My Yellow Lab

jill jackson

jill jackson

Joined
Sep 5, 2006
Messages
20,593
Is 13 and has been a tremendous dog. Strong and loyal as they come.
The last year he's went down hill and lost some hair and now he's acting like he's not long for this world. I've dug his grave on the hill where he loved to lay and look over his territory.
I know he's not his-self because I'm tuned into my dogs and now I either have to call a vet to give him a lethal injection, or quickly shoot him in the back of the head. (sounds awful but it's over even faster, him not knowing it's coming seems better to me at this point) I had to put him up when I was digging his grave, as he was watching me and he's always watched me digging other dog's graves. (I felt so bad him sitting watching me) anyone with a purebred hunting Lab, they will know this breed is very smart and tuned in. -I just hate to call a vet and have them give him drugs and have him know it and have to watch it. I also probably can't shoot him execution style when he's not aware. (though I think maybe I could if I really, really got my nerve and will up, before he suffers anymore)
It's hard to let him continue to live in bad shape and hard to kill him or have him killed.:( The very worst part of loving a dog is this, I know I should do something and the strength just isn't there, I wish I was stronger about things like this.
 
It's always hard when it comes down to it , he's lived a long life, time to share a bowl of vanilla ice cream and some Southern Comfort.
 
I had to put a Black Lab/Springer down about a month ago. She was in a similar condition as your dog. The vet is a personal friend of mine and she came to the house. First we gave the dog a sedative injection which just put her into a deep sleep. Then we gave her the lethal injection. It was all very peaceful. I would recommend this process, if you can arrange it.

I would not recommend shooting. It may sound quick but it is also violent and you may regret it for a long time. You don't need to put that kind of a burden on yourself.

Death is part of life. Our four-legged friends come and go too quickly. It helps if you can share the decision with family or friends.

Best wishes to you.
 
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Putting him to sleep at the vet is the way I'd go. It's painless and as mentioned above, the violent images of shooting him won't haunt you afterwords. Either way, it's really tough. You have my sympathies.

- Mark
 
Man I hate to see these threads,because I know what pain youre feeling.Please don't do this yourself,if you flinch and don't do a clean shot,it won't be pretty.Let your vet handle this and just hold him til he passes---My condolences--Best Regards Butch
 
Coldwood said:
I had to put a Black Lab/Springer down about a month ago. She was in a similar condition as your dog. The vet is a personal friend of mine and she came to the house. First we gave the dog a sedative injection which just put her to sleep. Then we gave her the lethal injection. It was all very peaceful. I would recommend this process, if you can arrange it.
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This is exactly the way my daughter's cat went, except she wasn't completely asleep from the sedative, just relaxed. My daughter held her for a while, then the vet gave her the overdose of anesthetic and she went to sleep quietly and permanently.

I think shooting became traditional because in the old days there wasn't much else.
 
I guess I should have a vet do it, but the only one close to me is a really rude woman.
If I have to take him in it's going to be even harder on me.
 
jill jackson said:
I guess I should have a vet do it, but the only one close to me is a really rude woman.
If I have to take him in it's going to be even harder on me.
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Understandable. It's always hardest on us for having to make these decisions. If you have to, then drive on further to a vet that is sympathetic. Eventually you'll forget about the trouble and expense, but you'll know that you did the best to help your friend pass on peacefully.

Edit: If it's any consolation, remember that animals do not foresee death the way that we do. They never see it coming..that's my belief. We humans, however, grieve in advance of a death.
 
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Coldwood said:
Understandable. It's always hardest on us for having to make these decisions. If you have to, then drive on further to a vet that is sympathetic. Eventually you'll forget about the trouble and expense, but you'll know that you did the best to help your friend pass on peacefully.
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Dogs are my responsibility. The rest of my family merely tolerates them.
So, I have to buy the food and care for them 100%.
I just let him out of the basement and he's drooling, has to urinate every few minutes and has diarrhea. I don't know if he's going to last until tomorrow to take him to a vet. He's weakened even from yesterday and seems to be going down fast. So, I'm trying to deal with this today, if he's still alive tomorrow morning i'll call a vet in the city and see about arranging him to be injected.
 
I'd go with the injection too.

You have my sincere condolences Jill.

Good luck
 
You have my sympathy Jill. A few months ago, we went through exactly the same thing with our 15 year old black Lab....

She was having trouble getting around, but was still in reasonably good spirits.

We really expected her to just go to sleep and not wake up, but it wasn't happening. She got to the point where she wouldn't eat much, drink much water and she would just pee and crap where she was sleeping. That was not like her, she would never go in the house...

I could tell by looking in her eyes, she was miserable and didn't want to be like that.

I know people talk about shooting their animals, but this was a member of our family for almost 15 years. Call me weak or whatever you want, but I couldn't do it. I don't have a problem hunting and shooting animals, and I have seen plenty of people that were dead from gun shots, accidents etc and that doesn't bother me.
However, this is different.... I couldn't stand the thought of seeing that moment of shooting her for the rest of my life.

I didn't want her to be stressed out by taking her to the vet, she never liked going there. We are fortunate to have a very good and compassionate vet here locally who came to our house and put her down. In the area we live, I couldn't bury her in the back yard. So he took her with him and we had her cremated.
They even took a plaster casting of her paw and put her name on it.

I know in my mind it was the best thing to do. It was very peaceful.
 
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I would take him to the Vet. and have him put to sleep. I am so sorry. My hear goes out to you.
 
Ah Jill what a awful choice to have to make.:(
I am so sorry that you are going to loose your friend and companion of so many years.
It is such a curse that their lives are so much shorter than ours...
I can only offer my sympathies....

Steven
 
I found this about one guy taking his dog in to be put down.

"If you look hard enough you can notice the tears in his eyes (he knew what was going on). The day I took him in, we sat beneath our willow tree on the lake's shore most of the day eating apples and talking about the good old days. He wasn't even strong enough to stand up anymore, so he put his head on my lap and we danced the memories one more time."
 
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