Is it time to put him to sleep?

[amyjade]

My MIL has a 16 year old bedlington lurcher called Albert he is a big part of the family and all the grandchildren adore him.
Lately his health has deteriorated, his back legs are gone and at times he has a job to stand up, he messes on the floor everyday even if he's just been outside, he can't see very well and i'm sure he's gone deaf.
The MIL is a bit impatient with him at times and thinks he's doing all of these things for attention!!
He's a lovely dog but from what i can gather 16 is old for a Lurcher.
What do you think? am i being a bit hasty and will the vet put a dog down that isn't otherwise ill?
I just don't like the idea of him suffering.

what you need to ask yourself is who you are keeping him for? Are you keeping him because he's a happy, healthy dog albeit a bit old and you don't think it's his time to go yet? or are you keeping him because you can't bear the thought of having him put to sleep.

Only you know how ill he really is, tbh if my dog's back legs had gone and she was unable to stand and was messing on the floor, I think her time would very nearly be here - because I believe she should be allowed to die with dignity, and a usually house trained dog who can no longer control where it goes to the toilet has no dignity any more IMO, but it has to be your decision, maybe you sould speak to the vet and he could give you an idea of his quality of life.

I think it is time to let him go, my Mum's dog went like this at 14 and was abviously not enjoying life anymore.

Especially as you say MIL is getting impatient with him, it's not his fault he's old!!

This is a sad time when a dog reaches this stage in their life.
We had a collie who had a stroke and we were told he wouldn't recover properly and that he would be incontinent and not walk very far. We put him to sleep, he was 16. A very hard choice, but as you say we didn't like the idea of him suffering either.

Could you get a vet's opinion - MIL might be more conducive to the advice from 'a professional' (not that you need to be one - from the sound of it, Albert doesn't exactly have quality of life anymore....

Thanks everyone.
I think we will try and talk to MIL about taking him to the vets for a profesional opinion.
It's so sad when a dog gets old and these decisions have to be made.