Thanks all for your comments..

Things have moved on slightly now and I think having visited the vet that
today Sandy will go to sleep for the last time. Her quality of life is not
what it was, she does not go out for walks, she doesn't play ball and she is
not interested in cuddles, everything she does seems such an effort.

She finds it difficult to get up, in particular her back legs are week to
the point where I have seen her sat in her own mess as she was unable to get
up to go.

I hear her whimper at times and know it is either through pain distress

It is still very difficult, she seems to enjoy her food but finds it
difficult to eat... I hope I am doing the right thing but something inside
me this time is saying "let her go"

I feel this is going to be the worst day of my life.

Paul



"Shadow Walker" wrote in message
...
Quality of life is when what you used to enjoy is no longer an option.
Long walks to no walks , playing ball to no interest, cuddling to
aloofness. Basically hurts too much to do what used to be fun. If your dog
did these things and slowly stopped with age than that's normal. As for
the potty in the house you may need to let her out more often and there is
always the puppy diapers, they help some. You can clip her bottom hair so
that the waste doesn't stick and you change her bottom instead of clean
the carpet. My parents dog made it to 22 years of age and he staid house
broken up to his last day.


"Paul" wrote in message
...
Hi all,

I have a 15 and half year old English Cocker Spaniel who is now getting
old and tired. During her life she has had little in the way of health
problems but over the last two years in particular has slowed down to a
point where she spends the majority of her time sleeping and only wanders
as far as the back garden. She now poo's and wee's in the house which we
have learned to cope with (Vax is very useful!) and will walk around in
circles and not be so interested in contact and been with us. Due to the
leaking if is often necessary to bath her once a day to avoid her
smelling too much, we intend to replace all the carpet once she is no
longer with us.

We can no longer leave her with friends/neighbors for the day and it
would now be difficult for us to take her away in the caravan so this
year we have made no plans to go anywhere as we need to stay with her.

I will be devastated when she finally goes, she is my first and only dog
and has been a real friend to me and I will find it so difficult if I
have to make a decision at some point to have her put down.

I guess what I am asking here is am I doing the right thing at the
moment, I do not know what her quality of life is and I suppose I just
want to think its ok and let things carry on for now. It's easy for me to
get emotional over this and a number of years ago I found this poem which
I have kept the link to that brings tears to my eyes every time I look at
it http://www.la-spca.org/pet_loss/comfort/last_battle.htm

I happen to be a 43 year old bloke with a wife and two young children but
when my dog is finally put to rest it is going to be very difficult.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Paul

"Paul" wrote in message
...
... I hope I am doing the right thing but something inside
me this time is saying "let her go"

............everyone gets to that point - you'll always know when it's time.

I feel this is going to be the worst day of my life.

..........as loony as it sounds, sit down next to her and tell her how much
you've appreciated her being in your life, remember out loud all the good
times, tell her you're going to help her let her body go.

my sincere condolences
buglady
take out the dog before replying

I feel this is going to be the worst day of my life.

I'm so sorry you are going through this, but it sounds like you have made
the right decision. Don't doubt it or blame tourself. You have done
everything to help her. Although you'll go through the stages of grief, you
may be surprised that after it's done you may feel a bit of relief. That's
because you have finally made her comfortable.

-Sharon

"Paul" wrote in message
...
Thanks all for your comments..

Things have moved on slightly now and I think having visited the vet that
today Sandy will go to sleep for the last time. Her quality of life is not
what it was, she does not go out for walks, she doesn't play ball and she
is not interested in cuddles, everything she does seems such an effort.

She finds it difficult to get up, in particular her back legs are week to
the point where I have seen her sat in her own mess as she was unable to
get up to go.

I hear her whimper at times and know it is either through pain distress

It is still very difficult, she seems to enjoy her food but finds it
difficult to eat... I hope I am doing the right thing but something inside
me this time is saying "let her go"

I feel this is going to be the worst day of my life.

