cast iron Posted June 21, 2021 Share Posted June 21, 2021 I was there december 2 years ago 14 year old border collie. poor lad lost his dignity, with random incontinence My wife a chief vet nurse for the PDSA, I had to take her word for it that it was the best thing, but even now I keep doubting and miss him so much. We have 4 dogs again having resuced a Vizsla puppy, he keeps us busy , but the other 3 collies are 13 13 and 11. I feel more prepared this time Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the stoat Posted June 21, 2021 Share Posted June 21, 2021 Sorry you are having to ponder this question. I have faced it 3 times now, 2 cats and one dog. My view is you must take you out the question, it is all about them. It is not about keeping them alive to save your pain. You will know when that spark for life is gone and then it is time. I hope this does not come across to bluntly, I just do not know how to word it more gently. By enjoying the time you have left you will keep their spark going longer. @cast iron I have had 2 Vizslas, top tip if you ever loose them look up trees. Good at climbing up, not so good at climbing down. If you are used to obedient and intelligent Collies you may have a large culture shock on your hands! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard (OldStager) Posted June 21, 2021 Author Share Posted June 21, 2021 27 minutes ago, the stoat said: Sorry you are having to ponder this question. I have faced it 3 times now, 2 cats and one dog. My view is you must take you out the question, it is all about them. It is not about keeping them alive to save your pain. You will know when that spark for life is gone and then it is time. I hope this does not come across to bluntly, I just do not know how to word it more gently. By enjoying the time you have left you will keep their spark going longer. @cast iron I have had 2 Vizslas, top tip if you ever loose them look up trees. Good at climbing up, not so good at climbing down. If you are used to obedient and intelligent Collies you may have a large culture shock on your hands! thanks, as i said yesterday, in the past i was quite selfish and keeping the dog alive for far too long, i am now not as reliant on a dog as i once was , so this will never happen again. also as at right now, i do not intend to replace this last one with another, thats fine to say whilst i still have one - quite how i will feel afterwards is another matter - but i would like to think i could do without one these days. plus this would allow me to join in with all the great road trips going on , on here which currently i cant attend as i live alone and will never leave a dog overnight unattened, i worry when i am away for a few hours never mind days, lol.. thanks for the post. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glen_I Posted June 21, 2021 Share Posted June 21, 2021 36 minutes ago, OldStager said: plus this would allow me to join in with all the great road trips going on , on here which currently i cant attend as i live alone and will never leave a dog overnight unattened, i worry when i am away for a few hours never mind days, lol.. I 100% understand where you're coming from, after loosing the second Lab we found it a lot easier not having to rush back home if we had visited friends/family or a day out somewhere because as we know not everyone/everywhere is a dog friendly, but having the daft hairy lump(s) bouncing around at your feet whilst trying to get though front door does out weigh this! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glen_I Posted June 21, 2021 Share Posted June 21, 2021 On a lighter note and hopefully make a few off us chuckle, I had a pair off Corn Snakes that I got when I was 18, I was told they live on average 12-15 yrs, anyway 2 yrs ago and both at the age of 26 they finally passed away!!! (With me aged 44), the first one was early 2019 and this happened overnight so I buried her in the garden. The second one was Nov 2019 but he had to be taken to the vets to be put to sleep, so all okay(ish) at this point. Now when I got him home I realized I couldn't dig a hole as I had broken my left leg 6 weeks earlier (another story but involving a dance floor and beer!!) and it just hurt too much to start digging, so I found the smallest box that a 5-6ft snake could be coiled carefully into, taped it up put this into a plastic bag and put him into the freezer until I was able to dig a hole about 6 weeks later!! Natalie (wife) comes home and says where is he??? In the freezer I replied! This didn't go down too well, but as I pointed out, in that freezer are parts of chickens, cows, pigs, sheep and fish (well fish fingers) in one form or another along with the mice that were used to feed the snakes!! So what's the problem? She just shook her head and grunted 'I guess so.....' Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jude - The Mad Widow Posted June 21, 2021 Share Posted June 21, 2021 @OldStagerYou know you are in the final days but you have to choose to not let him suffer any more. What a lot of lovely comments and empathy. I have 2 little fur balls. I know what probably awaits as I have been there many times before, but I've always had Brian to help with decisions and actions. I need to find a new man before my dogs get old!!! Thinking of you. Any decision you make will be the right one. You know best. Big hugs Jude x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Colonial Posted June 21, 2021 Share Posted June 21, 2021 My stepdaughter had a Welsh Spaniel puppy earlier this year, who unfortunately in his short life was afflicted with several painful and grossly unfair diseases. He finally had cancer which raced through his little body in a fortnight and he had to be put down out of mercy at age 5 months. She held him tight as the drugs eased his passing, and cried for a fortnight until she thought she could cry no more, but the tears kept coming. When is it the right time? Only you can answer, but I think it’s when you wouldn’t want to change places with them in their condition. How I wonder if we will ever evolve as a species when we can ease the suffering of our beloved pets, yet are prohibited from doing so for our relatives and are sometimes forced to watch them die slow, lingering deaths. Where is the sense, the humanity in that. Best wishes to you and good luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard (OldStager) Posted June 21, 2021 Author Share Posted June 21, 2021 thank you all once again, to answer in order of posts and i cant use the highlight the username bit yet... so i will type the name instead. thanks glen, and i love the story on the snake, i would have done the same as well, i see no difference on what animal it was, all are dead anyway... thanks jude, it never fails to amaze me on how a bunch of car minded folks can chat about a completely different subject and post kind words. as you said yesterday i will know when the last day is, and it will be hard, but we have had some superb times and i have many videos of all 3 of my collies playing on the same field at the same time, ... yes i had 3 at once - long story involving a rescue that that had to be rehomed that week.... capt col, that was so sad, 5 months old, wow. the rescue as mentioned above was 2 when he came to me, he was 3 when he died, internal injuries sustained by previous owners, the mind boggles... and yes i too wish we would do the same as we do with out pets, been a long time wish of mine, will it ever happen - not sure but it should. