How to Decide When to Put Your Dog to Sleep?
85Elderly Dogs
It is one of the hardest decisions that pet owners can make- when is the right time to put your dog (or other pet) to sleep. Because our dogs become part of the family, when they start to age and show signs of age, it can be very hard to decide when it is time to let them go.
If you have an elderly dog, you are probably taking all precautions already to caring for your older dog, but if you need a little help, you can check out Caring for an Elderly and Aging Dog for more tips for caring for an elderly dog.
It is a very hard decision to make, especially since out dogs become part of the family. We play with them, exercise them, train them, feed them, and in many cases sleep with them. Face it, we spend A LOT of time with our dogs, so when the time comes when you notice that you older dog just doesn’t have the same spunk as he used to, it may be time to start thinking about the one subject that no dog owner wants to touch until the last minute…
Euthanasia…
My Opinion Before We Get Started
Many people want to let God take over and decide when is the right time to let the dog pass on, but if you think about it, we have already pretended to be God by preventing all sorts of “natural” diseases and illnesses with regular shots, pills, and other medications. So is it fair to let out beloved pets live in possible pain and agony while we wait for God to take over?
I am not saying that everyone should go out and put their dog to sleep at the first sign of old age, but I believe that there is a point in every dog’s life that if he is suffering, it’s time to let him go.
You don’t want to keep the dog alive and in pain for your own benefit and selfishness. You want to think of what lifestyle your dog is currently having. If he is not happy, sick, and suffering, I’m sorry to be blunt, but it’s time…
Now, if you are still hanging in there with me, please continue reading while I keep my opinions to myself and I am as unbiased as I can be able the subject.
Below, I am going to try to explain the basics of how the procedure is done and tips to dealing with the grief afterwards.
Thinking about putting your dog to sleep
If you think about your dog’s wants and wellbeing, ask yourself what does he want?
The answer is actually pretty simple. Your dog wants fun, love, attention, and good health… That means no pain or suffering… Which is pretty much what we want ourselves.
There is no set time or limit or one-for-all decision that everyone can make as to when to put the dog to sleep. It is by individual situation and opinion as to when that time is. So, I cannot tell you that today is the day that you put your 13 year old dog to sleep just because he’s 13 because what if he still runs around and barks at strangers and begs to be pet and loved on? Now, that doesn’t sound like a dog that is ready to be put down.
But, we all know when it is time. It is just something that we do not want to have to face when it is that time.
How is it done?
Euthanasia is a very simple and pain free process. You can opt to have your dog put to sleep at the vet, or in many cases, the vet will be willing to come to your home to do it in your dog’s surroundings.
Most vet’s give the dog a shot of barbiturate, or another sedative, to relax the dog and put him unconscious, and then the vet or vet tech will give the dog another shot to actually put the dog to sleep and to stop his heart.
Not all dogs react the same. You will find that dogs with poor circulation may take a little long for the drugs to take into effect, and with some dogs, it may take a little longer for the muscle twitches to stop. In these cases, do not be alarmed or upset thinking that you have made the wrong choice. You dog is not fighting to stay alive, he is already fully unconscious.
Help Dealing with the Grief
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When a Family Pet Dies: A Guide to Dealing With Children's Loss
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When Only the Love Remains: The Pain of Pet Loss
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Blessing the Bridge: What Animals Teach Us About Death, Dying, and Beyond
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Dealing with the grief of putting your dog to sleep
When dealing with the grief of losing a pet, there are many different means of coping. A few tips can include the following:
- If you know that your older dog is going to need to be put to sleep in the near future, go ahead and get another puppy. This will help you with the emotional pain when your older dog is gone.
- Go ahead and make plans, as to when you will put your dog to sleep (if you know that he is getting worse), where you will put your dog to sleep (the vet or at home), and what you will do with his body (leave at the vet, bury, cremation, etc). This will help with the coping process, having everything pre-planned
- Have someone go with you when you take the dog to the vet, or have someone with you when the vet comes to your home, so that you have someone that you can be with during and after the process.
- And, when the vet or vet tech is preparing your dog, just be with him. Hold him, stroke him, talk to him. This will help you and it will calm him.
