Today my heart is broken............
Posted 06-04-2009 at 12:28 PM by FFighter_21
Today my heart is broken. I lost a living thing that is as close to me as my parents were, and my wife and children are.
The day after I got married, my wife and I went to the pound to get a" Puppie".
That was my wife's idea, and it was a cool idea I guess as I never cared for big dogs. So a "Puppie" would work out.
Well we arrived and walked up and down the cages and around the other side and up and down another set. There were very many and they all were very loud. Some barked, and some whined. Some jumped on the gate vying for your attention and others acted like they wanted to rip you apart.
They were all fairly large so none really caught my eye. There was one though that she liked. It was large, all white and sat in the back, kind of unassumingly and did not vye for any attention. She (my wife) knelt in front of the cage and he came out and looked at her. He sat for a second, she reached out and he sniffed her hand. Licked it and then turned and walked back into the kennel and sat down. She was sold. We adopted him, and were to find out that day, that he had outlived his stay on more than one occasion. They have a determined length of time, and if no one adopts them, they are put down, but he was such a well mannered and behaved dog, that the staff didn't have the heart to put him down. He dodged the bullet that day as he went home w/us, He was scheduled to be put to sleep in the morning the next day.
He went home w/us and was immediately a friend. He as great w/kids, and we have had various cats over the years and he never bothered them, or any other animals. You could say he was the perfect dog. He was house trained and never destroyed anything. He had a personality all of his own
He was approximately 2 years old when we got him, and our tenth anniversary is coming up on November 22nd, so he was going to be around 12 or 13 soon. Pretty old for a dog who is a Lab, Shepard mix.
Well lately his heath had been failing and he was having trouble getting around. He had been diagnosed w/Cushing's disease, he had hip displaysia, and he had had a blood clot in his tail, which had killed his tail and it had to be amputated. Through it all, he stayed as playful and as great a companion as he had been his whole life.
Well, last night during the night he needed out to go to the bathroom. He had been having more and more trouble moving lately and he got outside, and had to sit and then couldn't get back up to get back in the house.
As hard as he tried, he couldn't regain his feet. My wife and I assisted him in and pondered all night as to what we were going to do. I hoped against all hope that he would be OK after he laid around a little bit and rested that he would be OK and that he would be able to continue to live, but when he was left out again in the morning, the same scenario played itself out. Again, it took both of us to assist him back in, and his rear hips are very touchy. Hence when we had to help him up, he would yelp in pain.
We talked and decided that this was no quality of life for him, and as hard as it would be to loose him, he would be better off put down.
We took him to the Vet's this morning and I thought that having him put "to sleep" would be the hardest part, but as they injected him, he screamed as the injection was almost completed.
Now do I not only miss him and feel bad for doing this to him, I believe he died in pain, and that is/was the last thing I ever would have wanted to happen to him.
Somewhere I hope he is still watching, running through the fields, and jumping and barking. I hope he knows he is loved and that I am so sorry that his last memory was of pain and fear. I miss you Baby, sleep w/the angels.
The day after I got married, my wife and I went to the pound to get a" Puppie".
That was my wife's idea, and it was a cool idea I guess as I never cared for big dogs. So a "Puppie" would work out.
Well we arrived and walked up and down the cages and around the other side and up and down another set. There were very many and they all were very loud. Some barked, and some whined. Some jumped on the gate vying for your attention and others acted like they wanted to rip you apart.
They were all fairly large so none really caught my eye. There was one though that she liked. It was large, all white and sat in the back, kind of unassumingly and did not vye for any attention. She (my wife) knelt in front of the cage and he came out and looked at her. He sat for a second, she reached out and he sniffed her hand. Licked it and then turned and walked back into the kennel and sat down. She was sold. We adopted him, and were to find out that day, that he had outlived his stay on more than one occasion. They have a determined length of time, and if no one adopts them, they are put down, but he was such a well mannered and behaved dog, that the staff didn't have the heart to put him down. He dodged the bullet that day as he went home w/us, He was scheduled to be put to sleep in the morning the next day.
He went home w/us and was immediately a friend. He as great w/kids, and we have had various cats over the years and he never bothered them, or any other animals. You could say he was the perfect dog. He was house trained and never destroyed anything. He had a personality all of his own
He was approximately 2 years old when we got him, and our tenth anniversary is coming up on November 22nd, so he was going to be around 12 or 13 soon. Pretty old for a dog who is a Lab, Shepard mix.
Well lately his heath had been failing and he was having trouble getting around. He had been diagnosed w/Cushing's disease, he had hip displaysia, and he had had a blood clot in his tail, which had killed his tail and it had to be amputated. Through it all, he stayed as playful and as great a companion as he had been his whole life.
Well, last night during the night he needed out to go to the bathroom. He had been having more and more trouble moving lately and he got outside, and had to sit and then couldn't get back up to get back in the house.
As hard as he tried, he couldn't regain his feet. My wife and I assisted him in and pondered all night as to what we were going to do. I hoped against all hope that he would be OK after he laid around a little bit and rested that he would be OK and that he would be able to continue to live, but when he was left out again in the morning, the same scenario played itself out. Again, it took both of us to assist him back in, and his rear hips are very touchy. Hence when we had to help him up, he would yelp in pain.