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Hunter - Club Secretary Posted June 21, 2021 Share Posted June 21, 2021 Most of us have been where you are and it's a difficult thing to make and to deal with... its never a decision we have to make other than with our pets. Deciding on when is the most difficult part of it. Over the years, we've had 3 cats, 3 dogs and 2 horses put down. All of them have been a case of putting their welfare before my (or our) emotional needs. Whether it's old age, illness or injury it's never easy and feels heartbreaking. The only advice I can offer is that we all know in our heart of hearts when it is the right time, trust your instincts and do what is kindest for them. Animals can bring us such joy when they they are here, but the brightest candles always burn out the fastest. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cast iron Posted June 22, 2021 Share Posted June 22, 2021 @OldStager just type the @ symbol and you can highlight names @the stoat hes mentaly very sharp, but not as physically quick as the colies, he can outfox most of them and usually gets to keep the ball we can't be without a dog in our house, we have all the equipment, the cages, the beds, the big van, the agility competitions that keep us fit, and what else would we do with all that money we would save 😉 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard (OldStager) Posted June 22, 2021 Author Share Posted June 22, 2021 thanks, i know, i only have one hand that works 100 percent at the moment, i use a full size keyboard here and for me that involves using two hands to use the upper case , i also as a matter of course always remove the caps lock button on my keyboards, as i got sick of hitting it unknowingly and then typing a huge email , then look at the screen to find i have been shouting for 5 minutes, lol... i have just given my cage away to a neighbour, as none of my dogs have liked it, great for transport though. i did do fly ball for a few years, had my own dispenser thingy as well, hours of fun, there is a woman over the back from me who is in the local flyball team, i just did it to entertain the dogs. in fact if it wasnt for flyball, i would not have a westfield now, lol, funny how life goes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard (OldStager) Posted June 22, 2021 Author Share Posted June 22, 2021 whilst looking for an image for someone on lcb, i found this old photo from around 2008, i dont have any of all of them in one pic other than this one which i had forgotten about. the one that remains is the one on the left, his sister centre and the rescue far right. nice to find pics like that. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cast iron Posted June 23, 2021 Share Posted June 23, 2021 lovely working sheepdogs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mole Posted June 23, 2021 Share Posted June 23, 2021 This is still pretty raw for me, we had to make the decision 12 weeks ago .. the first time. Our 10 year old Jack Russell was not well.. what made things worse is that she was eating and drinking, peeing and pooing... as dogs owners know they are the key things... but I was at home recovering from Covid and my partner Carol was in hospital with covid and I noticed that Poppy had an insatiable appetite. For a start i thought it was just because I was looking after her and was under feeding her.. Then luckily Carol recovered and she agreed that her eating was not normal but excessive. I took her to the vets and there was a locum vet on.. his first comments were his concern for sedating her because of her heart condition... that was the first time we had heard about this, despite using the same vet for the ten years.. I was shocked and upset.. So we took her to a different practice and they confirmed Poppy's heart condition and said they needed to do a scan. Poppy hated the vets and her terrier instinct took over and she would try and attack them, therefore she had to be sedated for the heart scan.. which of course was a concern because of her heart, but it was a risk we had to take.. The scan showed that she had a heart condition and it would need treatment... I won't go on.. but we had some really difficult things and more vets visits but still her insatiable hunger continued, plus she started showing signs of dementia.. things like standing behind a door when trying to open it... standing and shaking.. but the hardest thing was she was not playing with her toys or wagging her tail.. she was just not happy... plus she kept looking at us asking for food.. I got the vet to come to the house and see her... and we talked things through and the diagnosis was that she most likely had a brain tumour that was getting worse, despite her young age.. The vet explained that she would have to go to a veterinary hospital for further scans and then if it was a tumour she would need an operation on her brain etc etc etc.. plus she had a weak heart.. I already knew before the vet came the action we had to take, but I needed Carol to come to the same conclusion for herself... as the vet left Carol said what I knew needed to happen.. So i arranged for the vet to come to our house the next day and put her to sleep in her garden...her favourite place. I think the decision I had to make was the hardest ever especially as she was so young plus I knew how much losing Poppy would affect Carol.. she is still her mess as she was Carol's little girl.. plus the house is empty without her.. We had her cremated which I think was the right thing and we still have her ashes.. In answer to your question and as others have said... think about the great life your dog has had and all the happy times.. but don't be selfish and keep them alive for your benefit, think of them and if they are suffering do the right thing, you will know when that time is. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glen_I Posted June 23, 2021 Share Posted June 23, 2021 @Molesorry to hear this, its pants and I think this is why we have never got another dog, maybe I use the kids and hectic family life as an excuse but deep down.....I can't go through it again, and yes my 2 are sat on the shelf as we speak We have a pair of Lion head rabbits that my daughters wanted and even these cause me worry when they're not right, I am definitely an animal person! Some will get it and some won't. Our last Labrador snapped both cruciate ligamens and insurance covered it all but we would have paid without thinking about it, when I asked for a couple of days off work to take care off her my manager replied with "easier to shoot it wouldn't it?" How I never ripped his head off his shoulders I will never know!!! My Step Dad who I would say is a hardened farmer and has shot plenty off animals in the past never got over the lost of his dog and also said never again... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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