Well this day officially sucked

[Sir Slash]

Four years ago tomorrow my last little girl left me. I could barely bring myself to take her food and blankets down to the Pet Shelter to donate afterward. We have a cat now that would not tolerate us bringing another dog in the house. If she knew how to pour her own food, she would change the door locks on us now probably.

[BanzaiCat]

I have a Basset/Beagle mix (a Bagel, maybe Bagle, I dunno) that we adopted when he was about 4 years old. That was about six years ago. He's showing no signs of age other than gray fur. I'm really not looking forward to the day that we have to put him down. I pray it's another several years at least.

[W8taminute]

I'm so sorry for your loss Con.  I had to put down my cat a few years ago and it still haunts me to this day on occasion.  Just remember though, your dog will always be with you in your heart. 

[airboy]

I'm very sorry your family lost a member.

We had to put one down.  Deaf, blind, had a dog stroke so it walked in circles hitting its head on the wall on every lap.  Our vet came to the house to put Snort out of her misery.  She was 18 (a small rescue mutt).

I hope that our current dogs: Wrigley, Zippo and Max all go of natural causes like yours did.  Having one put down is worse than having them die a natural death.

[Con]

Hi everyone

Thanks for the kind words.  Its been a real rough last 48 hours.  Everywhere I look there are reminders.  I think I am taking it harder than my boys.  They ask to see photos of him and have asked to make a book of Sully pictures like we normally do from our vacations.  We have great memories of when he was young and strong playing with abandon herding the boys as they were learning to walk.  It will get better but its hard answering the boys questions about why he died and wont come back.  The advice we got was to not sugar coat it or use euphemisms like he has gone to sleep but just be blunt and not provide a lot of details.  Finn keeps asking if we can get a new dog with silky ears for him to hold when he drinks his milk. Liam just stares at the photos and I ask him to pick the ones out where he thinks Sully is happy. 

Yesterday my wife bought one of those ridiculous giant 5 foot stuffed teddy bears from Costco.  She said the boys need something to cuddle with.  This morning Finn who liked to stroke Sullys ears when drinking milk or to calm himself was telling the neighbours like any four and a half year old all the latest information including how Sully was dead.  Suddenly he turned to me and said "Dad I need to go up to my room and pet the bear"  I dont think he realized that talking about Sully made him sad but he knew when he felt that way in the past he always had Sully to pet to make him feel better.  That almost broke me again watching him sit quietly next to this giant teddybear stroking its ear.   The bear is a poor substitute but it worked and he did feel better later.

The next couple of days will be tough maybe more on me than anyone else since I was used to taking care of Sully the most.  I loved taking him up in the woods especially after a storm.  Yesterday we had a big intense thunderstorm and I automatically started looking for Sullys leash so we could go up and see if any trees had been knocked down and smell the earth after a sudden drenching rain.  I had to stop myself calling for him several times.  I just sat on his sleeping mat up on the office because it smelled of him (quite stinky) instead.  It really hit me while I was sitting there that the all the hours I spend in the office working from home I will truly be alone now.  No more nudging me for an ear scratch or gentle snoring filling the room as I type away on emails.

There will be another dog in the future but there will not be another Sully

Con

[Gusington]

^That is gut wrenching. I hope typing on here alleviates the pain somewhat for you.

[besilarius]

Sorry, Con. 
There just aren't words when you lose a best bud.

[panzerde]

Con, I'm terribly sorry to hear this.  :'(

I've had to say goodbye to a few of my Boxers over the years, from the time I was a kid on. It is never easy and you remember them always. Honestly, I'd rather spend time with my dogs than all but a very few people in the entire world. You can count on dogs.

But never forget that Sully was able to count on you. He did, right up until the last. You took care of him right to the end, and he knew it. He went out knowing he was loved and your friend, and that he had a family that loved him. You did right by that dog. Your boys will have learned a lot by that.

This sucks. No way to make it better. But you can always have Sully there with you, in your head, after every storm when you walk in the woods.

[airboy]

Con, I'm terribly sorry to hear this.  :'(

I've had to say goodbye to a few of my Boxers over the years, from the time I was a kid on. It is never easy and you remember them always. Honestly, I'd rather spend time with my dogs than all but a very few people in the entire world. You can count on dogs.

But never forget that Sully was able to count on you. He did, right up until the last. You took care of him right to the end, and he knew it. He went out knowing he was loved and your friend, and that he had a family that loved him. You did right by that dog. Your boys will have learned a lot by that.

This sucks. No way to make it better. But you can always have Sully there with you, in your head, after every storm when you walk in the woods.

^
What he said.

[steve58]

Losing a pet who is loved by it's family is terribly hard.  While I've had to go through it more than once, I comfort myself knowing that that my pet friends had a better life because they were cared for and loved.  My condolences... :(

[Boggit]

I'm really sorry to hear of your loss. I've parted company with much loved pets several times, and it's never easy. I feel for you and your family. :(

[Con]

Hi guys

Sorry didn't mean to be a bummer but it was somewhat cathartic to write down what I was feeling/going through.  I've been spending some time sorting through pictures and I had forgotten how many good times on hiking trips and vacations and just in general we had with him. My wife keeps telling me it was a blessing in many ways since we were gearing up for a big dog to have a serious decline in health.  We had bought a ramp for stairs etc but I was the only one strong enough to really lift him when he was sick.  He was beginning to get some pretty big back and neck pain that would randomly flair up (common in big breed dogs).  My wife works as an anesthesiologist and she keeps repeating to me that the way he died is pretty painless you just get drowsy and slowly loose consciousness with blood loss.  It was also a pretty obvious decision that there was no way to save him or if we tried to that it would not have been for his benefit but for ours and been only a misery to him (my wife knows the reality of these situations). 

His last week was as good as it could have been without us knowing this moment was going to happen.

We had a ton of family members staying with us the last two weeks (mostly teenage girls who petted him so hard his fur hurt and he spent most of the time on his back demanding belly rubs from them)
I slipped him some raw hamburger on the sly during the week (my wife didnt like that since it could upset his stomach)  She then told me she had done the same as well!  So he got some high quality prime beef to munch on from both of us (we both told him not to tell the other he could always keep a secret).  The day before he died I took him to doggy daycare (not something I do often but when I have meetings that run late etc I bring him there).  This is one of his happiest places to go where he could sniff many butts and play with other dogs always one of his favorite things to do.  I got back from a business trip from Ireland on Sunday so I wasnt away when it happened which would have devastated me not to be there to say goodbye.  He didn't lie alone I was there with him and he knew I was there with him to the end.  If I had to choose a way to go it would have ticked all these boxes also.

I wanted to end with this post to show its a sad day but I didnt want to end this as a bummer of a post.  It makes me feel better writing down all the good things that happened near the end and that as hard as loosing him is he lived and died well.

Con
His first weeks

His Last weeks

[Gusington]

I can't think of a better reason to have a forum than as catharsis for its members.

[MetalDog]

Agreed.  And those are some awesome, happy pics.  Good show, Con.

[Sir Slash]

Four years ago yesterday I lost my last pug. I wouldn't let the vet have them. I buried all 5 together in the side-yard in a nice shady spot along with a little pug figurine and a, "Pugs On Guard" sign. I still go out and talk to them sometimes-- usually after a drink. Catharsis completed.  :'(