Just looking for some thoughts really.
I have a lovely 12.5 year old Sprocker. His hips are gone but he's on medication for them which seems to keep the worst at bay. He seems quite deaf (or he's just really upped his ignoring me game) and the vet confirmed his eyes are developing cataracts. We can't let him off the lead any more as he has lost all sense and becomes disoriented in seconds (presumably because of his sight and hearing). The last straw for this was the other day when I let him off and he sprinted away from me in a straight line then, rather than turn and come back as you'd expect, threw himself off an 8 foot wall to get to the next nearest humans.
He is also pooing in the house a lot. Whilst preferable to weeing, I have a toddler and it's not ideal. Our morning routine of coming downstairs and her sitting on the step while mummy clears up the dog poo is just... not great? It makes me so sad to come down and see him lying in his poo. It's at least once or twice a day no matter how often I take him out.
In a way, I wish something was more seriously wrong with him and this decision could be taken from me? But equally all the things he loved in life are gone for him. He used to swim against the Thames tide for hours. He hiked for 12 hours through the Peaks, slept for two and was ready to go again. He was never meant to be a round the block and sleep for the rest of the day dog, he doesn't like it, he wants to run... He can't be happy about lying in his poo, he hasn't had an accident since he was tiny.
It all just makes me so sad. Poor old thing. I thought I'd know when it was time but now I'm not so sure.