If you want more tips, you can check out this hub about Dealing With The Loss of A Pet
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Comments
I really appeciated this article although I am still unsure about what to do. We adopted an 11 year old Cairn Terrier in May, after her owner went into hospice care. We knew she was special needs at the start (she has had a lifelong eye condition), but since the weather has gotten colder she just seems to being going downhill. She can't see well or hear and
is becoming incontinent as well. She gets up in the night and wanders around and when I go to see her, she is so dioriented and upset that I can't seem to do anything to help her settle down. She is so sweet and does occasionally still get playful, but she sleeps the better part of most days and just does not seem to have any spunk left. Because we've had her such a short time, I don't feel qualified to make this decision... I didn't realize it would come so soon. She has become grumpy and has occasionally snapped at us in her confusion, which she never did when she could still see some. I think maybe it is time, but I am torn.
Dave Thank you- your comments really said it all,its been 1 week since my husband and I had to put our dog to rest and it was and always will be one of the hardest things I have ever had to do,She was a large dog that loved laying in doorways so I still catch myself stepping over her or watching my footing so not to trip over her and I still go to the door to let her in or out.Our home seems empty now, But for now I cant imagine having another pet. I was with her at the time of her passing and as hard as it was I know that I could not let her go without being by her side like she has been by mine for 13 years. I miss talking to her the most, I know we made the right decision for her. Like I had stated earlier she deserves peace
READING THIS KILLS ME, i HAVE A MIXED BREED ( SHELTIE /IRISH SETTER WHO HAS BEEN WITH ME SINCE I RECUED HIM IN 1992 AS A YOUNG PUP..HE IS DEAF, BLIND, GETS DIMENTIA..BUT OTHER DAYS HE IS 100 PERCENT FINE..EVEN PERKY, YET THE NEXT DAY HE WILL SLEEP 18 HOURS..HE IS DOWN TO ONLY EATING ABOUT A HALF CUP OF FOOD A DAY , AND LUCKILY THE BRUTUS BOXERS ( I LOVE THEM ) LEAVE HIM ALONE AND REALIZE HE IS THE HEAD OF THE PACK, EVEN THOUGH HE IS NOT EVEN 27 POUNDS ANYMORE AND THEY ARE ALL OVER 100 POUNDS..
THIS MAKES ME REALIZE I HAVE HAD HIM FOR 17 YEARS, HE DOESNT PLAY ANYMORE, BUT HE IS STILL LOYAL TO ME AND IN RELATIVLY GOOD HEALTH, BESIDES THE EVER INCREASING DIMENTIA AND THE HORRIBLE THING OF LOSING HIS BALANCE, WALKING INTO WALLS, AND FALLING FREQUENTLY.
I KNOW THE TIME IS OMING, BUT I HAVE HAS HIM SINCE I WAS A TEEN AND IM IN MY MID 30'S NOW...
WHAT TO DO, WHAT TO DO..
IT BOTHERS ME DAILY
.......... It seems when 'it's time' your heart will still try to convince you 'it's not'. I am 61 and since being a little boy, our family has always been a dog family, sometimes two dogs at a time. Dogs are by all means family members in this family's households. And we have always keep the dogs health concerns at a level with our own. A responsibility we felt could never be compromised. When we accept a pet into the family, we felt a God demanded responsibility to care for that animal as best we could...
and we always have.
In those years, I have had to put many of my animal 'children' down, both dogs and cats.
Sadly, today I had to put our 14 year old rottie-lab mix down. This was extremelty and especially difficult this time around. You see, she was the pet of my adult daughter Tami who lived at home we us...... she was divorced, had no children and moved home with us several years ago.
Unfortunately.... she was very sick ... and she died.... literally in my arms as I held her..... earlier in the year. One of the last things she said was... "Please take care of Autumn for me, dad..."
Today, 9 months later, may have been the second most horrible day of my life...........
Autumn was a living link to our lost daughter.... and it hurts very,very, very bad now..... Tonight when its time for Autumns ritual routies..... wow, it's going to be tough.
