When do you decide to let your dog go :(

[Teenagekicks21]

We have a14 Yr old rescue dog. Came to us age 6 as an ex breeder. She has always had behaviour problems but on the whole has managed in the house with the other dogs with minimal problems. She has the sweetest nature. Over the last year she has lost most of her sight and hearing, developed incontinence issues, lost most of her toilet house training and started howling at fresh air. I'm beginning to dread coming home because I don't know what Mess i'll find, the house smells and feels unclean , I feel constantly bad as whilst our other dogs are in with us all evening she has to stay out in the kitchen because she pee's everywhere. Part of me thinks now it would be kinder to put her to sleep, but in her self she seems happy, wags her tail, eats with gusto and still Enjoys a short wander up the fields. Have spoken to vet, but in reality her history and age are the main reason for most her problems and are likely to now not change... This really is the hardest part of owning a dog.

It sounds to me that she has little quality of life, and is probably in a lot more pain and discomfort than you're aware of. It's time to let her go. I'm sorry.

I agree, under the circumstances you've described I'd say it was sadly time.

Just had to say goodbye to our lab. Spinal arthritis meant he was in pain most of the time, wasn't enjoying even short walks and Metacam wasn't enough. Tried a few stronger options but when he flooded his bed after his first dose of pred and didn't choose to switch to the other one in the room it clearly was time to let him go.

Agree with @Aquamarine1029

But only you can decide , it's so hard isn't it .
We were kinda lucky in that our first dog had cancer and decided for himself not to take his painkillers so we knew he had given up so we called out our vet to the house same day , and second dog died in her sleep at 16 ,
They say better too early than too late 💐

@randomsabreuse 💐so sorry , it's so hard to lose them .

Ours was 12 years old when we had her put to sleep.

She was a happy soul but she had cancer which was affecting her joints, she didn't seem overly uncomfortable and certainly never showed any physical signs of pain but she just wasn't her usual playful self and began to isolate herself because she just couldn't be bothered anymore. It felt like the right time but it was hard when she would still greet us at the door with a wag of her tail before sauntering off to bed.

We took her to the vet with her favourite ball and I swear I saw her phyically relax as she drifted off. I'm crying now thinking on it but I really believe it was the best thing for her.

I'm sorry to say but I think it sounds like your pup has lost her quality of life too and I do believe it's kinder to let them pass peacefully than drag it out until they can't go on anymore.

It doesn't sound like she has enough quality of life to enjoy being a dog any more. If she was mine I'd make that hard decision now.

I’m in a similar position with BastardSpaniel. Can’t say as I cry too much but in all honesty if he had to be separate from us I’d do the deed.

I think probably I know that at heart, but omg it is such a hard thing to do to decide that it's game over. I think I just need the reassurance that I'm making the right choice. I always thought I would be very black and white when it came to making that decision, but finding it a lot more difficult in reality. xx

Me too.

Better a week too soon than a day too late.

But fuck me my heart is breaking.

I thought I’d been there got that t-shirt when I held my mare when she was pts but thus is another level.

I've had to say goodbye to my cat a few weeks ago. I dithered over the decision for weeks and my only regret is that I left him too long and I should've done it sooner. It's a really hard really horrible decision to have to make but it's the final act of kindness we can do for them and it's all part of loving them. Sounds like it is time x

It's time. She's had a lovely life & you need to do the right thing now for her

Thank you lovely people, we are going to have a gentle weekend in the sunshine and speak to the vet on Tuesday xx

Have a lovely weekend. Best wishes to you. I lost my beloved lab a year and a half ago, and my other is getting elderly now, so it's in the not so distance future again (same for my horse), so I know how you feel. It's never easy, you'd have to have a heart of stone not to dither.