My dog died and I'm so upset

awman

Oh my god that's so sad. To see a grown man cry over his dog is so touching. I'm in floods of tears. I miss my baby girl so much

awman

just wanted to say to ISDW who replied to me a couple of times, I hope you are ok today, i noticed you said the 31st of August was your dog's anniversary. xx

koneko

What you're feeling is perfectly normal, and it will get easier.

Don't feel bad about taking in another dog, you're giving that dog a great home and you clearly would love the animal and care for it so much, they're lucky to have you.
If you had a friend that passed away, your friend would definitely not want you to be without friends the rest of your life, out of respect, and dogs are like friends. You are not betraying your dog in any way, so try not to feel like that. It'll take some time to adjust, but it will get easier. You're making a new friend, but nothing can ever replace the one you lost.

Eibhin

Hi Awman

How are you getting on with the new dog?

I must say I take my hat off to you for giving that new dog a chance. I often think that most of us will outlive most of our pets, please God, and that animals will pass through our lives many times over.

Just think that all that love, care and attention that you had for your old dog can now be put to good use once again.

You sound like a lovely owner and although you are still devatsated about your boxer, and will always have a special place for her in your heart, you have had the courage to see that another dog needed you.

Good luck with her and keep us posted.
Eibhin

Eibhin

Thinking of you ISDW today on your special boy's anniversary too.

"To live in hearts we leave behind, is not to die"

awman

koneko thanks for replying. Thanks for the comment about how "a friend wouldnt want you to be without friends". That's a nice way of putting it and does help me to cope with this. Its really hard to block out the horrible memories of the last few days of her life. I'm trying so hard to remember the good times. She was very ill at the end and it was so horrible to see her that way. She had a brain tumor and was having horendous seizures. She was always such a bubbly, happy dog. Seeing her so frail and unhappy really ripped my heart out. I know I should be thinking its a good thing that she is now no longer in pain but its so hard living without her.

awman

Hi Eibhin,

Thanks for your lovely comments. To be honest I have ok days and then I have bad ones. Its very up and down. I never know which way I'm going to wake up. Its kind of a case of taking it one day at a time. But I'm hopeful at least that some day (hopefully soon) I will be able to think of her and be happy about the time we did have together and not so obsessed about the fact that she is no longer with me. I really really miss her (her name was Maggie by the way, i dont know if I mentioned that).
My new doggy friend is gorgeous. We named her Lulu (Maggie's name on her papers was Lulu's Angle so we decided to call our new dog Lulu). She is a bullmastiff and is 8 months old. She has a really lovely personality and is very affectionate. She has made herself right at home (already taking over the couches). Maggie used to sleep with me and my husband in our bed every night. The first night we had our new dog we said we'd bring her down to our bedroom to sleep but that she'd sleep on her own bed on the floor. The first thing she did was jump up on our bed and lie down between the middle of us with her head up on the pillow (exactly what Maggie used to do). When I told my sister she said jokingly that Maggie's spirit must be with Lulu. That made me laugh and cry.

koneko

It's hard not to focus on those last memories, believe me I know, but you have to think about the happier times, rolling around together or playing with a ball, whatever it may be. Think of how happy she was and what a great live she had.

Shazanne

Awman, it sounds as though Lulu is leaving paw-prints on your heart already. I'm so happy for you - and so is Maggie. They are both very lucky dogs to have had a piece of your heart:)

goat2

awman wrote: »

Sorry I meant to put that in my first post, she was a Boxer. She was beautiful. I've never come across a dog with such a good nature. She'd have done anything for me and I'd have done anything for her. I'm not really sure how to attach a picture. I'll try attaching one now

lovely face, must have been a very placid dog

i have a jack russell of fifteen, she got sick with the last two years she had operations to save her two yrs ago
yesterday it looks like it has come back and things are not good at this moment for her, i am giving her medication see will it cure
but family are saying to take her out of misery, i dont think she has pain just going downhill
an not liking this at moment
wish she could go by herself in her sleep, as i love her too much to part with her, she is totally deaf and blind in one eye with past fifteen months which means walking is hard
now she is finding it hard to put her back legs under her, but when she does she gets cracking, i help her sometimes to get up
what would you all do if you were me

seamus

goat2 wrote: »

wish she could go by herself in her sleep, as i love her too much to part with her, she is totally deaf and blind in one eye with past fifteen months which means walking is hard
now she is finding it hard to put her back legs under her, but when she does she gets cracking, i help her sometimes to get up
what would you all do if you were me

You have to ask yourself whether or not you think the dog is happy and her life is still enjoyable. Or is she suffering intolerably and you're only eeking out this suffering.

