To consider putting a 'healthy' dog down?

[monkeyfacegrace]

Im trying to make one of the hardest decisions of my life.

I own 3 Pugs, two of which are 12 & 13 and have been together their whole lives.

The 13yr old bitch is literally making our lives hell.

She used to bounce with energy, and be fun and lovely.

Now, from the minute she wakes up to the minute she sleeps, she yaps. She pulls over the bin numerous times a day. She wees and poos everywhere. She will always get the kids food at mealtimes. I have to lock her in the kitchen while we eat, which results in more fucking yapping. She bullies my 5yr old pug, causes fights, and is generally total hell to live with

Im a SAHM with 6 & 4yr olds, and she drives them mad too.

Ive battled this for the last year, but now Im at my wits end.

I cant bear the thought of rehoming. She is 13 and has never been an only dog. She is a pug so would rehome easily, but it would shatter me.
It would also kill me to put her down.

What the actual fuck do I do?

And thanks for the re housetraining.

She went the first 7/8 yrs ferral. Filthy. I had changed that until she recessed a year or so ago.

Thanks for the expert concern though.

This is anything but a healthy dog.

Pugs are very inbred and come with a lot of problems. She sounds as though she has dementia/has had a few strokes and should be put down.

Why did you post? Life is full of difficult decisions, but those decisions made lovingly and responsibly are how we solve problems.

Do the right thing, OP. She has had a lot of love and a good life, and you would be failing her to be sentimental.

[This issue is also a big one in the horse world. There are SO many cases of cruelty and neglect because people 'cannot bear' to put down elderly horses, chucking/dumping/'loaning' them, to a life of hunger, sore teeth and bad feet.]

Look after your animals! RIGHT to the end that you secretly know they need!

monkeyfacegrace at first I was going to be really bloody angry with you!

after reading all the posts I can see you obviously love her, even if she is a pain in the arse! I think that you just can not see an end to this behaviour and that is exasperating!

you love her, she loves you. if you are not able to keep her then the kindest thing is to have her put to sleep. - but I don't think you would be able to!

maybe she is senile and a bit confused. maybe a bit of sedation would help her? hope the vet can help

I really feel for you.
Our old dog is going the same way as yours. She had a whole battery of tests done, which showed up nothing major, so the vet suspects the start of dementia.
The vet told us that by the time life is unbearable for us with her behaviour (we're not at that point yet), its unbearable for the dog too.
It sounds like you may have reached that point with her, but please don't beat yourself up about pts a healthy dog, it's probably the best thing for her.
Well done for giving your dog a lovely few years, despite her awful start, and getting her to the grand old age of 13.

Have an ancient dog too and her behaviour has changed too - she's definitely not the doggie she used to be - and is suffering occasional incontinence. I had recently begun to wonder about doggy dementia - is there such a thing??? I know it is distressing for her to be incontinent - we have had her for 12 years and up til recently she never had an accident. I think putting them to sleep can often be the kindest move and yes, I would be in favour of the same treatment for humans.

Poor dog, she doesn't sound happy.

Good luck at the vets tomorrow.

re dog wee

do you put white vinegar where she has wee and poo

i look after a pug ( more than likely a puppy farm dog) who liked to wee on cloth so i mop up and put vinegar down and she never goes back to same spot

good luck tomorrow

"Mental stimulation is hard as she cannot be active due to flat nose/breathing issues. In summer she cannot cope with being walked at all."

"Show dogs are perfectly healthy."

I don't even know what to say.

She isnt a show dog, hence breathing problems. She is a rescue.

My show dog has none of the problems associated with the breed.

How did it go at the vet today Monkey?

My mum's dog is like this. He has dementia. Paces. Refuses walks. The spark has gone from his eyes. He's doubly incontinent. He's getting aggressive.

She is now contemplating putting him to sleep because he is unhappy. So I don't think YABU

I can't believe you've considered putting her down without even seeing a vet first.

Oh and show dogs aren't always perfectly healthy at all. How do you think they get the 'perfect' attributes for the breed?

