his last meal. I had planned to give him the rest of the bottle of pain pills and ease his passing last night, but after the meal he actually got up and walked for a few minutes, and I just couldn't bring myself to do it. Glad I didin't, this morning he was up walking quite a bit and seems to be considerably more comfortable.

If that bastard keeps playing opossum just for some nice cuts of meat he's going to wear me out. Tasted good though, maybe we can stretch this out for a while as long as he's still comfortable. What a roller-coaster.

 

[BruceB83]

Good news today. Last night I BBQed some Venison backstrap and shared it with him for his last meal. I had planned to give him the rest of the bottle of pain pills and ease his passing last night, but after the meal he actually got up and walked for a few minutes, and I just couldn't bring myself to do it. Glad I didin't, this morning he was up walking quite a bit and seems to be considerably more comfortable.

If that bastard keeps playing opossum just for some nice cuts of meat he's going to wear me out. Tasted good though, maybe we can stretch this out for a while as long as he's still comfortable. What a roller-coaster.

WOW that's awesome man! arty:

 

[Cox89XJ]

SCW it's your call. Maybe give him a few day. The one dog we loved best was a mixed breed shepherd named Princess. We had her a total of 13 years. She was close to the same age as my daughter. One day when I came home from work she was laying by the driveway and it was raining. She could not get up. I picked her up (about 80 pounds) and carried her into the garage. That night she would not drink or eat anything. We all knew what was coming and there was not a dry eye in our home. The next morning she could not even raise her head. I picked her up and laid her in the back of my truck for a trip to the Vet to get her put to sleep. Upon arriving at the Vet she had already passed. Brings tears to my eyes just thinking about it and that’s been 23 years ago. The best dog we've ever had.

 

[Gerr]

I wish you the best and wish him time to recover as much as possible. there will be good and bad days just remember time for a dog to heal is not always a few days or weeks much like us some things need time and dr's tend to be pessimistic. give him lots of love and some time and you may not need to say goodbye

Good news today. Last night I BBQed some Venison backstrap and shared it with him for his last meal. I had planned to give him the rest of the bottle of pain pills and ease his passing last night, but after the meal he actually got up and walked for a few minutes, and I just couldn't bring myself to do it. Glad I didin't, this morning he was up walking quite a bit and seems to be considerably more comfortable.

If that bastard keeps playing opossum just for some nice cuts of meat he's going to wear me out. Tasted good though, maybe we can stretch this out for a while as long as he's still comfortable. What a roller-coaster.

 

[Bubba Dolphin]

*sniff* What a sad thread! I'm going to take my guy on a walk before work.

You have my empathy,
Jon

 

[TRNDRVR]

Sorry but.....3 pages on a sick dog?

Be a man and take that poor critter to the vet and have him put down.

You're now doing what you said you wouldn't do.....hanginig on to him for YOUR comfort, not his.

 

[SCW]

Suck rocks, Dan! He's feeling better now so he stays above ground for a few days more at least.

[Monty Python] I'm not dead yet![/Monty Python]

 

[DAZYDG]

I am so happy to hear he is doing better! Give him some time, if he is improving then there is still hope.

My dog Daisy had disk problems, she would be down for a few days and recover and be back to chasing rabbits in no time. The last time she didnt recover and after a week I knew there was no hope. The damage was permanent this time. She was my best friend and I had to let her go. I had her cremated cause I move around a lot and didnt want to leave her behind.

Best wishes.

 

[DrMoab]

Sorry but.....3 pages on a sick dog?

Be a man and take that poor critter to the vet and have him put down.

You're now doing what you said you wouldn't do.....hanginig on to him for YOUR comfort, not his.

Karma is seriously going to kick your ass one day Dan.

You have to be one of the most insensitive people I have ever met.

 

[kennzz05]

i recently saw a dog with its owner at a reststop, the dog would take 4 or 5 steps than fall over the owner would put it on its feet another 4 or 5 steps, and the same thing this went on for about 5 minutes the poor dog finally was just dragging its rear on the ground with crap hanging out its butt. i was totally amazed that someone would allow their animal to exsist under those conditions. the people had another dog that would go over to the other one every time it fell as if to say you ok man? i really had to bite my tounge as i wanted to go over to that woman and chew her out truly one of the saddest things ive ever seem i was so pissed off. Anyways im sorry for you and your friend, i feel for you

 

[DrMoab]

i recently saw a dog with its owner at a reststop, the dog would take 4 or 5 steps than fall over the owner would put it on its feet another 4 or 5 steps, and the same thing this went on for about 5 minutes the poor dog finally was just dragging its rear on the ground with crap hanging out its butt. i was totally amazed that someone would allow their animal to exsist under those conditions. the people had another dog that would go over to the other one every time it fell as if to say you ok man? i really had to bite my tounge as i wanted to go over to that woman and chew her out truly one of the saddest things ive ever seem i was so pissed off. Anyways im sorry for you and your friend, i feel for you

Without knowing the whole story though how could you get mad.

The dog could have a temporary condition causing that. Maybe the Vet told them to make sure the dog got exercise any way they could.

It's easy to judge but until you know the whole story its not fair to criticize people.

 

[TRNDRVR]

Karma is seriously going to kick your ass one day Dan.

You have to be one of the most insensitive people I have ever met.

It's a F*CKING dog!!!!!

Here, let me draw a picture...... Hasta

 

[FordGuy]

Drives a Train and lives in Utah, I get it.