re: Wife and I made decision tonight to put the dog down. It sucks.

Nothing harder than putting down an animal.

I had to be in the room when the vet put down two of our cats (21 y/o Persian with aggressive bone cancer in jaw; 11 y/o Siamese that I believe was wasting away from a broken heart from the other one). Persian was put down the week of my wife's birthday (her cat originally) and the Siamese the week of mine.

Cried my fricking eyes out both times.

Damn hard thing to do but if it's time you will know it
Just make sure you do it, don't put it off, you will Question yourself later if wait too late sry to hear

the only thing bad about dogs is that they just don't live as long as we do. as a good owner, when their quality of life goes to crap, we owe it to them to do the right thing...heck, I wish someone could do the same for me when my time comes.

fwiw, I find that by the time I summon up the courage to make that decision for my pets, I have generally waited a little too long.

Advice: don't take him to a vet. They have people that come to your house now. Have him go in a comfortable spot. Be there for him & for everyone. Don't rush him off when it's done. Say your goodbyes & be at peace as you lay there close to him

Thanks for letting us know

We had to put our 14 year old lab down a week ago today-my husband and I are grieving deeply. When we got the prognosis a year ago, I contacted a vet that does in-home care.
She came over to meet the animals, and actually came to the house a couple of times when one was sick. When she came to the house last Tuesday, she assessed her & agreed it was time. She gave her a sedative & let that start to work first. She was sleeping by the time the euthanasia meds were administered. It works very quickly-15 or 20 seconds. The vet did a paw print, and took her body for cremation. She will return the ashes to us in about a week.

It's gut wrenching-the spaces where she spent the most time seem to be swallowing the house. Praying for y'all.

Actually, sounds like our lab had a similar condition. She had a blood mass near her spleen and liver. They said she would probably die within 3 months if malignant & up to a year if benign. She lived almost exactly a year. She'd also lost a great deal of weight. On Tuesday, she couldn't get up after we let her outside. She wouldn't eat-not even a milkbone. Her eyes were what got to us-she looked pitiful & ready.

Short of losing a (human) member of your family, there are few things harder. You were lucky to have each other. Take time to grieve, and climb back on that horse when you're ready.

So sorry to read about your pup. I had to go sit with our vet 12 years ago while he put down our yellow lab. I took him to his favorite field and buried him there, then told the wife, "Never again." Pete was and will be my last dog. Just hurts too much. Not worth the pain.

I'd love to tell you it will be better soon. For me it has been 12 years. Not a lot better.