I have a nearly 14 year old terrier. He is deaf, stiff - possibly a bit better on supplements with no signs of pain according to the vet, very slow, and has dementia/cognitive decline. Is largely functionally incontinent in that he has control over his bladder and bowels but just goes anywhere and rarely where he should - I can walk up and down the garden with him for twenty minutes with nothing happening and he'll come back inside and pee in the kitchen. Sleeps most of the day but wanders at night, and has started crying at night for no apparent reason. He doesn't like to be shut in anywhere now as he wants to walk around so much, but gets confused in corners etc. The other night our puppy woke me up and I found the elderly dog stuck underneath our bikes which was incredibly upsetting.
I can cope with him being deaf and doddery as long as he still enjoys the occasional nice walk (takes about 15 minutes to potter down to the end of our road), but the wandering, getting stuck and crying makes him seem clearly not happy, and I'm wondering what the kindest option is here.
I haven't had to make this decision before and I'm finding it difficult. Dh gets very stressed about dealing with the wees and poos in the morning as he's usually first up, and also youngest dd has just gone to university - so both of these are complicating factors, but I want to keep ddog at the centre of the decision.
Any stories of how you knew it was time to say goodbye would be gratefully received.