When do you put your dog to sleep?
Maybe yall can help me a bit here.
I have an elderly dog, Buck (13) and we've been the best of buddies all these years, up until last fall / this winter.
The issue is hot spots on his feet. We go round and round, he want's to lick at them, and I don't want him to. I scold him, put him on the spot and tell him not to do it.
(I've tried all the products possible to stop this problem, the lamp shade over his head, the procollar, this cream, that ointment etc etc etc, nothing works, he gets around the restraints, and the topicals just don't do a damn thing)
Anyway.
Early this winter / last fall ... I was brushing the snow off the car, and while I was doing that, wanted him to go potty in the mean time.
He stood there defiant, he wanted to jump in the car without going potty. I pointed to the potty area, and told him to go potty, he just stood there like he was clueless. So, I crouched down and pointed to the area again, and he bit my hand! He clamped on and would not let go. I told him 'let go,,,, let go' and he clamped harder! After that incident, I lifted him off the ground by his neck and almost choked him out. After I settled down, I thought I'd give him another chance.
Tonight, minutes ago ... he was licking his foot, I flipped the top light on and didn't even need to say anything, and he started growling at me, bearing his teeth. I did not want to show I feared him, so sat on the couch next to him (he was on the floor), and was going to place my hand on his neck and lay him down. As I went to grab his neck he bit me, hard. He chomped my left pinky and it bled really bad, dripping bad. I soaked it, put some antibacterial ointment on it, bandaid.
I proceeded to put him in his kennel, and that is where he is going to stay tonight, until I get your feedback, and talk to dad in the morning. I'm still shaking ... just pi**ed.
I almost took out a .22 I keep with hollow points in, but the mess stopped me. This is a whole new level of pi**ed I've never known in me before.
I think it's time for him to go, I'm done really, and the love is lost in my opinion. After the last bite, I thought, wellllll, I'll give him another chance .... and I think he blew it tonight.
I have photos of him posted in a contest, so you can see him when he was about 6, and just last spring (water fountain).
http://pictureperfectpet.wetv.com/profile.aspx/hunterws/?sort=alpha&r=1&pos=110
If it was anyone else, I think I know the advise I'd give, but it's tough when it's your own dog.
Thanks in advance[B)]
I have an elderly dog, Buck (13) and we've been the best of buddies all these years, up until last fall / this winter.
The issue is hot spots on his feet. We go round and round, he want's to lick at them, and I don't want him to. I scold him, put him on the spot and tell him not to do it.
(I've tried all the products possible to stop this problem, the lamp shade over his head, the procollar, this cream, that ointment etc etc etc, nothing works, he gets around the restraints, and the topicals just don't do a damn thing)
Anyway.
Early this winter / last fall ... I was brushing the snow off the car, and while I was doing that, wanted him to go potty in the mean time.
He stood there defiant, he wanted to jump in the car without going potty. I pointed to the potty area, and told him to go potty, he just stood there like he was clueless. So, I crouched down and pointed to the area again, and he bit my hand! He clamped on and would not let go. I told him 'let go,,,, let go' and he clamped harder! After that incident, I lifted him off the ground by his neck and almost choked him out. After I settled down, I thought I'd give him another chance.
Tonight, minutes ago ... he was licking his foot, I flipped the top light on and didn't even need to say anything, and he started growling at me, bearing his teeth. I did not want to show I feared him, so sat on the couch next to him (he was on the floor), and was going to place my hand on his neck and lay him down. As I went to grab his neck he bit me, hard. He chomped my left pinky and it bled really bad, dripping bad. I soaked it, put some antibacterial ointment on it, bandaid.
I proceeded to put him in his kennel, and that is where he is going to stay tonight, until I get your feedback, and talk to dad in the morning. I'm still shaking ... just pi**ed.
I almost took out a .22 I keep with hollow points in, but the mess stopped me. This is a whole new level of pi**ed I've never known in me before.
I think it's time for him to go, I'm done really, and the love is lost in my opinion. After the last bite, I thought, wellllll, I'll give him another chance .... and I think he blew it tonight.
I have photos of him posted in a contest, so you can see him when he was about 6, and just last spring (water fountain).
http://pictureperfectpet.wetv.com/profile.aspx/hunterws/?sort=alpha&r=1&pos=110
If it was anyone else, I think I know the advise I'd give, but it's tough when it's your own dog.
Thanks in advance[B)]
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quote:Originally posted by daveald
Lots of dogs go into DEMENTIA when they get older I have never known one to get over it. he's not doing it to hurt you he just doen't know better anymore. It sounds like you may have a little rage issue your-self there, cool down and and take the dog in.
Iv'e put a whole bunch of dogs down with the 22 put it in there ear and they feal no pain.
How do you kow that? Can you be 100% sure?0 -
quote:Chris8161:
Iv'e put a whole bunch of dogs down with the 22 put it in there ear and they feal no pain.
(Question)
How do you kow that? Can you be 100% sure?
