Rudy, our German Shepherd (my parents' dog but I lived with them for around 5 years with Rudy) was put down 2 days ago. For a few weeks we took him to all different vets who specialized in different things like cardiology and ultimately neurology. He had a 3 day appear when I was home with my family where he appeared more like his normal self (more energy, happy, and affectionate). When I drove back to go to work, he had 2 days where he couldn't get himself off the ground because he lost the use of his legs and he would urinate and defecate all over himself... My parents took him to the ER and more tests were ran on him. My mom said the tests tonight already showed Rudy with advanced cancer- a huge mass in his rib cage which caused his vertebrae to crack and discs to move which was causing him a great amount of pain. My mom said that he had been through enough and sadly had to be euthanized.
This is an extremely hard pet death for me to get over when I think about our other dogs. Gretchen (our first dog) died in her sleep and was very old. I was a kid and surprisingly handled it okay. Mitzi like Rudy died fairly young. She actually was similar to Rudy more than in age but personality (shy, affectionate, happy, and sweet). She had really bad epilepsy, was on a ton of medication, and was on a lot of herbs and vitamins from a holistic vet. She maybe died at 5 or 6 but she died in her sleep (we don't know the cause of death but I think her body just couldn't take all the meds. anymore but that's probably not it). Buddy was put to sleep. He died at maybe 12 or 13 and was in severe pain. We paid for surgery on him but then he died just a few days later. He had one of the best personalities of any dog that we had. Lucy was maybe 12-14 and put to sleep. She was in severe pain, couldn't get herself off the ground, and when tests were ran, there were tumors all over her liver (apparently common in GSD). She was a very difficult dog LOL. Kramer was maybe 13-15 when he was put to sleep. He had really bad arthritis often needing assistance when we were at home but we treated that but ultimately he was put to sleep because he became senile and seemed to have lot it and also defecated all over himself. He had the best personality of any dog we had. Everyone liked Kramer. He had character and was a funny dog lol.
Rudy though is one that is difficult for me. The GSD lifespan is 9-13. Rudy was put down at maybe 9 or 10. Until the last month of his life, he appeared to be the epitome of good health. He was lean, ran fast at the dog park chasing dogs, went on every walk, enjoyed long walks etc. He was a shy dog, but very affectionate to the other dogs and me and my family. He just had such a sweet demeanor to him. His personality combined with his age is just making it really hard for me to cope with his death. The fact too that we didn't see any symptoms of anything wrong until recently has caused me some pain. When I hear that people had dogs that died either naturally or from being put to sleep and were fairly old I get really envious that they had dogs that lived that long and just keep wondering what we did that was wrong.
With the exception of Mitzi who was bought from a breeder on a farm (this really was before my family and I knew about overbreeding and the importance of adopting from shelters or pounds), all of our German Shepherds came from rescues who were saved at high kill pounds. None we adopted as puppies (all were probably between 2-4 years old) and we believe we gave them good lives. They went on 3 long walks a day with us, lived in a big house with a huge grassy yard, had dog beds all over the house, had plenty of toys, were taken to the dog park monthly, and were loved.
My parents still have Sophie a mutt (GSD,Husky, Dalmatian, and Cocker Spaniel all in 1 dog!) who I actually saved from the local pound after she was there for months. My mom said Sophie knows something is up because she isn't leaving my parents' side (she was always independent and would frequently just find quiet spots in the house to sleep). I know I need to anticipate her death soon as she is at least 10 years old but probably older. It's just weird to now never see a GSD at my parents' house since there was always a GSD in that house =( My mom said they are done with GSD altogether at this point and that when they are ready to adopt again (probably not for years), it will probably be a smaller dog who doesn't remind them of the dogs we had. I have a dog who I bought once I moved out. He's from the same shelter as Sophie and is a Border Collie/Aussie mix. He and Rudy were pals. At first they didn't get along and would have fights once in awhile with each other, but the last year there were no problems.
Here's a picture of Rudy at the dog park with Lucy (GSD who looks angry), Kramer (big GSD with "red rocket"), Sophie (mutt), and Rudy (beeing shy behind the chair). 3 of those dogs are dead now =( I'll be home in a couple of weeks. Will be strange not to be greeted with him running down stairs, smiling at me, and licking my face =(
RIP Rudy =(
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