We talked and decided that this was no quality of life for him, and as hard as it would be to loose him, he would be better off put down.
We took him to the Vet's this morning and I thought that having him put "to sleep" would be the hardest part, but as they injected him, he screamed as the injection was almost completed.
Now do I not only miss him and feel bad for doing this to him, I believe he died in pain, and that is/was the last thing I ever would have wanted to happen to him.
Somewhere I hope he is still watching, running through the fields, and jumping and barking. I hope he knows he is loved and that I am so sorry that his last memory was of pain and fear. I miss you Baby, sleep w/the angels.
Total Comments 10
Comments
-
That is so touching. I am very sorry to hear about your dog. I feel you did the right thing. I let a dog of mine live in pain for far too long, she had heart worms and liver disease, I just didn't have the guts to do it. I hope time gives you comfort as it did me. Thanks, ffighter for sharing his story.Posted 06-04-2009 at 01:40 PM by ampguard88
- Posted 06-04-2009 at 01:40 PM by kspool
-
My condolences on the loss of your beloved pet. I know how hard it is to make that decision. Any pain he felt from the injection was probably short lived and he was comfortable when he finally went to the other side. He is free of pain now and waiting for you at the Rainbow Bridge.Posted 06-04-2009 at 02:08 PM by Bandit33 
-
Ken I am so sorry for your loss of beloved family member.Our prayers and thought go out to you and your family.Posted 06-04-2009 at 07:42 PM by ronmcc -
Ken i feel really sorry for you and good luck. it was the right thing to do for him to be in pain the least amount of time.Posted 06-04-2009 at 08:07 PM by minicup -
I know how you feel. I have a rather tragic story too. My step dad had a dog for several years. I remember when she was just a puppy. When I was 17 I was leaving my home one day and didnt check behind my car. As I backed up I ran over her but there wasnt any blood. I believe she was about 15 or more years old. I went to tell my step dad what happened and he just said that it was okay because he was considering having her put to sleep anyway because of old age. she seemed to be hard of hearing and was going blind and was just so miserable all the time. I felt so horrible for running over her.Posted 06-04-2009 at 11:43 PM by frankies_gurl12607 -
Ken I grew up with a Lab/German Shepard mix and she was exactly as you described. You did the right thing for him though. Whatever pain he felt didn't compare to the pain he felt when he was trying to go to the bathroom and couldn't stand back up. Give it some time and get a new puppy because it only makes the memories more special.Posted 06-05-2009 at 12:30 AM by thunder_alley1984 -
My friend,
a long story but i am willing to share this with you.
20 years ago, my son brought home alittle springer spaniel and we named her Brittany. We only had her for a couple of monthsbefore she died of Provo. She died at the vets and my son didnot see the pain our puppy went thru with that horrendous disease. I had to go home and tell my four year old son his puppy had died.
I cuahgt him up on my lap and told him that the most amazing thing had happened. While i was visiting Brittany, God cam down in a big ol' helicopter. He asked me if he could take Brittany in the helicopter back to heaven because he had a little boy who needed a puppy there and would i mind if he took Brittany home to that little boy.God said we could have her back when we got to Heaven and i said yes. So God took Brittany in the great big helicopter and Brittany is keeping the little boy company until we get there. Greg's big eyes looked at me, full of tears and he said, A big Helicopter, mommy? Yup, little man, abig one. He cried a little minute and said its ok mommy,Im glad God needed her.
12 Years later when my husband, my soulmate, died, i was devastated, sitting in the kitchen, crying day after day. One night my son sat down at my table. and "Don't cry anymore Mom. Guess what i saw. I saw God come down in a great big golden Helicopter, and he took Ricky to Heaven. God said he needed Ricky to build a house for us for when we get there to be with him and Brittany.
Love ya, ffighter....Posted 06-05-2009 at 12:54 PM by dkolb -
Thank you to all for the responses. It is way harder than I anticipated. I keep looking up expecting to see him here, but he's not. I sure hope the pain ends soon. I never did handle death too well. Guess I was in the wrong profession huh?
You are all so wonderful. I appreciate you all so VERY VERY MUCH.Posted 06-05-2009 at 01:30 PM by FFighter_21 - ken -
our whole family - me, my wife donna, our kids -rachel, marcy and whitney, our cats, our foster cats and kittens and our german shepard dog - bailey are all praying for you and your family this evening
we lit a candle for your "best buddy" tonight here in boston
just a thought....if you would like to you could start a fund i his name at a rescue league in your area, i am more then sure that people would donate to the rescue shelter or shelters that you choose, then not only would your memories live on but everyone would know that even after all the love he brought to you and your family, he would forever be helping out other animals.
our hearts go out to you and your family, we lost a beloved pet to this last year, ours was unexpected...please know that in your heart you did do the right thing for him, the yelp could just havebeen a reflex response to his ongoing pain, NOTHING that you did would have caused him pain, and you chose to be there with him too
hang in here and tell us some of the funny stories from your life with him
stubaby and familyPosted 06-07-2009 at 12:40 AM by stubaby
| Featured Auctions |
