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You have a VERY HARD decision to make. Only you & your vet knows what should be done.
It's true that we've all been in UR shoes & hate that final decision. It the hardest thing in the world to do.
I say if he's miserable.... it's time. Many dogs really do let us know when it's time.
I'm sorry you have to go thru this.
Thanks for the responses everyone! I thought I'd be tied to a stake! THAT'S how guilty I feel!
You should hear his bark. He hardly has one. Just that alone makes me sad. He's a big dog who always had a powerful bark. It's like he has had laryngitis for the past year.
I don't want him to get to the point he is soiling himself. He was always a clean dog. He even asks to go outside to vomit.
Sadly, my husband doesn't see what I see. He travels a lot with work. I called him this evening and he insists the dog is doing just fine.
This all means this is a decision I have to make on my own. I'm not going to get any support from my husband.
Even my teenagers think the end is near. It's my husband who seems to want to drag this out. I would have thought it would have been the other way around.
It was a rough day today. He's finally sleeping now.
Hopes - all of us here have at one point or another been in your shoes. Taking care of a geriatric is challenging and definately frustrating. Its hardest when its a slow decline and you have to try and decide when its "time". Only you and your family can really make the decision. You're the ones that know your boy the best. Basic equation I use is "when the bad days outnumber the good days, its time" I also understand about your husband's denial. I went through it myself with my DH. Our choco Lab was his dog and he just didn't want to see or accept that letting him suffer was wrong and freeing him from the pain & suffering was the right thing to do. Just keep talking to your husband for your dog's sake. If there is one thing I know its that dogs mask their pain. Its almost as if they don't want us to know how bad they are hurting. Hugs to you and your sweet boy.
Hopes, my post was meant to be supportive, not to antagonize you.
Only you and your vet know what is appropriate. But please, if you are going to post ask ask for symapthy and opinions please do not attack those who give them. Most of the time I am quite understanding of the difficulty of this decision and the guilt associated with it because I too have been there and done that multiple times. However, when attacked my sympathies for your "very guilty feelings" evaporate.
Hopes, in the meantime while you and your husband decide your dogs fate, here is some advice that may help you cope with the fustration.
When working in the advanced alzheimers wing, I learned that my patients communicated with their souls.
Think about what your dogs soul maybe saying while he is underfoot..."We have such little time left, let's spend as much as we can of it together." Think of it that way, and it may help you to realize every passing moment with your dog is a gift and the fustration will go away.
Last edited by Col.W.Deering; 08-15-2010 at 12:51 PM..
My rule for making the decision has always been to ask myself what the animal's 3 favorite things are. Then I ask if the animal is still enjoying those 3 things. If I can not honestly say yes, then I know it is time.
I wish you the peace in your heart to have clarity of vision.
I have an 11 year old mastiff and she is soiling herself more and more. She is still on the good side except for that...I don't know what to do either...is this normal for a dog thats old to do???
Hopes the OP of this thread was able to keep her beloved lab alive and with a happy life until just a few weeks ago. That is almost 2 more years. It was a very difficult decision for her and so many of us have been through the same thing. I hope Hopes is feeling some peace by now with her decision.
Regarding the mastiff, it likely is spinal deterioration, and there's no treatment, especially for such a big dog. She might start falling is she hasn't already. Yes, it might be time after the vet determines that that's why she's having the problem.
Do know that everyone here has come to that day, and many more than once. Thinking of you.
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