You see, all must remember, there is a time for all things under the sun.... and one is when it is the kind and loving thing... to 'let your pet go'. Believe me... I had plenty of selfish reasons not to go through with it today.. plenty of them.. however the poor animal also suffered many health issues.
But Autumn gave me, my wife, my other kids, my grandkids and most importantly my late daughter so much love in life..... It was the only loving thing I could do for the dog.
.........Sooooo Please, dont ever let your own emotions or selfish desires stop you from doing the right thing. Letting them go is the final act of love you can give back to a 'family' member for all the love they gave you in their lifetime.
My heart feels for all who must go through this ordeal in life.
Peace to you all, tom takacs
God Bless all of you loving and brave people who have enjoyed the love that only an animal can give you and have had to put them to sleep. That is the single most painful thing, a feeling of what if I did this, or that, would he/she lived longer? Stop making yourself crazy, if you think you should end your dog's life on earth and your vet shares your feelings, then it should be done, without regret, but rather with love, compassion and tenderness. It's the last gift you can give your suffering four legged love of your life. Love to you to all. PEACE.
I think this may help: A dog who only knows his beloved owner goes blind and there is nobody there to explain what has happened. He or she sees darkness and is confused & does not know what has happened to the world. He or she tries to get out of bed only to feel a sharp pain in his back & legs and is unable to tell you how much pain they are in. Food does not taste good and they cannot play. They live in a dark world, in extreme pain, cannot get of bed or walk,& this goes on for months, years. There is no book or tv or someone to talk to, to distract them from this misery. Then one day, his or her most loving companion gently pets him & your dog understands that his companion understands the pain he or she is feeling and that he will make the pain go away. Your dog wants to thank you for this unselfish act on your part. It is time to go for now to dog heaven until they meet again one day and this time it will be for eternity.
If he can see out of one eye, can walk without pain, and still wags his tail when he sees you (a sign that he is still alert and happy), then I would wait. As soon as he is blind and/or cannot walk (where you have to pick him up to relieve himself), that would be the time to give him your biggest act of love (letting him go to dog heaven). I know this from my personal experience and as I always say, when it is his time to go, be sure you are with him when they put him to sleep - I did this for my dog no matter how painful it was to do this but you will regret not being for your dog at his last moment (for owners on this blog who say it was too painful to be there and chose not to be with their dog, I am sure they will regret that). Dave
Thank you to everyone sharing their positions and thoughts on this. My American Eskimo is only 6. She started having seizures 4 months ago. At first they put her on phenobarb. But about six-seven weeks later, she had a long week of several seizures a day. After more extensive testing they determined it was "just" epilepsy (not the brain tumor or cancer we feared). She was put on more meds and sent home. She did great on the meds for five weeks. Then, this weekend, she had 29 seizures in 46 hours. Although, we know that there may be long periods of time when she will be seizure free, they seizures become more intense and with more side effects each time she goes through them. After discussing putting her on more meds, our family decided we could not continue to put her through this each time. Because there are additional meds available, it was very hard to make the decision. We just don't feel like we can continue to put her through this distress. We are also feeling very guilty because we don't want to continue putting ourselves and our kids through this every time she goes through this. It has helped me have peace of mind to read your comments. We are scheduled to have her put to sleep tomorrow.
i know my dog deserves so much more than this she has given me her whole heart and soul. i know she is pain because she
cries alot lately.she has a hard time moving about she is a 13year old shepherd mix,we have decide today go forward a give her the peace and painfree lives she deserves. i dont know one single person who would want to lay in their beds and stuff in pain. even if it meant dying at home of old age.
I am sorry to those who dont believe in euthasia but what if it was you who was in so much pain and there was nothing you could do about it. give them their peace they deserve. i love my dog with all my heart and will miss with my whole being.
Hello,
I came on this site to help me in realizing that my husband and I are making the "right" decision in regards to our 11.5 yr.old Golden Retriever. She has been struggling with a debilitating skin disorder for the past year and a half. We made the decision last night and have an appt. to bring her in to the vet this afternoon. I really do not know how I am going to "get through" this. We've had her since she was 2 and I don't mean to sound cliche, but she has been the absolute BEST dog anyone could ever have. Intellectually I know that I am doing something that will end her suffering and bring her peace, but in my heart/emotionally I cannot let go. It's just too sad. Thank you for listening and hopefully sharing my story of our beloved Shelby with all of you will help me through this process- thanks for listening.
