Had to have my dog put down this week. Feel surprisingly 'bereaved' which is silly - isn't it?

[itchyandscratchy]

Had her since she was a pup and she lived with me in my single days after marriage No.1 broke down and she was fabulous company and just a lovely lovely dog.

She was very old and had lost her vitality, esp in the last couple of months. She also developed some sores on her back which were making her very unhappy. So we made the decision on Thursday and dh and I were both with her.

and we feel absolutely gutted.

I know it was the right thing to do with her being so old and her quality of life had deteriorated. But I feel so tearful since it happened. My dad's also been taken into hosp so it's been a rotten week. But I feel like I let her down... is this normal when you have a pet put down?

Yes. When we got our two dogs put down, one was 16, the other 14, we (DH and I) cried for days. It was awful. They become part of your family. Ours had been rescue dogs, one was 3 the other 2 when we got them, so we'd had them a long time.
The first one, her back end just went and although she was really alert and with it, she just couldn't get up. Her death affected me more because like you, I felt I'd let her down.

She was 16 like one of your dogs, Saltire. which is a grand old age for a dog. But also all the more time for you to have them in your family and love them so much.

Totally normal to feel sad and grieve over a pet. You did the right thing for your old dog though.

My mum has cried over every dog she has ever had put down or died and she has had literally hundreds of dogs in her life. She had bred and shown them for 40 years.

I have felt sad too at the death of many of those dogs. One in particular, I still feel sad about even 20 years later. She was very very special.

I always say to people, wait a while (maybe a year) to get over the death of your old dog and then go and get a new puppy.

Very sorry to hear about your Dad too. Hope he gets well soon. Definitely a rough week for you.

We had our last dog put to sleep nearly three years ago. I still get upset about it. I think only dog loving owners can truly understand how much of a loss it can be.

I feel like I let him down too Saltire as dd was in NICU and I had had no time for him fo a few months. It was the first thing that made me cry when I when for pts therapy.

We waited about a year and a hlaf and got a puppy. Same breed as the other 2 (Border Collie) and as mad as a box of frogs, but he's great, even if he does chew everything in sight.
For ages I kept saying that I didn't want another dog because we'd have to go through all that grief again when the time comes, BUT, we are a dog family, and he's great compnay, especially for me just now with DH being away for 4 months.

{grin} at waiting a year
we managed about a month in a dog empty house having said we would wait before we ended up trawling the rescue centres again

Losing a pet is a bereavement - I didn't understand this at all until it happened to me (17 year old cat). I'm very sorry.

The thing that was sad aobut our other dog was that she had been saved from a farm. They had taken a litter from her and she wouldn't work, so they kicked the shit out of her for a few months to try and get her to work, and then decided they were getting her shot. I found out about it and went to teh farm and asked if we could have her. poor thing, she crawled - litterally scraping the ground - when we took her out, the slightest little noise got her cowering and refusing to move. This went on for weeks. Someone actually reported us to teh SSPCA saying we were mistreating her becasue she was obviously scared of us and scared of being outside. Eventually though with a lot of hard work and a big part played by the other dog, we could let her off the lead and run about, she would play and join in and bereally affectionate. Poor thing she had a fit of which she didn't come out of.

What I am trying to say is that it's not wrong or silly to feel grief, when they are in your life every day, and do things wioth youa nd your family then they are a big loss when they aren't there any more

yes, it's perfectly normal to feel this way- you have lost a member of your family.

I'm grieving terribly for my cat who was put to sleep on wednesday - I was only saying to my husband this morning that's its taken me by surprise how powerful this feeling is.

I don't know about you, but each day has been a tiny bit easier for me - I really hope that you are feeling that relief too. Its still very painful and I feel terrible that I wasn't with her when she was put to sleep ( I couldn't due to having 4 children under 7 and no-one to have them whilst at vet) but I have a new rosebush on its way 'our molly' to remember her by at our new house.

Please give yourself time and don't try to hold back if you need to cry

x

Went round to my dad's house today to sort a few things out whilst he's in hospital, and we've chosen a spot to put her ashes: under the apple tree where she used to chase after her ball.

Oh what a shame itchy. She really was a lovely dog . Hope your dad is on the mend too.

aw thanks sassy. It's nice that you 'knew' her.