Paul

As another poster has already said, sit down and talk to her about it.
Whether it helps her or not, it WILL help you. And secondly, be prepared
for getting another dog in the very near future. Since I was born almost 29
years ago, I`ve had about 6-7 days when I`ve not had a dog. It`s not
disrespectful to get another dog, but I would say be wary about getting a
"replacement" dog if you see what I mean - be prepared for a whole new
adventure with the new dog. Yes it`s hard at the very end, but you have the
same problems over a longer timescale with friends and family. When you
consider the alternative, of living a very sad and lonely life, the price
you pay now is worth it a million times over for the years of companionship
you`ll have.

On Fri, 15 Jun 2007 14:30:31 +0100, "Simon Finnigan"
wrote:

As another poster has already said, sit down and talk to her about it.
Whether it helps her or not, it WILL help you. And secondly, be prepared
for getting another dog in the very near future. Since I was born almost 29
years ago, I`ve had about 6-7 days when I`ve not had a dog. It`s not
disrespectful to get another dog, but I would say be wary about getting a
"replacement" dog if you see what I mean - be prepared for a whole new
adventure with the new dog. Yes it`s hard at the very end, but you have the
same problems over a longer timescale with friends and family. When you
consider the alternative, of living a very sad and lonely life, the price
you pay now is worth it a million times over for the years of companionship
you`ll have.


I have been were you are now(as I think I said before), and I too
would not recommend getting another dog straight away. What I did was
to become a volunteer dog walker at a local rescue shelter where my
old dog Jet had come from. It was a way of giving back to the other
dogs some of the companionship and affection that my Jet had given me
for so many years. It was also very good therapy for me dealing with
the loss.

I can strongly recommend it!

Neil.
(Reply via NG please)

"Neil" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 15 Jun 2007 14:30:31 +0100, "Simon Finnigan"
wrote:

As another poster has already said, sit down and talk to her about it.
Whether it helps her or not, it WILL help you. And secondly, be prepared
for getting another dog in the very near future. Since I was born almost
29
years ago, I`ve had about 6-7 days when I`ve not had a dog. It`s not
disrespectful to get another dog, but I would say be wary about getting a
"replacement" dog if you see what I mean - be prepared for a whole new
adventure with the new dog. Yes it`s hard at the very end, but you have
the
same problems over a longer timescale with friends and family. When you
consider the alternative, of living a very sad and lonely life, the price
you pay now is worth it a million times over for the years of
companionship
you`ll have.


I have been were you are now(as I think I said before), and I too
would not recommend getting another dog straight away. What I did was
to become a volunteer dog walker at a local rescue shelter where my
old dog Jet had come from. It was a way of giving back to the other
dogs some of the companionship and affection that my Jet had given me
for so many years. It was also very good therapy for me dealing with
the loss.

For me that wouldn`t be a good way of dealing with the loss, as I wouldn`t
get the companionship (wanted or unwanted) that having a pet sharing your
home gives. Having said that, every now and again I wouldn`t mind being
able to type a post without having an idiot dog decide that it`s time for a
stroke, and trying to put his head on the keyboard to get attention :-)

Paul wrote:
Thanks all for your comments..

Things have moved on slightly now and I think having visited the vet
that today Sandy will go to sleep for the last time. Her quality of life
is not what it was, she does not go out for walks, she doesn't play ball
and she is not interested in cuddles, everything she does seems such an
effort.

She finds it difficult to get up, in particular her back legs are week
to the point where I have seen her sat in her own mess as she was unable
to get up to go.

I hear her whimper at times and know it is either through pain distress

It is still very difficult, she seems to enjoy her food but finds it
difficult to eat... I hope I am doing the right thing but something
inside me this time is saying "let her go"

I feel this is going to be the worst day of my life.

Paul



"Shadow Walker" wrote in message
...

Quality of life is when what you used to enjoy is no longer an option.
Long walks to no walks , playing ball to no interest, cuddling to
aloofness. Basically hurts too much to do what used to be fun. If your
dog did these things and slowly stopped with age than that's normal.
As for the potty in the house you may need to let her out more often
and there is always the puppy diapers, they help some. You can clip
her bottom hair so that the waste doesn't stick and you change her
bottom instead of clean the carpet. My parents dog made it to 22 years
of age and he staid house broken up to his last day.