My dog Tuffy has prostate cancer, he is still eating but lost a lot of weight and he does nothing but lay down. He has a hard time going to the bathroom, the tumor is big as a golf ball. I don't want him to suffer but I don't know when is the time, I don't want to say "I should have done it earlier" I can't not make the call, I love him too much.
Just had Holly, my 14 year old ex-rescue springer put to sleep today. She was diagnosed with a tumour in her bladder in Jan and the vet anticipated 3-6 months. Over 9 beautiful months later I finally made the hardest decision I've had to make. On the good days her tail never stopped wagging, but it is never that cut and dry. No-one can make the decision for you. You know your friend better than anyone and as hard as it is, in your heart you know when to say goodbye. For me, it was while she still had some fun each day. I'll never forget her going for one last swim in the pond at lunchtime. Neither of us wanted it to end, but both of us knew it had to.
I've cried all day, but now that I've said goodbye I know it was the right decision. To keep going would have been selfish on my part... but I do miss her more than anything.
Today I had to put my 3 year old schnauzer to sleep. It was the hardest decision I have ever had to make. He has had epilepsy for 2 years and the siezures have become increasingly violent. Last night, he had one every 3-4 minutes and I gave hime every medication the vet said too, had him in the animal hospital the night before and at the vet all day. He was suffering and although I feel awful, I just could not bare for him to continue to suffer anymore. He went peacefully and now is at rest. I know some don't believe in euthenasia, but sometimes, it is the most humane thing we can do. His name was Mac and he was my baby. Im so sad and hoping he is running and playing in heaven. I understand all of your pain, god bless.
I got on this web site to help me with my decision to put our 15 year old lab to sleep in 2 hours. He has lost 60 pounds recently and we guess it is cancer. We were wondering how long to let him go on since he was still taking walks but not eating. However the last 3 days he started breathing short shallow breaths. He looks in discomfort but does not complain. Our family decided it is time to put him down though he is still so alert. But the breathing has told us it is time. I will love him till the end and this will be very hard but it is better for him.
I think it something you should go through once and I mean ONCE in your life. I put my dog down last year. She had a mass in her stomach. The vet said there was no way of knowing if it was cancerous without opening her up, if it was she wouldn't have long at all cause of the air hittinig it. So we took the chance and left it alone, and swore the first sign of any pain or agony for any reason it would be time. She actually was totally fine for another year and a half, then one morning she had a very hard time getting up,squeealing, THAT day I decided it was time. Made the call, sometimes I wonder if it was just arthritis or something in her legs, but regardless, she was 10 years old lived a great life, but the actual part with my son being with me in that room and watching them do that took my BREATH AWAY....I loooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooost it after she gasped.....It was a very moving experience and can talk about it now. I have another and he is my HEART he's almost 10 and I am seeing his health slow down tremendous and it's just a matter of time too for him, although this time I am handing him to the vet. I will not watch this again. And then I have a 2 year old puppy.....you'd think I'd quit but they are man's best friend even if it's a painful experience in the end.
I'm sitting here crying reading everyone's stories because my 14 year old Jack Russel is sitting close. She's partially blind, lost her front leg 7 years ago and now only has 3 legs and is now going paralyzed in her back legs. She also has a cough due to heart fluid, which we're treating with meds. I'm having a horrible dilema because she and I have had a system going for about 6 months now where she whines and I take her out to "go" because it's getting kind of hard for her to get all the way out back. Unfortunately, now when I try to pick her up 50% of the time she bites me. I think it's because she's in pain, but now I'm scared to pick her up. She still has her mind and can reasonably get around, but definitely has pain in her front and back legs. I'm so incredibly sad about it and just don't know how to make this horrible decision. She's already destroyed our back porch, by peeing and pooping all over it. It smells so bad that we don't have people out there anymore and we're going to have to replace the flooring when she's gone. So, I can totally understand how all of you are feeling because I'm going through the same thing. This is such a hard decision and not one I'm sure it's fair for me to make. HOpefully she'll let me know. You all sound like loving pet owners and I wish you all the best.
