Putting the dog down.

[tolbiny]

Tomorrow morning, 8:00 my parents are taking the family dog to be put to sleep. She's 18 years old, and the first family pet that we have ever had put down. We have ahd rabbits and gerbals die, and a cat just disapear, but Jenny is less than two years younger than my youngest sister.
Its gonna be tought to watch, but she can barely stand on her own anymore and is almost totally blind. Hell, I don't know where i am going with this- i guess i just wanted to tell you all that she was a great dog, and right now i am crying for the first time in years.
I am going to miss her.

[ThaSaltCracka]

[ QUOTE ]
i guess i just wanted to tell you all that she was a great dog, and right now i am crying for the first time in years.

[/ QUOTE ] I've been there man, go cry for a little while, then grab a beer.

/images/graemlins/frown.gif

[[censored]]

That really sucks man and I am very sorry. I've always had dogs and I know what it is like to loose one.

Best Wishes

[IggyWH]

It's tough man... I've been there twice. My suggestion is to look into getting a new dog immediately. When you're sitting around the house and there's no dog, those are the toughest times. You'll never forget your old dog, but getting a new one makes getting over things easier.

[daryn]

/images/graemlins/frown.gif

i /images/graemlins/heart.gif animals

[Piz0wn0reD!!!!!!]

That really sucks man.

[nothumb]

Sorry dude. /images/graemlins/frown.gif

I'll crack one open for the old girl tonight...

TN

[ThaSaltCracka]

[ QUOTE ]
Sorry dude. /images/graemlins/frown.gif

I'll crack one open for the old girl tonight...

TN

[/ QUOTE ]me too.

[TimM]

We had to do the same with our family dog five years ago. Days after my parents thought they still heard her barking in the morning. I still have dreams where she's alive.

[[censored]]

[ QUOTE ]
We had to do the same with our family dog five years ago. Days after my parents thought they still heard her barking in the morning. I still have dreams where she's alive.

[/ QUOTE ]

Wow, I lost a dog my senior year of HS I had since I was very young. I was very close to him. Every once in a while( year or two) I will have some completely our of left field dream that doesn't make any sense but which he is in it.

[HDPM]

Sorry. It is a really bad thing to have to do. Tomorrow is going to be a very bad day for you. I hate watching it, but I think it is better to be there as unpleasant as it is. /images/graemlins/frown.gif

[Tron]

I'm real sorry to hear that, man. I've had my dog for 12 years, and he's getting there. Sorry, man. Here's to a great dog.

[juanez]

I feel very sorry for you man. Dogs become part of the family and it's tough to let them go, especially when it's your decision to do so. But if she's suffering, it's best for her in the end. I'll raise one for Jenny tonight as well.

I had to put my Golden "Bob" down in April - he passed away in my arms while the vet did his thing. I too hadn't cried for years until that day, but like I said, I know it was best for him... /images/graemlins/frown.gif

[VBM]

Man's best friend for real...i think about how my dog, she doesn't care how rich or poor i am, if i get too fat or what kind of car i drive or what school i went to; and she always waits by the stairs for me to come home once it get dark and acts like it just made her day once i come in.

no words for loyalty like that, man...

[jakethebake]

We put down my wife's dog awhile back. Her granny who died the year before just loved him. When she put the pink juice in him (she's a vet tech), she said, "Hurry, Bee-Dub. Granny's waiting for you." I totally lost it. I was crying like a little kid.

[chabibi]

get a new dog asap
it really sucks when you walk in the house at 4am and theres no dog to bark and wake your parents. its been a year since we put my dog down and everytime i come home i expect her to jump on me

what kind of dog is she?

[jakethebake]

Bee-Dub (aka Bubba Wiezel) was a cattle dog, and that was quite awhile ago. We still have our lab, Doc though.

