Advice for my old dog

[crushers]

seriously, i hope someone does the same to you when you are old and can't hold it.

very sorry to hear he is gone, it hurts and the pain will be with you for quite a while.
i am happy to read that you treated your friend as a friend up to the end. my old dog, he is still hanging in there. 2 years longer than i thought he would. going to be a sad day when i have to put him down.
are you going to get another or hold off?
i keep saying the pain is too much but i end up with another cause the void of not having a dog quickly out does the pain of loss.

Trim his nails and put him back in the crate.
The laundry room is big enough that he can s*** and not have to lay in it.

 

[splitshot]

i keep saying the pain is too much but i end up with another cause the void of not having a dog quickly out does the pain of loss.

Well said..

Sorry for your loss.

 

[kybishop]

Otis is no longer with us. He had stopped eating regularly a few days ago and last night I noticed he was drooling blood. Upon closer inspection he had what looked to be a good sized abscess on his jaw. So I called in to work and made an appointment to see the vet. As soon as he saw it and smelled it he said it was a large tumor and that unfortunately he didn't think he would make it even if he tried to remove it. And he told me that he looked to be in pain, which I knew but didn't want to face. So I made the toughest decision ever and sat with him as they gave him the shot. He's gone to a better place after 14 years and 4 months of being with us. But my 6 year old is crushed. Might have to get her the kitten she's been after for a while now.

I am sorry. I know how difficult these decisions are and how hard it is to go through it.

 

[crushers]

i should expand on the first part of my post, i didn't mean to come across as an ass.
when a dog gets old, he isn't crapping or peeing cause he wants to or cause he suddenly becomes a "bad dog". dogs don't normally turn bad as they get old, they loose control of their systems. sometimes it is pain, my big guy has really bad hips and if he slips and falls or jumps out of the truck wrong then he will have a dribble for a couple days because of the pain.
at first i scolded him till the vet explained what was happening. now i understand and instead of scolding i accept this is part of having an old dog. i should have been able to read his eyes and realize that he felt as bad for dribbling as i did for the mess to clean up.
Otis probably was in pain and couldn't relate it. the pain would tire him out just like pain does to humans. when he slept his bowels would relax and nature takes its course or in this case gavity.

he was fortunate to have a loving friend that stuck with him to the end.

 

[ken_79-fj40]

Thanks for the kind words guys. It's been a rough day. My daughter is almost six and she keeps drawing pictures of him and crying. I don't know if I will get another one or not. But the house sure does seem a little empty.

 

[kybishop]

In 2012 my father had 3 boxers and I had 3 boxers as well. He lost all three of his last year and I lost 2 of mine. One to cancer and the other just collapsed on the deck and was gone like that. We both had to put one to sleep and it is so difficult and such a jumble of conflicting emotions. Not the first time we had to and probably not the last.

You make the right choice when there is nothing else you can do for the animal. I know it doesn't feel right, it never does for me. It is the best thing you can do, we just have to know that. The suffering would be too much otherwise. Some say we should treat humans only so well as having this option.

With that, I too feel like I can not get another at times. However, we still have the one older boxer and we just adopted another from the local humane society about 2 months ago. All of ours have been rescues and adoptions.

Our 10 year old boxer girl has more accidents these days but it is just part of it. She wakes me up about 3:30 or 4 to go out as she can no longer hold it through the night. We come home at lunch to let them out so they don't have to go all day.

You will know when it is time and when or if you all or ready for another. The memories can be so positive of having them around.

 

[ken_79-fj40]

Well today is a better day. I think we will eventually get another. The house just feels wrong without a four legged guy around. I was making breakfast this morning and usually Otis would be right in the way begging for handouts. It was strange to not bump into him half a dozen times in the process of making waffles. Then I was out plowing my driveway and the neighbors boy was out playing in the snow with their beagle. Seeing him throwing snowballs for the dog got me a bit misty eyed. I used to do that with Otis all the time. When he was younger he would do it as long as you would continue to throw them. The last few years he was only good for one or two and he would be beat.

 

[crushers]

i know the feeling ...