Reading dog threads on here for years.... when do you know it's time for the big sleep?

When they showing signs they're in pain.

When you see the sadness in their eyes. If you know your dog well you can't miss it.

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You’ll know. Don’t rely on the vet to tell you. You’re the best person to decide and you’ll know.

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This

My 16 year old lab wasn’t in pain but she was unable to physically get around. Something that may help everyone including your pup when the time does come is getting your vet to come to your house

Generally if youre asking the question, its time or very close to it

I'm not saying that what I'm about to tell you is the answer for your dog, however, it was about 2 years ago my wife asked me if we should put our pet down. She was 14 years old, grey in the face and moving very slowly. She slept most of the day and had no motivation to eat. She ate but it was a job for her to do and she didn't get excited about it at all. I told my wife before we do that lets try something different to see if we could improve her quality of life before resorting to something so drastic. We did a little research and decided to start making her dog food instead of buying a "quality" store brand. We used ground beef or ground turkey, a can of organic pumpkin, 2 cups of brown rice, a bag of frozen peas and carrots finely minced, 6 cups of water and let it cook until the water was gone. This batch size lasts about 2 weeks. In about 2 months she lost almost 50% of her body weight, 16 lbs down to 10 lbs, a healthy outcome as she needed to lose the weight. she started running to her food bowl in the morning and evening and dancing around until we give her the meal. Like I said, It has been two years since we've started making her food and she is as active now as she ever was. You can see the improvement in her fur, activity and how alert she is. Her hearing is going and she still sleeps a lot but she's living a good life now. She will probably be around for several more years.

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Damn... There is a look she gives now that is new and the first time I saw the look I knew the end was near.

But then she will get up and look happy and rearing to go. I knew one day I would be here. Just not looking forward to it

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Was in that situation-
Ask your vet, if it would be good to give dog a steroid shot.

I had him back for a few weeks. Good times, walked him, played with him, feed him people food. His last days were golden.

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Vet is Gung ho that she has life left.

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That’s a tough one. I would think it’s pretty rare for a vet to be more optimistic than an owner. Let me tell you from experience, it’s tough to watch a dog die naturally. I don’t know that they are all like what I saw but I hope not. The night before, we decided to bring her to get put to sleep in the morning. We kept her separated from the other dog but were letting them visit one last time together. They were left alone for a few minutes and as soon as I walked back in the room it started. As soon as you decide bring them to the vet at a time that works best for all involved. Especially if there are kids. It’s always tough but at least there’s some control that way.

You will definitely know. And don’t try and be in denial, if you’re trying to convince yourself that she is comfortable, it’s time. My lab was 13.5 when we did it.

One piece of advice I will give is to search out an in-home service. That’s what we did, and it was so much better on the dog and on us. Actually a pretty peaceful experience.

When you realize that the only reason you are prolonging her agony is because you don't want to let her go.

We had to put our dog down at the beginning of the year (kidney tumor, inoperable, had grown large enough to push her stomach out of shape thus restricting how much she could eat). It was tough, I had her for 14 out of the 15 years of her life.

Dogs don't express pain like we do. That pleading look you mentioned seeing in her eyes for the first time, if her time is coming then that look will eventually become almost all you see from her.

At the end, we were making things like pumpkin and browned, ground turkey for her and she would sniff it then walk away. In one year she went from 55lbs to 35-40lbs, with most of that being the last 6 months of her life.

Vets generally won't come out and say "you need to put her down" (I don't know if there's a legal and/or an ethical obligation there) so you really have to know your dog.

When it's time, the process is very peaceful for the dog. We brought her to the vet with her bed and blanket. We sat with her and loved on her while they gave her a shot. She simply went to sleep. Once we were ready they came in and took her off to be cremated.

It's tough letting go after having such a loving and devoted pet for so long, they are part of the family. It's a very difficult decision but when it's time, you'll know. It sounds a bit cliche but any who have had to go through this understand it.