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Thank you - I thank all of you - for your empathy. As sad as it is to say goodbye to our pets, it for me is an honor that I was ever able to love them in the first place.
This post caused me to remember a short quote I have saved in my Notes and I'd like to share it with you.
"He is your friend, your partner, your defender, your dog.
You are his life, his love, his leader.
He will be yours, faithful and true, to the last beat of his heart.
You owe it to him to be worthy of such devotion."
and another...
"Therefore to this dog will I, tenderly, not scornfully, render praise and favor."
As to your original post...four of my pack of five are seniors and I know they aren't with us nearly long enough. I've given considerable thought about this very thing and I would want the dogs left behind to have a moment with their deceased pack member.
I'm sorry you're about to lose your pet. It's so very, very hard. My heart is with yours.
I think when you put the dog down your emotions may be running high and that might just make the other dog anxious so no I would not take another dog along if you do it at the vets. But it is your call.
Yes, I'm hoping I can keep my emotions in check. Good to consider, thx. Btw, love your pet names!
First, I'm sorry to hear about your dog. I personally wouldn't (and haven't) taken my other dogs when I have taken one to be put down at the vet's office. My remaining dogs haven't looked for the one that passed when that's happened. I'll probably lose my corgi to degenerative myelopathy fairly soon and the vet said he would come to my house and euthanize him. I'll crate my other dogs in a different room though when it's time. I want all my focus and attention to be with my corgi. I don't plan to let them see the corgi after he's gone.
Sorry to hear about your corgi. Until all of you here brought up home euthanasia, I never even knew about it.
This post caused me to remember a short quote I have saved in my Notes and I'd like to share it with you.
"He is your friend, your partner, your defender, your dog.
You are his life, his love, his leader.
He will be yours, faithful and true, to the last beat of his heart.
You owe it to him to be worthy of such devotion."
and another...
"Therefore to this dog will I, tenderly, not scornfully, render praise and favor."
As to your original post...four of my pack of five are seniors and I know they aren't with us nearly long enough. I've given considerable thought about this very thing and I would want the dogs left behind to have a moment with their deceased pack member.
I'm sorry you're about to lose your pet. It's so very, very hard. My heart is with yours.
Thanks for posting those; I will save them as well. We often make posters for adoption events...lovely sentiments can often go a long way in encouraging first time adopters.
I'm with the other posters who say to bring him home and let your female sniff his body and say her goodbye. It will at least stop her from wondering where he went and never returned from.
I must say though, that watching their last goodbye will be heartbreaking for you, but worth it for them. It gives them closure like humans need closure when they lose a loved one. I think that not knowing would be worse for her, than at least knowing her friend was gone.
We have a wonderful vet who does home euthanasia; for us it is a much gentler, more comfortable, and more compassionate way to say goodbye.
I wouldn't have your other dog in the room with you when your sweet boy passes unless you have someone else in the room to take care of her while you are saying goodbye to your boy, but I definitely would let her come in afterward and see his body.
I firmly believe that remaining dogs should be able to say their own goodbyes and know that their friend didn't just disappear
or leave them. We have had numerous foster dogs in our house, and each time one of them left to go to a new home, my resident dogs missed them and would look for them for weeks afterward. So yes, I think it is beneficial to allow your remaining girl to sniff the body and understand what happened to your boy.
Deepest condolences on your coming loss. Cherish the short time you have left. He will always be with you.
We used Lap of Love when the time was near for our dear sweet wonderful Murphy who we still miss dearly.
They came for a visit and told us it would not be long. It took us a few days and several people told us Murphy would let us know. He did. He stopped eating and drinking a few days before. Always such a good boy.
Our little girl, same breed (Sheltie), Madison was right there. She just knew and somehow, it made it easier.
But spoil them both and thoughts and prayers for you.
Thank you all so much for your suggestions and warm thoughts. It definitely seems to be equally pro and con. But I am definitely looking into home euthanasia providing they can help me get him into my car & he can be accepted for cremation. It seems odd in a way, to talk about it when his outward appearance is still pretty much....AWESOME! He is having some slower moments as the days progress, but yesterday was a full on ten minute Chuckit Football session - his favorite toy & pastime. I found myself thinking, "go long, big fella, go real long!!"
The vet who comes to your home will likely be able to take care of the transport and cremation/burial. At least mine always have. Or alternately, see if the doggie funeral home/crematorium will pick him up at your house. Having said all that, maybe you will take comfort in taking that last drive with him to take him to be cremated.
I know this thread is very old, but someone left me an anonymous rep yesterday - wow, a 7+ year old thread! - so I thought an update was in order. Both dogs have since passed obviously. Both were cremated at the vet's office. My dogs' daycare was connected to the vet practice and the daycare staff were my dogs' second family, so it made sense.
About 3 (+/- ) yrs after Moose died, it was Piper's time. She'd had a leg amputated, pneumonia, an abdominal obstruction & eye issue....in other words, a lot of surgeries. I was broke, she was tired ...it was time. The daycare and vet staff lined the halls as we made our way from the lobby to the back room for euthanasia. Each staff member said their goodbye to Piper...it was so incredibly moving.
Dogs really do bring out the best in our humanity; what an amazing gift to know a dog's love, all the more precious because their time with us is never long enough.
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