To refuse to get rid of the dog.

[Alfredo674]

My DH wants to get rid of our dog. At this stage I don't think he cares if she is rehomed, goes to a shelter or is put down.

She is a 13 year old terrier cross and up until a few months ago she was having a lot of issues with diarrhoea and causing a lot of mess in the house. We have very young DC and I put measures in place to try and sort her tummy problems (consulted a vet, changed her food, she now sleeps in a crate overnight so she is contained) and for the past few months her stomach has been better although she vomits intermittently.

This morning she had pooed in the crate but it had spilled out on to the floor, so whilst he sorted the DC for nursery I had to clean up this huge mess whilst I should have been expressing milk before my newborn twins woke up.

He says the dog has to go, so as not to drip feed we had another elderly dog previously that I refused to get put down despite massive incontinence issues and dementia, when he finally went it was such a relief. DH says he won't go through it again. In fairness he is the one who walks her although we are struggling to get her walked everyday at the moment.

Despite all of this I'm still very much of the opinion that a dog is a life long commitment. AIBU?

@Stompythedinosaur

dog not same as a child

@hattie43 @violetglow7

nonsense

I wouldn’t be happy if my partner wanted to keep an elderly incontinent vomiting dog amongst crawling toddlers either

not fair on the kids or the dog

I like dogs a lot.
This story is insane.
Team PTS dog here.

The dogs stomach issues has improved since you’ve changed food and stopped giving treats and human food, I’d be looking into allergies. Speak to the vet again. It could even be stress.

She's 13 this is what starts to happen at this age bless her! Put dh in a cage and send him away! I could see his point if she was a couple years old and not house trained but she's old and and has been poorly! He's not being fair or very nice is he.🤔

I struggle enough to cope with toddler poo accidents so I don't think I'd cope well with this. Granted I'm not a dog person but I couldn't live like this, the dog would have go.

If you have a dog though, this can be a part of having them. Anyone that can’t cope with these things really shouldn’t have animals, there’s worse things they can do to be honest. It’s sick and poo, not nuclear waste. Obviously if they vet says the dog is suffering, that’s different.

I agree with the poster who suggested going back to the vet to see whether there's anything else that can be done. Try whatever they suggest and if things haven't improved in a month, I'd consider the dog's quality of life with the stomach issues.

Our dog has recently been diagnosed with a life-limiting condition. We've decided to have him PTS when his quality of life deteriorates, which may before he naturally passes away. Our vet agrees that it's the most humane course of action. We witnessed my SIL trying to keep her sick dog going when she was incontinent and in pain, it was awful for the dog.

Comparing dogs to humans isn't helpful, although personally I support the right to choose euthanasia when facing a dire medical condition.

I'd speak to the vet again of course...

Can you switch the crate for a crate/bed inside a pen, so she can move away from her bed if she needs to poo/wee/puke. YOu can line it with plastic sheeting so it goes up the side a little and if shes not in such a confined space, any accidents should not be so dire to clean up as they are less likely to be squished about!

If shes other wise healthy and active I think PTS for simply having a dodgy tummy that is now fixed, the odd accident or vomit is a bit extreme - pretty bloody certain your small children are capable of both such types of mess and will be for years to come!

You can ensure she is wormed routinely so poo is just gross rather than a serious health risk (and to be brutally honest, they'll get worms from one another, and so will you... far more easily and more likely than from the dog!)...

I think this is an over-reaction due to past experience, and stress, lack of sleep etc. An easier to manage set up, a dog walker, and a vet visit could resolve all these issues and she may live another year or two very happily.

You’d struggle to rehome a previously rehomed 13 year old dog so putting up with it for potentially another 5 years or having them pts now are the only real options. What sort of terrier cross is the dog? Some have a life expectancy of up to 17 years whilst others would be nearing the end by 13. If they could live up to 17 and you have them pts at 13 because they’ve got diarrhoea but are otherwise healthy that that’s very U but if they’re at the end anyway and don’t have much quality of life to come then obviously PTS is the best option.

I’m also a bit confused why it’s taking half an hour to clean up? My dog once had the most horrendous tummy, she was exploding diarrhoea and blood everywhere she walked and when she stopped that she was vomiting massive piles of sick up and that didn’t even take me half hour to clean up.

Have you tried actually getting up in the night and taking her out to toilet. Like with people that can't hold it as long when they are older

Everybody give the dog a cuddle, say goodbye and take it to the vet to be pts. It’s had a long enough life and now it’s over.

Literally no idea what the point of your posts are unless you’re trying to demonstrate that you’re a deeply unpleasant person?

@Volfie. Pets aren’t humans, despite some people’s attempts to pretend they are. Dogs have no sense of time, for example, and have no comprehension of what’s happening to them health wise. They only know that they feel ill and uncomfortable, and want their owners to make it go away.

The OP is going to try everything she can to resolve her dog’s stomach problems, but she’s learnt from the experience with her previous dog that letting an animal suffer for a prolonged period isn’t the right thing to do. They look to us to help them.

Saw this in the news and felt compelled to say something. My wife and I have an 18 year old collie/husky cross who has both dementia and incontinence. We had a similar issue until we bought washable dog diapers on Amazon. Saves a mess in the house and will help a bit with your walking problem (ours is afraid of the outdoors now.) With the diapers her and our quality of life has gotten a lot better.

I love when people compare animals to humans and say you wouldn't put a family member down... actually i would. If that was an option i would definitely have my gran pts as she is fucked and has no life quality left. Same as i would with all my pets. There is something inherently disturbing about peoples desire to force things to stay alive under hideous circumstances just so they dont have to grieve.

DH Gran effectively starved to death while in a coma.
He took one of our cats to be PTS not long afterwards and said it would have been much better if his Gran had passed that quickly and painlessly too

@Alfredo674 is in denial, she wants everything to be happen her way.
It won't this is real life. You should have learned that giving birth.
Please do not prolong the poor creatures suffering just because you are sentimental.

I agree. People can be incredibly cruel in the name of love/responsibility. Sorry about your gran 💐

It's really, really unfair to rehome an elderly dog with so many medical issues- the poor dog will be terrified and so sad and lonely and no one is ever going to want to adopt such a dog either. Only fair solution is PTS if vet can't provide medication that would help etc

Would it change things if you paid a dog walker a couple of times a week?

On this update I'd PTS.

The dog mess cannot be contained. Children come above all pets. This has been going on long enough, months even, it's not going to get better.

The dog has a poor quality of life, isn't going for walks, isn't able to control their bowel movements, isn't able to have infinite time and resource put into solving it's tummy issues.

It's best that it goes peaceful surrounded by those who love it. It's not a young dog, it's had a good life otherwise.

PTS, do it with love.