I think you have done brilliantly by her,getting her to live a happy and (until relatively recently) healthy life.Especially after her awful start.

Given her extreme age,I think the time might have come to have her gently go to sleep.

I actually think it would be cruel to start trying to reprimand/retrain etc at this stage...I think euthansia would be the kindest way.

Best of luck with everything,it will be sad but the end comes eventually for every life.

Im in exactly the same position except mines a 17 year old jack russel who is incontinent and also yaps all day long. Took him to vet who says hes healthy just senile. Hes still very bouncy and lively so wouldnt consider him down but I know how hard work it is and feel for you. Ive just lined the kitchen floor with puppy pads and put a baby gate at the kitchen door so he can always see us. Ive also thought of the tail hole in nappy idea let me know if it works haha

I don't know why it has taken four pages to get to this stage. People saying the OP should take the dog to an animal behaviourist when she is 13 and clearly ill/senile - WTAF?

I had a 19 year old cat who was well until she lost her sight, hearing then went senile in the last year of her life. I had to bath as she couldn't clean herself - esp. her bum after doing a poo. She still enjoyed a cuddle though and weirdly, being towelled off and dried with a hairdryer (she couldn't hear or see it but purred at the warm air). Finally I did have her put down when it seemed she had given up and she stopped eating.

Not sure how you could have an animal put down "without seeing the vet"

I can sympathise.

We kept our ancient dog going, for what, in hindsight was too long.

Doubly incontinent, senile, chronic skin disease, anal furunculosis. And her back legs didn't work.

It was only when the vet suggested she'd had enough, that we made the decision to put her down.

We actually find it hard to remember her as the brilliant dog she was because we had over 2 years of very poor health. We loved her so much it clouded our rational judgement, but I wouldn't do it again.

Fantastic post, judefawley.

Honest, and bravely written.

I wish more people could look past their sentimentality (which is actually self indulgence) like this.

Do right by your pets. Do the right thing when you have to. This really isn't a time that should be about you.

i agree with abitwobblynow and judefawley. There comes a time in a dogs life where you must look at the quality of their existence and whether or not they still have the life they were bred for.

I had my old retriever PTS in February when she stopped eating, refused walks and spent her day outside just lying on the grass. She saw a vet, we tried antibiotics and steroids for a couple of weeks, and then I made the decision that she was suffering and it was time to say goodbye. The vet agreed that she's had enough and PTS was the kindest option. We could have eked out her life another couple of weeks, but dogs are not meant to live long lives like us. She was just 11 years old when she went to the big field. ANd I miss her every day.

Did you get any answers at the vets?

These threads make me so cross.

It is so obvious from the OP that she loves the dog to distraction, if she didnt she wouldnt have rescued it, wouldnt have spent a year stepping into, and then cleaning up, dog shit all over her house, and wouldnt be so conflicted about what to do now.

She is an experienced dog owner, spends a fortune on this one dog alone as she cant get insurance (which would be PTS territory for some owners without the other issues) and has spent money on dog therapy!

But still, some posters have to come on and tell her that she is cruel and doesnt give a shit about the poor animal and proceed to teach her how to suck eggs. It beggars belief, it really does.

I am not a dog person, infact I am not an animal person. I will avoid homes that have cats and will not go to houses with dogs partly due to my allergy but mainly to do with my abject fear of them. And if I can see that she is a loving caring dog owner then I am amazed that other supposed caring dog owners cant!

I hope the vet was helpful today for both you and the dog OP.

OP how did it go at the vets today?

Bogey, was that aimed at me?

If so, your comment that it is obvious "she loves the dog to distraction," is the bit that I am trying to address: not that she is cruel or doesn't know what she is doing.

You see, 'distraction' is the problem because distraction is not reality. I am not criticising her as an uncaring person at all. Just, we can care too much at times and that takes reality out of the picture.

I think you're getting the wrong end of the stick, I think Bogeyface was directing her comments at those who are implying that op would be cruel to have the dog pts.