Joined
·
33 Posts
A year and a half ago I had to make the hardest decision. My dog was having seizures every other day, his health was waning and his time was short. To make matters worse, my wife had just left me and he was her dog. Oh he loved me too, but Spike was HER dog which made her leaving even harder on him.
It was a simple, but cruel fact of life for us humans. We WILL outlive our dogs.
I had all kinds of advice, but I think one of the worst was being told to "take him to a shelter."
Personally I think as dog-owners we must come to terms with what we have. Great dogs that we will outlive. We cannot merely dump them off on someone else and let them deal with the heartache. It's easier, but not ethical in my opinion. We owe it to our dog-friends to do what is best for them...right up to the hardest decision ever.
In the end I took him out to an island (where we have a second home), let him run around and then had a fisherman-friend put him down. Of course the dog was not showing his sickness that day because of all the excitment of the trip. This made the trip even harder. Watching the offshore breeze toss his ears around was not easy, and he chased rabbitts like a puppy again, but the reality was, he was sick and had been for a long time.
The thing was, after the final act was carried out, I was sort of relieved, the decision was made and the weight was lifted. The decision had been in the making for 2 years. My dog's time had come, and my final act as his owner was for his best interest. I had not merely dumped the heart-ache and final act onto someone else, I had taken it upon myself, and in the end I have fond memories of my dog...and our last day together.
It was a simple, but cruel fact of life for us humans. We WILL outlive our dogs.
I had all kinds of advice, but I think one of the worst was being told to "take him to a shelter."
Personally I think as dog-owners we must come to terms with what we have. Great dogs that we will outlive. We cannot merely dump them off on someone else and let them deal with the heartache. It's easier, but not ethical in my opinion. We owe it to our dog-friends to do what is best for them...right up to the hardest decision ever.
In the end I took him out to an island (where we have a second home), let him run around and then had a fisherman-friend put him down. Of course the dog was not showing his sickness that day because of all the excitment of the trip. This made the trip even harder. Watching the offshore breeze toss his ears around was not easy, and he chased rabbitts like a puppy again, but the reality was, he was sick and had been for a long time.
The thing was, after the final act was carried out, I was sort of relieved, the decision was made and the weight was lifted. The decision had been in the making for 2 years. My dog's time had come, and my final act as his owner was for his best interest. I had not merely dumped the heart-ache and final act onto someone else, I had taken it upon myself, and in the end I have fond memories of my dog...and our last day together.