# How do you know it's time



## Angel_Kody (Feb 27, 2007)

Thank you for posting this. I will bookmark it to read through later. It's an important topic that no one likes to deal with but when you are going through it you wish you would have the information. I remember asking this question all to well and I wish I had the info I have now back then.


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## Charlie06 (Feb 10, 2007)

Thank you. I too will read it a little later. My little old ladies will be 14 this year. They are 1 month apart and I can't even let myself think how one will be without the other. They have done *everything* together since they were puppies.


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## Penny'smom (Mar 3, 2007)

I have had to decide for 2 of my very best friends. One, our very dear first Golden Polly and second, my heart horse, Rocket.

With Polly, it was nothing dramatic. After a long, loving life she was old. She had arthritis. She needed help getting up. She still thumped her tail when she heard us coming toward her. The vet said I'd know when it was time. The day I went to her, touched her and the tail didn't thump was the day we let her go.

Rocket was much more difficult. He was lame (founder) and had Cushing's which aggravated the founder. This had been going on for 2 years or more, on and off again. In the spring of his last year, I made the attempt to throw as much expertise at his lameness symptom as I could find, starting with my excellent vet and farrier. 

We labored all summer, through thousands of $$$ but to no avail. His body was simply to far gone to repair itself. I knew he'd have a horrible time trying to get through a Michigan winter...he could barely walk even on huge doses of pain killers. It was time to be fair to him, to be reasonable and to let go. That was November 10, 2000 at 12:30 p.m. Rest in peace, my dear soul.


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## 3 goldens (Sep 30, 2005)

I hung onto my first irish Setter to long. He had a spinal infection and we tried drug after drug and he just got worse and worst. I don't know how old he was--he just showed up one day and I had him 8 years. I now wonder if that missed the call and it was actually cancer in his spine rather than infection.

He would only eat from my hand and very little. he coudln't get up, couldn't walk without help. But i clung to the hope that we would hit on the right meds. the day came he just laid there and threw up yellow foam and couldn't even lift his head ut of it. I knew then i had to let him go. I cleaned him up and we took him to the vet--i stayed in the truck, i couldn't go in, but hubby was with him til the end. We buried him where several of our other dogs were buried. I even put a throw pillow under his head--if he was on tahe floor he would take a throw pillow from the sofa and put his head on it. Red was such a silly boy.

I swore to never let another dog get that bad, suffer like that. When Boots, my 2ed irish setter was diagnosed with bone cancer it was thought by the end of the week he would not be eating, would not be able to get around. He had gone from a limp on Firday --we thought it was his arthritis--to dragging that leg on Monday. Such a rapid form of cancer.

But i had my old man--he was 12 1/2--for exactly 10 weeks. I took him fishing every day, fed him everything he loved tha dogs are not suppose to eat, and my vet checked him out twice a week--no charge--and each time shook his head, said he didn't understand it, but we didn't need to let him go yet. The day it appeared in his shoulder, same side, I let him go. He had learned to bunny hop and not drag that rear leg, but he would not have been able to walk with a front leg that was "frozen" as his knee was. I could have kept him a couple more days I am sure, but he would not have been able to go fishing as we had the day before it appeard in hi shoulder. I let him go before he suffered, before he was at the point he couldn't get around, it was hard to let him go when he appeard to feel so well, but i knew it was time.


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## goldensmum (Oct 23, 2007)

Thanks for that - When Kelly stopped eating, we knew then something was seriously wrong - x rays and tests shown lung cancer and liver damage. Our vet said he "could keep her going for a few more days but..........", when we looked in her eyes, we knew what had to be done. The same happened with Ralph when he went into kidney failure - we tried so hard but it was never meant to be, and Ginny - she was the hardest to let go as she was always "my girl". I think anyone who knows and loves their dogs know when the time is right and yes, there will always be doubts and what if's? but deep down although it is the hardest decision we ever have to make for our dogs, it is only us that can do it. I hope that makes sense.

Sleep softly Kelly, Ralph & Ginny - you have left pawprints on my heart


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## Goldie4Paws (Jan 9, 2008)

AmbikaGR said:


> Below is a link to a blog on how do you know it's time to let go. This was posted to a list I belong to. NOT an easy read but a very interesting one I thought.
> 
> http://irish.typepad.com/irisheyes/2005/04/how_do_you_know.html


 
Thank you for sharing that link. It makes me feel better about what we had to do for Hudson. It's important to be reminded, I think, that dogs ARENT people, and don't have a fear of death, etc, that we have.
We also need to know that they will tend to hide how much pain they're in, because they don't know any other way. This was a very helpful article.


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