<p>My H and I slept on cushions on the kitchen floor with our girl for many nights when she was dying of cancer. Actually, the dog bed is so huge that I slept on it with her, and H took the cushions off the sofa.</p>
<p>My advice: as long as he seems to be comfortable, and you can keep him that way with pain killers, don’t be rushed into putting him down by well-meaning people. Wait until you know it really is time. My first golden died at home, with me, with my hand on his heart. Not what I had planned, but there was a blizzard underway and we were snowed in. I was glad it turned out that way.</p>
<p>So sorry, bevhills. Even though my dog is 14, when they diagnosed her cancer, it was traumatic for me. And even though they say she is cancer free at this point, I know that I won’t have her too much longer. Tonight, my H and I came home from a movie and I greeted my dog as usual, with lots of love and a treat. My H said “I’m afraid you won’t be the same”. I didn’t know what he was talking about and said so. He said “I’m afraid you won’t be the same when she goes.” I won’t be the same. Our pets change us and become a part of our pattern of living and coping. Of course I won’t be the same. But I will be better for having had her in my life for so long.
I know you must feel the same about your Boo. Hugs to you and your puppy.</p>
<p>It is going to be hard for me when it comes time for our frenchie to leave us…do any of you have two dogs who are far apart in years to make the passing of the first dog easier? I know it will be SO hard for me. </p>
<p>Buddy came home. We will NEVER rush “the decision”. In one sense if is easier on the humans…but I cannot, we cannot rush him into that good night. We do have two dogs. We had another golden when a family we knew had to give him away. He joined our family. A few years later the girl died. Buddy was a lunatic. He ran from room to room searching for her. Tore up the garden…we went to the Golden Retriever Rescue…She is wonderful. </p>
<p>Bevhills, you may already be aware of this since you’re such an avid dog lover, but in case you aren’t, and perhaps others reading this thread may not be, if and when the time comes that you have to make a decision to end your dog’s suffering, there are vets out there who make house calls for this service.</p>
<p>We did it for our miniature schnauzer 3 1/2 years ago - thankfully I had a friend who’d been through something similar and gave me the name of a vet in our area who did it. When the time got close, I just could not get past the image of taking her into a vet’s office and going through such a traumatic event away from the comfort of my own home. This woman was wonderful - compassionate, patient, caring, etc. She never questioned our decision, which we made in consultation with our own vet.</p>
<p>A couple of weeks ago, a friend thought they were going to have to euthanize their dog, and I told him about our experience. He was interested enough to ask for a referral to the person we used, so when I googled her, I found she and her husband now run a service that matches up people across the country with vets who are willing to do this through some sort of registry program. Luckily it wasn’t his dog’s time yet, but he is hanging onto the information for future reference. </p>
<p>I realize not everyone is willing to do this - they don’t want reminders in their home of the experience, but some people are very relieved to find out there are alternatives to doing this in the vet’s office. </p>
<p>I love to hear Golden stories. I grew up with two goldens (one whose family also had to give her away), with the last one passing away two years ago. I have since moved away and gotten married, and bought our own puppy - but my mom and I just surprised my dad a few weeks ago with a golden puppy for his birthday. He cried! It was just the sweetest thing. It took him a long time to recoup from losing our last girl. I am really happy for him now. </p>
<p>With that being said, I know how hard this is for you bev. You seem like a fantastic owner, and Buddy is lucky to have you. </p>
<p>Teriwitt: Thank you for the suggestion. I will definitely check this out. We have been lucky…our dogs, except one, (she died at 10) lived to 13 plus years. My Buddy is a lovely gentleman. We are lucky that the family who had him originally gave him to us. Buddy insisted on walking up the stairs to our room. We will carry him if necessary.We (all are lucky. When I read this thread i see people who are consistent" We love our families, our animals…and want to continue loving and pass it down.</p>
<p>This is the company I mentioned:
<a href=“http://www.petlossathome.com”>http://www.petlossathome.com</a>
Dr. Karen Twyning, the founder, is the one who came to our house. The website has some excellent resources. No matter how old our dogs are and in what condition they are, there are some important issues we always need to be thinking about, as was evident with our D2’s dog and her IVDD 2 1/2 weeks ago. I knew of Dr. Twyning and had been in contact with her at least a few months before we actually did anything because I knew our dog was going downhill (she was almost 16). We exchanged emails several times over these months before we finally made that decision, so although she’d never met us, she had some background. At one time we were scheduled to go out of town and have a dog sitter at the house (who happened to be a vet tech so we were confident out dog was being well cared for). We were able to be reassured by Dr. Twyning that, if anything happened while we were gone, and it became obvious that our dog’s time had come, she would honor our wishes and not make our dog wait until we came back. Thankfully we did not have to do that, but it gave us some comfort knowing she would honor our needed flexibility. </p>
Sorry to bump this up but I didn’t want to make yet ANOTHER dog thread.
I wanted to ask @zoosermom how is zooserpup doing? I see her avatar picture quite a bit and pup is so cute!
Our dog is moving in with my parents permanently after going back and forth for the last few months. We officially own our house now so that makes rescues much happier. We have a preference for black dogs (as they’re some of the least likely to get adopted), young but not puppy, and medium to large size… but we’ll see who we meet
I see my post from last year about our two golden. Oldest golden died at 15 years old about 4 months ago. Our girl died last week. Our home is so quiet…and sad. Please give your dogs and cats a hug for me.
Yes, I’m bumping up a very old thread because I have the coolest story to tell, and H is somewhere over the north pole right now on his way to China, and I’m bursting at the seams.
I took the handsome-looking fella in my avatar for a walk today - we just moved into this community less than two months ago, and I’m still not used to how dog-friendly it is. People always stop to ask about dogs they come across. So I’m walking pooch, and a woman about my age and her daughter approach me, telling me they saw me from down the block and wanted to meet our cavalier, because they too, have two cavaliers. She asked me where I got him from, and I mentioned the breeder’s town first (about 15 minutes from where we live) and then her first name. The woman right away said the last name and said she knew exactly who she was, that one of her current dogs is from this breeder. So my mind started spinning, thinking, “Is it possible their cavalier could be from the same litter my cavalier is from?” I then asked how old theirs was, and she said she just turned ten this week (ours is four). Then she mentioned her name, and it immediately rang familiar to me, as it is the same name that is written on our cavalier’s papers as being his mother! The more this woman and I compared notes, we realized, yes, she has the mother of my dog! We were so excited and I immediately asked if we could get them to meet, and she said yes. When I last saw our breeder last summer at a cavalier club get-together, I asked her if she still had my dog’s mother, and she told me then that she had placed her in a different home, and now I know which home!
I exchanged contact information with this woman, and we are going to plan something this week while H is out of town. I am so beyond tickled pink at this opportunity. I fully suspect our pooch will remember his mother. It was funny because, today when I had him at the dog park, someone came in with a cavalier, and he totally ignored everything else that was going on around him and bolted for that cavalier. I know they know when they see one of their own.
And yes, I plan to video the reunion if I remember!
I grew up with two goldens (one whose family also had to give her away), with the last one passing away two years ago. I have since moved away and gotten married, and bought our own puppy - but my mom and I just surprised my dad a few weeks ago with a golden puppy for his birthday. He cried! It was just the sweetest thing. It took him a long time to recoup from losing our last girl. I am really happy for him now. </p>