Mary Beth Johnson, RN
This is such a tough decisional We have made it several times and maybe waited too long. it is so tough to let go. Both times, we waited till our dog seemed to say...Mom...had ENOUGH' let me go. First time, my hubby did not want to stay with our dog so I bowed to his decision and left our precious dog with the Vet. NEVER AGAIN, NEVER AGAIN. I am the mom..i'm staying with our dog so that he knows he is safe...mom is there. The next time...We had the vet come to the house...We had spent the day with our dog (German Shorthair Pointer) and he had had a whirlpool bath (he love those) and was laying on the back porch with us on his pillow. Lovely day...He'd spent the last 6 months suffering from paralysis of his back end...not total...but he could not walk so we bought wheels from Eddie's wheels and it did give him some life. but finally, we knew it was time. the life went out of his eyes..as if to say...Mom...i'm done. Had to let him go. so we just made it as easy as possible and ...then he was done. Still cry when I think of it and as I do that, now...my current GSPs are looking at me wondering why mom is crying. Geesh. I'm sure blessed to be love by these dogs and my main hope is to take the best care of them that I can. I guess the point of this was...we take the cues from our dogs...what is their quality of life? will it improve? are they in pain? A friend also told us...when we have to let them go, it is the last good thing we can do for them....it's never easy. we love them so.