[tolbiny]

My older brother picked me up this morning adn we drove to my parents house. its cleveland, the weather is shi tty- even by our standards. Its grey, its cold. It snowed for half the night, but now the snow has turned to a sleeting slush, and the only sound outside is the spray from cars sloshing against the curbs.
At my parents house i go inside, and my brother heads to the garage where Jenny sleeps. I can see him through the window of the kitchen, and it takes him a few seconds to wake her up. She shakes her head and stands, falters, and then holds herself. Her hind leg barely touches the ground as she limps out of the garage. My mom ran over her nearly five years ago as she was backing out of the garage. She broke both of Jenny's legs on her left side, and we took turns holding her upright while she went to the bathroom for weeks untill she was able to walk again.
It seems absurd to me that an already old dog could survive that, and do so happily.
She doesn't seem so happy any more though. Her head hangs when she walks, and i don't think i've heard her bark in a year. Except when she's with Oli, then she almost seems young again for a few seconds at a time. He waves me outside, and we wander down the driveway with our dog. She moves slowly, and stumbles when she tries to walk up the soft slope between the driveway and the lawn. Its cold and sleepting, and i don't know how long it takes for her to walk the three houses to the corner and back, but Oli and I are torn between lingering outside and getting it over with. he has to carry her up the steps to put her in the kitchen where my dad is waiting with an old blanket. He rubs her down and my brother empties a bag of treats into the pan she eats out of. I'm sitting at the kitchen table with the sports page in front of me for no apparent reason, untill they take her outside into the car. I follow and get in the back seat, and we drive. Not much is said during the ride, exept Oli reaching over into the front to rub Jenny's head and ask random questions which he answers for her. Halfway there and she barks, a hoarse, high pitched bark. She follows with another a few mins later.
WE get her out of the car, and into the waiting room, and we sit. Somebody said something, but i don't remember who, or what. We follow the vet into a tiny room with nothing more than a short metal table that folded out from the wall, and he asks us if we want to be in the room, my dad nods silently. The vet comes back with an assistant and some clippers. I don't see the needle untill he puts it on the table next to her. He tries to shave her foreleg, and she wriggles around. I quickly push out of my mind the thought that she is struggling. My brother is holding her head, and is whispering to her. My dad holding her in the middle. The vet gets down to her skin, through her thick winter coat, and she barks.
It is the worst sound that i have heard. Hoarse, almost a wine, and something breaks inside of me. I relize i am crying, and i look up to see Oli's face twised and red. Tears are streaming down his face and jenny barks again as the vet slides the needle into her leg. He is talking to her softly, and i don't notice as he starts to press the plunger down. All i can see is the dark red blood in the syringe that flowed briefly out. She barks again, and then slowly lays her head down.
My gut is twisted but the tears stand in my eyes. Half of me is aking, and the other half trying to push it away, to not notice. I step backwards and stop stroking her leg when the vet says shes gone. Oli's still stroking her neck while my dad takes off her coller. Jenny's not moving at all, and it breaks over me. Tears are running down my face, and then they stop. I'm biting my lip, and hugging my brother, and over his shoulder our dog is lying, dead.
Walking up our driveway my brother goes inside first, and i almost pause to close the gate.
It hurts so bad, and i am so close to losing it. I stand outside and shake for a few seconds, and it hurts so bad.

[jakethebake]

RIP, Jenny. It sucks, but you did right by her.

[nicky g]

That is very tough. Think of the long, happy life she had and the great times you had with her. My sympathies.

[Shajen]

Sorry man.

It's horrible, but this was the best thing for her.

Feel better.

[BusterStacks]

My dog is getting very old, I do not want to read this thread.

[lapoker17]

Jesus - I cried when I read this. Thanks for posting.

[adios]

I lost one of my dogs this past summer to a mysterious liver disease of some sort. Sweetest dog in the world and she was only 2.5 years old. Bummed me out for a good while so I know what you're feeling. Keep your chin up.

[mmbt0ne]

That sounds awful, but it's better for everyone. My thoughts and prayers go out to you and your family.

[adios]

Condolences. What I wouldn't give for one last walk with my dog that passed away this summer.

[steeser]

That story gave me a knot in my stomach. I know it doesn't feel like it now, but if she was suffering, then you did the right thing.

