Maybe putting my dog down (bites, vet, toy, surgery)

[eevee188]

I'm about to make an appointment to take my dog to the vet and see if the vet thinks she should be put down. She's 14 and will be 15 in June.

Her symptoms:
She is semi-incontinent (I think it's because she hurts too much to get out of bed to pee, rather than a lack of bladder control. The pees are large puddles rather than dribbles)
She trembles sometimes. (I think this is a sign of pain, I don't think she's cold)
She yelps in pain and bites me when I pick her up (pain again, she was never a biter when young)
One of her eyes is really messed up. She's blind in it and it looks sunken. I think the vet will tell us to get the eye removed, and there's just no way we are going to pay for a surgery like that in an elderly dog, or even put an elderly dog through surgery.
I believe her eyesight in limited in the good eye. She is trained to go where I point, but now she can barely see me point and I have to herd her in the direction I want her to go, since I can't pick her up either.
The other dogs bully her because she can't see them or stick up for herself. I try to keep them separated, but they do harass her sometimes.
She barely moves around and does almost nothing but sleep. No interest in fetching anymore, I can't really walk her because she moves very slow and gets tired easily.

On the other hand, she gets so excited when I feed her she will stand up on her hind legs and dance around. Huh? How can she do that and act completely geriatric the rest of the time? She likes chewing on bully sticks too. Those are about the only activities she still enjoys.

I have given her glucosamine and aspirin for the pain. The glucosamine used to help but hasn't in a few years, and I never saw any effect from the aspirin.

If she ever stops dancing when she sees food, I could have her put her down without any qualms. But as long as she DANCES, can I really consider putting her down? (She was amazing as a young dog, she could walk across a room on her hind legs and spin in circles)

One more thing, we have a doggie door and a few times I have caught her sleeping outside at night or in the early morning. She is a Toy Fox Terrier, she has very little cold tolerance and has always tried to avoid going outside when it's cold. I'm wondering if she can't feel the cold anymore? She could die sleeping outside in winter, but I don't want to have to close the doggie door either.

[atina33]

From what you describe, it sounds like the negatives really outweigh the positives in her life these days. ):

Sounds like it's time...but lucky for her, she sounds like she spent her life with a great family.

[subject2change]

Dogs can really ignore pain and discomfort temporarily when they're excited about something. We had a dog with cancer in his heart and lungs, who took (shorter) walks right up to the end, looking so normal that no one in the neighborhood could believe he was sick. The rest of his day, literally, was spent on the couch wheezing with a miserable look on his face. In his case it was a challenge every meal to find something he would eat and coax him to eat it. We didn't wait long after that. But I know, to people who only saw him during the walks that he loved, he seemed like a happy dog who should have plenty of time left.
I wish you peace with whatever you decide to do.