re: How did you cope with putting your dog down?

I had to put my 9 year old lab down about a month ago and it sucked. Best dog I ever owned. She would just chill out all day around the house and wait for us to get home. Starting having heart issues and finally got to the point where there was nothing else to do.

Had a get away weekend with the family and was going to put her up at the vet but I knew the vet was going to recommend putting her down. Sucked leaving her and I didn’t tell the family till we got home because I didn’t want it to ruin the weekend especially my 5 year old. She was crushed when I finally told her.

very subtle "i can afford vet bills" brag thread.

We drank 2 beers and ate a whole pack of beef jerky in our favorite chair on the porch, then went for a ride. It was one of the most peaceful/hardest things I have ever done.

For me, I grow very much attached, so the experience was very difficult. I can't tell you a time period, but I missed each one a great deal at first, one was like losing a family member. I still think about him and miss him and it's probably been 10 years.

But I can tell you this, it gets easier with time. It really does. The painful times diminish, and you start remembering the good stuff more. But I think every person is different.

Hell, I have a brother that can put a dog down, and it barely phases him, and he'll go out and get another one. Not like that for me. But during the hard time, I try to just think about how good his life was compared to what it could have been, and how much he loved me.

It took me a couple of years after my guy died before I got another. It sounds selfish, but I enjoyed being able to pick up and leave for a weekend without worrying about boarding a dog.

I still miss him a lot, but taking my time to process the loss before getting another meant I was better prepared to adopt again.

And if you do, you will love the new pup just as much as you did the one that passed.

Very sorry for your loss. But it sounds like your pup struck gold when you adopted him. He was with you for 17 years, so you obviously did a great job by him.

My bros always told me "Best way to get over your old dog is to get under a new one"

Terribly. A chapter of our lives is gone. It was the most peaceful of goodbyes but we will miss him for the rest of our days.

Well, I'll be honest. My dog got hit by a car around 1am and there was no way she could make it to the vet since she was 80 lbs and she had been completely run over meaning her whole back and legs didn't work at all. We sat with her and comforted her but I knew I would have to finish her myself. So I had to put a 9mm through her skull as I sat and held on to her. It was the first time I've had to do something like that and it was very traumatic to me. But I knew it was my job as her master and as the head of the household to do it.

I just got over it. Sometimes you have to just do things you don't want to do. As a man, you just get through it. It also helped to get another dog a few months later.

Mines I found when she was skin and bones by the veterans bridge in vacherie/Wallace.

Poor thing was almost dead and now she’s a sweet, happy dog.

Gonna hurt real bad when she goes.