re: Dog is dying. Black lab.

If you get the option, have your vet come to your home when it's time. It'll cost extra, but we did this with my Welsh Corgi. Doc comes in, we all sit down on the floor with her in her little bed, and we got to stroke her head and body to make her feel relaxed and comfortable. Doc did the same. 30 minutes of this and my dog never had to be transported to a strange sterile office to get anxious. When it was time, Doc administered the shot and she went peacefully in her own home.

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If you get the option, have your vet come to your home when it's time. It'll cost extra, but we did this with my Welsh Corgi. Doc comes in, we all sit down on the floor with her in her little bed, and we got to stroke her head and body to make her feel relaxed and comfortable. Doc did the same. 30 minutes of this and my dog never had to be transported to a strange sterile office to get anxious. When it was time, Doc administered the shot and she went peacefully in her own home.

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This X100! I did the same for my yellow lab when she died a few months ago. She was always so anxious about everything that I didn't want to put her through the process of taking her in; besides she was in too much pain to move comfortably. As I recall it only cost a little more and in retrospect was worth every penny.

The only other thing I'll add is don't try to hang on too long. I know it's hard to determine where that point is when it's your dog and you're in the midst of it. It still bothers me that I may have let my lab hang on and suffer longer than she should have. Get an objective viewpoint on "when".

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I just couldn’t imagine not being with my dog if I had to put them down.

Couldn’t bear them not being able to see my face in those last moments. Imagine how scared and in pain they might be and their last human face they see is a stranger?? Absolutely not.

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My Blue Heller is on her last legs. Going blind,hip problems. I will not let her suffer.

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If it should be that I grow frail and weak
And pain does keep me from my sleep,
Then will you do what must be done
for this – the last battle -can’t be won.

You will be sad I understand
But don’t let grief then stay your hand.
For on this day, more than the rest
Your love and friendship must stand the test.

We have had so many happy years,
You wouldn’t want me to suffer so.
When the time comes, please, let me go.

Take me to where my needs they’ll tend,
Only, stay with me till the end.
And hold me firm and speak to me
Until my eyes no longer see.

I know in time you will agree
It is a kindness you do to me.
Although my tail its last has waved,
From pain and suffering I have been saved.

Don’t grieve that it must now be you
Who has to decide this thing to do.
We’ve been so close – we two -these years,
Don’t let your heart hold any tears.

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When my yellow died a few years back, my son insisted we bury him in the back yard under the pitchers mound we had built when my son was around 9. His lab would sit next to the mound every day when he practiced until he graduated high school. He wanted his buddy buried there. My other two labs still go lay next to that mound from time to time like they are missing their buddy.

Dogs are the most loyal and special creatures on earth.

Man, this little illustration sent me over the edge.

It's hard to add anything more than others have already said, but I'm so sorry for your impending loss. I lost my Chocolate lab in '09, and though he was a beloved family pet, Bubba Ray and I knew, instinctively, that he was "my" dog.

I got him as an 18 month old rescue, he listened to me better than anyone else, and he loved nothing more than going on truck/car rides with me. Back in the Blockbuster days, he learned to recognize the sound of my DVD player ejecting, and he'd immediately start going crazy, because he knew it was time for another ride so we could return the disc.

I had Bubba cremated, and one day, his little wooden box will go inside my (?)cardboard box when I'm cremated, and our ashes will be spread together at the place my family chooses.