[Porcupine]

[ QUOTE ]
Jesus - I cried when I read this. Thanks for posting.

[/ QUOTE ]

I knew I couldn't be the only one - in addition to thinking of Jenny, it brought back bad memories.


RIP Jenny.

My thoughts and prayers are with you. I've been there for both a dog and a cat.

[jakethebake]

[ QUOTE ]
and a cat.

[/ QUOTE ]
I knew it was just a matter of time before this thread was ruined by cat talk. /images/graemlins/tongue.gif

[Shajen]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
and a cat.

[/ QUOTE ]
I knew it was just a matter of time before this thread was ruined by cat talk. /images/graemlins/tongue.gif

[/ QUOTE ]..says the man with the badassed cat stalking the baby avatar.

Mr Cat: You keep your cat food, let me eat your baby.

[jakethebake]

[ QUOTE ]
I knew it was just a matter of time before this thread was ruined by cat talk. /images/graemlins/tongue.gif

[/ QUOTE ]..says the man with the badassed cat stalking the baby avatar.

[/ QUOTE ]

Touche. /images/graemlins/grin.gif

[VBM]

she was a lucky dog to have a family who loved her so much. you guys did good by her and i hope y'all think about all the good times more than the way it went down...

[JoeU]

This is the first time I've ever cried reading anything on 2+2.

I'm very sorry for you, your family, and for Jenny. She obviously was one in a million.

I dread this day for my dog. I had to take her last week for surgery, and that was tough enough. People that don't own dogs never understand that they are not pets or "mans best friend", they ARE family.

She's in a better place, and will always be there for you.

Joe

[sfer]

tolbiny, I'm sorry. I watched the family dog die when I was 20, as we were trying to drive her to the vet, and it was devastating.

[Messy Harry]

Well, if you had asked me what I'd be doing today, I certainly wouldn't have ever imagined the answer would be crying at work over a 2+2 post.

My condolences over your loss.

[TJSWAN]

tolbiny,

The hurting will stop eventually. Kudos to you for being there.

Take care,


Tim

[billyjex]

Sucks man, I have a dog who's 14 and, well, who knows how long she has left but she's a great loving dog and it won't be fun when she passes.

I /images/graemlins/heart.gif animals too.

[billyjex]

[ QUOTE ]
Man's best friend for real...i think about how my dog, she doesn't care how rich or poor i am, if i get too fat or what kind of car i drive or what school i went to; and she always waits by the stairs for me to come home once it get dark and acts like it just made her day once i come in.

no words for loyalty like that, man...

[/ QUOTE ]

Well put. Dogs can always keep us sane when the world is driving us crazy.

[JinX11]

[ QUOTE ]
Jesus - I cried when I read this. Thanks for posting.

[/ QUOTE ]

Man, no kidding.

I have a young dog that has a genetic kidney problem and will mean that I have to go through this sometime in the near future. I feel awful for you, Tolbiny. Counter to what others have said, many have advised me (when it looked like I was going to have to put mine down) to take some time before getting a new dog. You don't want to replace Jenny: that wouldn't be fair to her. But, when you're ready, yes, another dog will probably be good for you.

Best of luck to you.

[stripsqueez]

i had memphis the great dane for 11 years before i took him to the vet and had him put down in similar fashion about 18 months ago - he had a neurological problem in his back legs that effected his ability to stand up and run around

i'm pretty sure that when a dog becomes physically disabled you cant have them put down too early - its easy to put a person with no working legs in a wheel chair but for a wild animal the equation is not the same - it would be desperately disorientating and the end of any significant quality of life for an animal - it was sad when he was put down but it was quick, painless and i felt positive about it because i knew the best thing had occured

in the last 18 months whenever i walked down my driveway at night i would still catch myself watching the ground closely so as not to walk into dog crap - i have always had a dog but waited till 2 months ago to get another as i didnt wish to compare it to the one i had lost - for the same reason i decided not to get a great dane

now i have tennessee the irish wolfhound and have walked in crap twice

stripsqueez - chickenhawk