sad news for me

[RayPA]

Having recently had to put-down a 15+ year old beagle, I know how you must feel. The passing of a good dog is one of those milestones in life. It seems to slightly change everything.

 

[Scarpia]

My next door neighbors at my upstate summer home had a wonderful female German shepherd that had been abandoned and was rescued by the local vet. They adopted her and gave her a wonderful home. She didn't pay too much attention to me but loved my wife and always insisted on visiting when my wife was outside gardening or doing whatever. When we arrived for the summer in May, not having seen her for several months we immediately noticed that she had lost considerable weight. Our neighbor said that she had been diagnosed with both diabetes and Cushing's disease and was failing. Late this summer she had to be put down as she was also going blind and bumping into things and was continuing to lose weight in spite of getting insulin shots every day and eating a special diet. She was only nine years old and we all miss her very much so I know how you feel. My sympathy.
Kurt M.

 

[George S.]

Joe, I certainly know how you feel. My 12 1/2 yr old German Sherherd is having a difficult time getting around, and I dread the day he leaves us, as my children grew up with him, playing in the open front yard, never had him tied up, he'd 'shepherd' the children and keep them in the yard.

My previous Shepherd was my police K-9 partner and he saved me from injury on more than one occasion by reacting to a threat much before it registered with me and I could react. They really do have a sixth sense and seem to know what's coming long before we do. When I had to put him down, i thought I'd have a heart attack for several weeks thereafter.

Also, my father-in-law did have a heart attack after putting down his Malamute, he was driving to work, and only approx. 3 weeks out of the year did he have a car with a police radio in it, and this was one of those weeks, so he was able to call for help, and help happened to be really close by, and he was rushed into quadruple bypass surgery.

Reading so many posts here about how sad it is to deal with the loss, I'd remind everyone that we all did give our friends probably the best care and the best life a dog (or cat) could ever hope to have, and I'd like to think they felt as happy about having known us as we do about them.

One other thing- somewhere a few years back I read of a suggestion to us photo folk, and I've been doing it for a few years now. When you are going to remove a film from your camera to get it developed before all the frames are used up, use the remaining shots on your pet, because many times they leave us and we wished we had taken more photos.

 

[Wayne R. Scott]

My son brought home our Choclate Lab as a puppy 11 years ago. He named her Lindsay after a girl on my daughter's softball team that committed suicide the day he brought the puppy home.

Now that both my daughter and son have moved away from home Lindsay always greets me as I pull into the drive.

I try to live up to being as good of a man as she thinks that I am.

One of the unfortunate things about pets is out living them, I dread the day when Lindsay's time comes.

Wayne

 

[cp_ste.croix]

my condolances...my former dog lost a battle with liver disease, it was no fun for sure.

 

[nomade]

It really hurts, i've been many pets, and they eventually die but this is what has to happen...A dog, pigeons(one of them died in my hands)ishies which caused the least harm of all, they've always been there, their names change, their lives are short, and they r always there...

 

[Little Prince]

It is killing me to read this thread, and I haven't even had a pet (ever).

 

[brightsky]

I too, am very sorry to hear of your loss. You did what was compassionate because you loved your furry friend.

We lost our 14 1/2 y/o German Shepherd in 2002 and our almost 16 y/o Sheltie this past August. I am still actually surprised sometimes when I don't see them when I expect to in certain situations.

Fortunately, our GS died in her sleep - we all should be so lucky. I spent the last 3 days, 24/7 with my Sheltie until I feel asleep from pure exhaustion. She died within a couple of hours and I woke to find her gone.

I still like to look at pictures of them, and the other dogs I've had over the years. At first they will make you emotional, but in time, cause you to smile.

The power of photographs is real no matter what or who the subject. Pet photos are so casually dismissed on most critique forums, but as we with pets find out eventually, they mean as much as our family photos or "best shot."

 

[plexi]

The unconditional love from a dog is something special, my family have had three boxers and I loved them all, it still brings tears to my eyes when I think about them....

 

[Nikon Bob]

We had to put our Rat Terrier down a few months ago after helplessly having to watch him fade away from cancer. That is the worst part, not being able to help and it still feels like we betrayed him. You have my deepest sympathy.

Bob

 

[Flinor]

My deepest sympathies, Joe.

I lacked the courage to have my last dog put to sleep when it was time and his last six months haunt me to this day. After that I said no more dogs because I didn't have the heart to watch my buddy deteriorate with age. That was before my wife dragged to the pound one day. Kitty (Yes, she's a dog but she's nocturnal, eats whenever she feels like it and purrs when you scratch her behind the ears) is now twelve and we're deteriorating with age together.

 

[Stephanie Brim]

Our dog just turned 9. She's a mix, mutt through and through, but she's ours. We got her from a family who could no longer keep here when she was about 6 months old because their 2 year old would pull its tail. I remember that when we first got her, she bit anyone who touched her tail. Now she loves it when someone pets her all the way down her back and her tail. 🙂