"Paul" wrote in message
...

Hi all,

I have a 15 and half year old English Cocker Spaniel who is now
getting old and tired. During her life she has had little in the way
of health problems but over the last two years in particular has
slowed down to a point where she spends the majority of her time
sleeping and only wanders as far as the back garden. She now poo's
and wee's in the house which we have learned to cope with (Vax is
very useful!) and will walk around in circles and not be so
interested in contact and been with us. Due to the leaking if is
often necessary to bath her once a day to avoid her smelling too
much, we intend to replace all the carpet once she is no longer with us.

We can no longer leave her with friends/neighbors for the day and it
would now be difficult for us to take her away in the caravan so this
year we have made no plans to go anywhere as we need to stay with her.

I will be devastated when she finally goes, she is my first and only
dog and has been a real friend to me and I will find it so difficult
if I have to make a decision at some point to have her put down.

I guess what I am asking here is am I doing the right thing at the
moment, I do not know what her quality of life is and I suppose I
just want to think its ok and let things carry on for now. It's easy
for me to get emotional over this and a number of years ago I found
this poem which I have kept the link to that brings tears to my eyes
every time I look at it
http://www.la-spca.org/pet_loss/comfort/last_battle.htm

I happen to be a 43 year old bloke with a wife and two young children
but when my dog is finally put to rest it is going to be very difficult.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Paul





We wnt through this on May 18 2007 and we are still heartbroken. Time
will heal that more or less.
Our dog gave us her unconditional love for 9 years. She made us happy
and laugh at the crazy things she did and the only thing she ever asked
us was to let her go. She told us she was sick and could not be healed.
she told us that she lost her spirit, although her soul and body were
still here. She told us that the quality of her life was such that she
no longer enjoyed it. We did let her go. On that last day we took her
for a ride. She watched the fields, the trees, the sheep, the flowers.

My friend, I tell you it is going to hurt more then you can imagine and
even more than that. I hope that in a while you will realise that you
made the right decision. god bless.

Case

wrote in message
...
On Wed, 20 Jun 2007 07:07:01 +0100, "Simon Finnigan"
wrote:


Having said that, every now and again I wouldn`t mind being
able to type a post without having an idiot dog decide that it`s time for
a
stroke, and trying to put his head on the keyboard to get attention :-)

If you are like me Simon you don't mean what you have wrote above do
you ! ). Now had you got one of the noblest of breeds you would not
have that problem our two Danes are streatched out on the sofa snoring
their beautiful heads of have been since 6 pm and will be until around
10 pm when it is walky time, it is the same every night not just
tonight during the day it is a different matter ))))))))))))))))) .

Have you tried typing with an idiot Lab spending over an HOUR trying to fit
his head onto your lap? I`m sat close in to the desk, which is about 2
inches over my lap, but he`s still convinced that if he tried hard enough,
for long enough, he`ll manage to fit his head there!

Although at the moment he`s lying right infront of the front door snoring.
Anyway, he IS a noble dog, full of character and dignity. Apart from when he
trips over his own feet and falls face first into a wall of course :-)

wrote in message
...
On Thu, 21 Jun 2007 12:38:22 +0100, "Simon Finnigan"
wrote:


Have you tried typing with an idiot Lab spending over an HOUR trying to
fit
his head onto your lap? I`m sat close in to the desk, which is about 2
inches over my lap, but he`s still convinced that if he tried hard enough,
for long enough, he`ll manage to fit his head there!

Nothing at all wrong with a Lab Simon had one from being five until 18
he actually died one week before I started my national service but I
find nowadays that they are a little bit over friendly for my liking .
The lady I bought our Dane bitch from the other week also breeds Labs
she took me in her office and one she had in there just came over and
greeted me like it had known me all its life like I have said having
had GSD's and now Danes Labs are a litttle bit tame for my liking
these days .

Don`t get me wrong, I do love Adam (our Lab) to bits. But he only ever goes
mad for attention when you`re busy. When you`re free and want to spend time
with him, he`d prefer to sit by the front door and sleep. He`s a weird dog
:-)