Yes - it's very provable .... there are no pain receptors in the brain. Done.
.... and yes, it's time.0 -
The best advice you have gotten here is from Black Roses. You need medical advice, not good ol' boy advice. You also have your own issue with pain and anger and are in no position to make a cool decision about your fine old friend. 0 -
quote:Originally posted by He Dog
The best advice you have gotten here is from Black Roses. You need medical advice, not good ol' boy advice. You also have your own issue with pain and anger and are in no position to make a cool decision about your fine old friend.
+1
I was raised in my latter teenage years with a Shih-Tzu named Coco that was my moms.
He was 15 years old and almost blind, and starting to suffer dementia, as well as full of arthritis.
One night I picked him up quick, and put my nose right up to his,.....he clamped into my nose and ripped the end of it wide open.
The dog was trembling when he tasted the blood, and realized it was me.
I NEVER had the reaction to throw the dog across the room,.....I simply set him down and put a washcloth over my nose to hold the blood while I talked to him and calmed him down.
I then went to the ER to have the wound cleaned and dressed. I carry a lifelong reminder of that little pooch.
Had him put down at 16 due to kidney failure.
I was even holding his leg up for him to pee the last few weeks.
Fed him his favorite treat,......a filet mignon raw, before I took him to the vet, to be put to sleep.
When my mom moved up here where I am years later, I dug up the concrete vault I buried him in, and brought it up here.
He lies right by my front door in a rock garden with a Chinese lantern over his resting place.
I still miss him to this day.[V]0 -
If you think it is time, it is. One of our duties as a pet owner is to step up to the plate when it is time to put our friend down.
I had Pinto for 12 good long years. He was deaf, and going blind, with achy joints, when all of a sudden he just quit eating. After two days, he quit drinking and we knew the jig was up. The doc was extremely kind, as they always are. My advice: pay them first, then just be with the dog as he slowly fades out.
That was a year and a half ago. As I type this, a 7-month-old border collie is sleeping on my feet. Life goes on.0 -
Sounds like he's in real pain.
My heart goes out to you. Try your damndest not to be angry with the dog. He's just being a dog.
Our two dogs checked out within a year of each other, about three months before and six months after the birth of our daughter. That took the sting out of having to have them put down.0 -
Having to put my dog down is the saddest thing I have ever had to do and I have done it 3 times. His quality of life is gone and he is getting dangerous. If he bites a stranger you could be in real trouble. Do the right thing and take him to a vet to have it done in a humane manner. After all he was your faithful friend for years. 0 -
I have a hard time thinking of a 13 year old dog as elderly.
Mine just turned 18 & I have been thinking of this for the last year.
I expect to find her dead each morning but she just keeps going on. She is deaf & nearly blind, hasn't run in nearly a year & has no interest in going for a walk but until a year ago she still ran around like crazy.0 -
You're in a tough spot but it sounds like you need to be ready to let your friend Buck go. If the vet cannot find something to take away the pain he is in it's time to say good-bye.
We had to put our 16 year old dog down two years ago. It was the hardest decision I've ever had to make. There were a lot of tears in the house for a long time. The vet used the two shots as someone else described. We fed him Reese's peanut butter cups while the first shot kicked in so his last memory would be of being held by my wife and I as he ate his favorite thing in the world. We had him cremated and put his ashes in a nice photo urn. That way he can go with us where ever we move. He'll be buried with whichever one of us goes first.0 -
We had a Black Lab named Shadow since my daughter was a little one. She (the dog) just showed up at our house one morning, called the SPCA and all the vets, no one claimed her, so we kept her with us. Followed my daughter everywhere (hence the name). She wasn't a very old dog, we figured about 7 or so. Sweetest, gentlest dog you can get.
Anyhow, we started noticing when she would ge up from a nap, she would occasionally have a puddle under her. Took her to the vet, a he said she is in early kidney failure. Said there was little they could do at the time, and since it wsn't much of an issue, we didn't do much, as the doctor recommended.
Shortly after the marriage split, it started gettig to the point that every time she got up, ther was a puddle under her. Doc was giving her intravenous fluids bi-weekly. When that was no longer effective, he recommended doggie dialysis (sp.), to the tune of about $400/month. How long would it extend her life? 6 months, maybe a year. As I was a newly single mother, I told him I would have to think about it. The doc did no approve of my conservative attitude. I should be willing to undergo any financial burden necessary, if I want to be a "responsible" pet owner.
She went downhill pretty fast, within a week, she could not even get up to toilet. I considered the options and my position financially. One Snday morning when the kids were with their dad, I called one of those old-fashioned type farm vets, the ones who see animals as pets and not as equalling family members, bundled up the old girl and took her for her last car ride.
I'm not advising you on what to do, I'm just letting you know that there are members out there who understand that you, as a pet owner, have your limitations, too. If you have dne everything you can, realistically, financially, emotionally or otherwise, and there is no other option, you need to make a decision you will not look back on with any regret.0
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