To think this is immoral? Dog euthanasia

[Endopossibly]

My friends dog is in bad shape, she can barely walk, constantly barks and is on a lot of medication, she is a 12 year old Border Collie. She is adamant that she will not be putting the dog down, that it’s not in her hands but in gods, and that no one should play god. To me, the dog has clearly not got a good quality of life, especially compared to just last year. AIBU?

I thought about nursing my dog to the end because it was just too hard to make that decision. Then something happened one night that just broke my heart, I realised in that moment she was ready to go and keeping her alive would have been for my benefit not hers 😥

I wouldn't want to be put down if I couldn't walk and needed a lot of meds. I wouldn't put my DC down if they were in the same situation.

You can say you wouldn’t want to be put down, but you might if it came to it. My mum has just lost the use of her legs and she’s on wall to wall morphine. She asked the doctor only yesterday to euthanise her. I heard her say it. We’re in the UK so the doc is obvs not going to. But it should be legal.

I worship my mum and my dog. I would euthanise either as a kindness if I could and their circumstances were appropriate. It’s not disposing of them, it’s freeing them.

Easy to say but what if you're still in pain, but now you're also constipated, you're constantly feeling sick, you're struggling to eat, you dread having meds stuffed down your neck daily, by force, which many animals are...

In fact that actually is my life but its me forcing the meds down my neck.

However unlike a dog I have lots to do, lots to distract me, I can moan at people about being in pain, I can up my pain meds, I can choose when I take them, I have the freedom to make a lot of choices. A pet has none of that, and thats really what makes the difference.

It's said that it is better to let them go a day early rather than a day late.
Her behaviour towards her pet is abhorrent

A baby/small child doesn't have the freedom or choice either.
I don't have strong opinions on euthanasia, in pets or humans. It's a very complex topic. I think judgement of those who chose not to put their pet down is unfair. I'd think the same if someone judged someone who put down an ill pet. I just wanted to make the point to OP that it's not a straightforward decision, so she shouldn't judge her friend.

ETA- I don't think strong opinion is the right term, more that it's a complex issue and every case is individual so I'm not a blanket for or against.

Barking lots and being on lots of medication does not mean much in the scheme of things, and you are just giving us this tiny snippet of information here. I would assume being on lots of meds means they are regularly seeing a vet anyway.
I know a lot of dogs that never went on walks for the last year or so of their life, but they loved their comforts at home and pottering about in the garden. Dog prams are also a thing that people use.

But it is difficult. When it is your own pet, a very gradual decline in your pet's health just seems normal and can go un noticed, until someone who has not seen your pet in a while mentions it. You develop new "normals". I had my dear greyhound PTS a couple of weeks ago, and looking back, it was crazy how much I was doing for her in the end. But I was ok with it.

It can be very very hard to let go when it is your own pet, your best friend, family member, especially when they have been in your life for a long time.

My grandad was the same about one of his elderly dogs. He could not let go. His daughters took the dog to the vet themselves in he end. He was too distraught to be there.

I think you need to approach this carefully without name calling like some people are suggesting. Pet loss is truly truly awful.

I think if your dog can’t walk then it’s time.

My last dog could walk but he was dragging his feet so they started to bleed on top of the paws. It was his time. He was 16, mind.

My current dog is 12 Labrador. Her back legs wobble. She has starting pooping without realising. I think this year will be her last.

Op, if that dog can’t walk then it’s her time.

my cat had a illness that involved a slow decline, but we weren’t without hope that he would recover. It was of course completely heartbreaking. I moved gradually from, ‘what more can we try’ towards, as nothing helped, ‘when should we let him go’

Making the decision about quality of life, suffering, and euthanasia is so difficult. I read a really helpful website that suggested monitoring several different factors relating to quality of life, and scoring them on a scale, over time, ie once a week, or daily, depending on circumstances. When the animal declines slowly you don’t always notice how much worse things are getting, but this checklist allowed me to see that.

I felt I timed it right and that’s a great comfort.

I’m not sure if this will help the OP and her friend, if she’s not willing to even consider intervening, but I’m sharing in case it helps someone.

It’s called a “HHHHHMM quality of life scale” and can be done as one off, or over time. each letter stands for a different factor, eg Mobility.

It might help the friend see the true situation.

Maybe elaborate?

is the barking annoying anyone?
i dont think lack of walking is enough reason.
it is human's that like to walk

We are in this position at the moment and just don’t know when to make the call. The main thing stopping me is he still loves his food. I’d say probably his only real pleasure now.

His back legs are going, he can get around on one level by dragging them along, he can no longer use the stairs or get on the sofa / bed. We live in a three story and only DH / DS can get him to the living room, me & DD can’t. He has little control over his bowel or bladder now. He will be walking along with no idea that’s he’s going. He’s losing excessive hair which is fairly new and sleeps most of the time, but still gets excited when we come home (and wees everywhere 😂).

My post immediately before that one elaborated on how that helped me. Did you read that one?

I was too late to edit this information into my other post, but they are right next to each other.

Or did you want to know something else?