Question about dogs when they're dying

[abride]

Ten months after our other old dog died the second one, fourteen years old, is on her last legs. She has been treated for the vet for kidney failure but we will probably take her in within the next day or so to be put to sleep. In fact we would have done it today only our son is on holiday and, with the vet's blessing, we are waiting and monitoring the situation in the hope our son will be back to say good-bye before she dies.

What I was posting about is that the old dog has got up from her bed, having not moved much for the last 24 hours, and is sitting in the garden just looking around and sniffing. I remember the other old dog doing this.

Do dogs know they're dying? Do they like to have a last look at places they've been happy in? I'm probably reading too much into it!

Thanks abride. The funeral has been arranged for Thursday so no doubt everyone will be very upset then, but at the moment MIL is actually quite upbeat, and I think everyone is trying to focus on the positive. She had a great life, and got to age 83 before she started to decline, up until then she was still driving herself around and going to bridge club! The last few years haven't been so good but thanks to MIL and some great carers she managed to stay at home until a few weeks ago. And even though she had to go into a nursing home at the end, it was a lovely place, more like a hotel - I wouldn't have minded a few days there myself Saying that, it wasn't home, and although the fact that she's gone is very sad, the thought of her spending years in a nursing home and suffering with illness was even worse. Sometimes I think we're kinder to our animals than we are to each other!

Yes, that's what my husband said, having watched his mother decline for some years. It's sad.