My son moved from Las Vegas to NYC bringing his 15 yr old daschund with him. While in Vegas, Clovis had bouts of ecoli and was treated. When he came to NYC, he just couldn't adapt to the environment so we took him. We live in the Jersey shore area and he loves it here. We have had him for 1 1/2 yrs and he is not healthy. His back is hunched, he is losing weight rapidly, he can't hold his urine anymore so my rug is destroyed which is not really important, that can be replaced. Clovis never whimpers but it is so obvious that there is something serious going on with him. We took him to the vet and he told us to bring him home and let him die naturally. Clovis won't let me pet him anymore - I guess his back must really hurt him, but he never cries. I don't think I have ever heard him even bark since we have had him. He loves to eat, that's all he does is eat, pee and poop. Clovis is a male and something is wrong with his private area, I'm almost embarrased to explain this but it is hanging out all the time and I don't think this is natural. I'm not sure what is happening. I feel so sick inside because I think maybe we are being selfish keeping him with us because I just don't know if he is in pain. If anyone has any thoughts on this I would appreciate a response. Please pray for Clovis!!! I know God is concerned about everything that concerns me. Thank you!
Obviously from all the posts and length of all the posts, it is such a heartfelt subject. Worst decision you ever have to make but unfortunately in my humble opinion the final "gift" you can give your beloved pet if he or she is suffering. Their quality of life is always my deciding factor but that doesn't mean that a part of your heart does not break off because it just all went by too fast! Great advice and I only wish more folks did not let their pets linger and suffer sometimes. It is a tough, tough decision though.
Last summer we had to put our 9 year old Lhasa Apso down. Over time he started gaining weight and we thought it was because he was getting older. He started to sleep alot. His back legs seemed partially paralyzed at times. Then one day he started vomiting and he really got bloated. We took him to the vet and they did their tests but the testing was inconclusive. The vet sent us home with meds in case he had an infection and special dog food. Within a week his health went down hill. He could not get up on his own to go outside and he could not stand up properly. He had an extreme case of swelling. My family said our goodbyes and at the last moment I cried "no, I can't do it". My husband said it was time and our little fur baby was suffering. He couldn't even hold his head up and he started vomiting all over himself. So with much grief I went to the vet with my husband. The girls at the vet office were really good about the procedure...they ask me if I was ready and said I made the right decision. I said yes, and I will never forget how much it hurt to see him like that (I think I even cried out at the moment it happened). We had him buried in a pet cemetary and we had a family funeral/burial for him. My teenage daughter and I visited him for a few months thereafter. She would sing to him each and every time (it had a calming affect on him when he was alive). The last time we went to visit I told my daughter it will get easier for us. She cried and said "no, it is only getting harder for her". That was the last time we went to visit. She grew up with this pup and now he was gone. I think her emotions made her sick that day so I decided we needed some distance to let her heart heal. About 6 months later, my son was ready for a pup of his own. So I suggested a Lhasa and he said "no it wouldn't be the same". He decided on a Siberian Husky and that is what he got for his 16th birthday. Eventhough my son got a new puppy and my daughter still had her Golden Retriever, I was missing my guy so much and I decided I wanted my own dog. So I found a Lhasa about 2 months ago...he cannot replace our Chewy, but he definitely has won us over. So now we have 3 dogs, our Golden which is 5 yrs old, Siberian Husky 1 yr old, and our pup 4 months old. Our golden grew up with our last Lhasa so he is very tolerant of our new pup. We still miss our fur baby, but we still have alot of love to give to our current fur babies.
rachael says:
14 hours ago
had my dog put to sleep today it was horrible, cant stop crying, vet said his kidneys had stopped working and he was suffering, only thing is when the time came he cryed and tryed to get away i now feel so guilty i cant sleep or eat. why did he do this? he couldnt even walk or hardly lift himself i hate the thought that he was afraid i held he and tryed to calm him feel so horrible.