We had a relatively similar outlook for my parents' Jack Russell a few years back. She'd gone downhill quite quickly after one summer, was having mini-strokes and at Christmastime it came to a head. She spent her entire time lying in a bed, barely able to get up to go out to the toilet. She wasn't whinging and you'd get something of a response when you went over to her, but no licks, and no signs of contentment from the dog. She was barely eating, if she ate at all.
During Christmas we were all at home for a few days and made extra sure that the dog was always with someone in a room, no matter what. We all knew she was uncomfortable, but were secretly hoping she would just close her eyes at some point and never open them again, having died in the company of someone who loved her. But it never happened. A couple of days after Christmas, my mum put some leftover chicken in front of her, the dog looked at it, but wouldn't budge from her bed. Then she knew what they had to do. Before being PTS, the vet examined her and determined that the dog's lungs were slowly filling with water, placing her heart under major stress. If she didn't starve, she would have a heart attack or she would drown slowly. But she wasn't going to just nod off peacefully like we wanted.

I hope that doesn't upset you, but I just want you to consider that the dog may not be likely to just go peacefully one day, and even though it's the hardest thing in the world to do, you will know when the time is right for you to let her go peacefully and with a little dignity.

I think most people's rule of thumb is that if the dog is eating and her tail wags when she sees you, then she's not ready to go yet.

Cherry Blossom

goat2 wrote: »

lovely face, must have been a very placid dog

i have a jack russell of fifteen, she got sick with the last two years she had operations to save her two yrs ago
yesterday it looks like it has come back and things are not good at this moment for her, i am giving her medication see will it cure
but family are saying to take her out of misery, i dont think she has pain just going downhill
an not liking this at moment
wish she could go by herself in her sleep, as i love her too much to part with her, she is totally deaf and blind in one eye with past fifteen months which means walking is hard
now she is finding it hard to put her back legs under her, but when she does she gets cracking, i help her sometimes to get up
what would you all do if you were me

I have a 14 yr old lab who has problems walking. He sleeps in the stables with the horses as he took on the job of guarding them at night and he likes their company. I have came to the conclusion that when he's no longer able to manage the walk from the house to the stables and back it will be his time. I don't feel he would be happy any longer if he's not able to do this. He made the decision to sleep in the stables himself and I feel it would be unfair to keep him any longer than he's able to do the job he assigned himself to do .

Only you can know when the right time for your dog will be but don't feel guilty if you have to make this decision for her. It would't be fair to keep her longer than she can happily be a dog whatever this means in each individual case.

awman

goat2 - i'm so sorry to hear your poor dog is ill. I know how awful it is to see them like that. I really dont know what to say. I honestly think you will know yourself when its time to let her go.
Maggie started getting seizures in April. We had no idea what was wrong. We were told that she either had epilepsy or a brain tumor. She was put on medication for epilepsy straight away. This medication seemed to help. The seizures stopped and she was more or less back to normal. She wasnt quite as lively as she usually was but we were just so happy that the seizures had stopped. Then in July the seizures started again. We tried increasing epilepsy medication and tried a few other meds but nothing helped. Our vet told us it was a brain tumor. In the end the seizures were coming on strong and she was getting them every couple of hours. She wasnt able to stand up or even drink water. We just knew it was time. Sometimes I torture myself and wish that we had given it another day or two to see if she might have improved but deep down I know there was no way back for her. If we didnt do what we did she probably would have ended up having a horrible death. I try to think positively and be glad that she died peacefully with me and my husband by her side telling her how much we loved her.
Its such a hard decision to make. I really hope and pray that your little dog will get better. I think when it is her time to go you will know.

goat2

awman wrote: »

goat2 - i'm so sorry to hear your poor dog is ill. I know how awful it is to see them like that. I really dont know what to say. I honestly think you will know yourself when its time to let her go.
Maggie started getting seizures in April. We had no idea what was wrong. We were told that she either had epilepsy or a brain tumor. She was put on medication for epilepsy straight away. This medication seemed to help. The seizures stopped and she was more or less back to normal. She wasnt quite as lively as she usually was but we were just so happy that the seizures had stopped. Then in July the seizures started again. We tried increasing epilepsy medication and tried a few other meds but nothing helped. Our vet told us it was a brain tumor. In the end the seizures were coming on strong and she was getting them every couple of hours. She wasnt able to stand up or even drink water. We just knew it was time. Sometimes I torture myself and wish that we had given it another day or two to see if she might have improved but deep down I know there was no way back for her. If we didnt do what we did she probably would have ended up having a horrible death. I try to think positively and be glad that she died peacefully with me and my husband by her side telling her how much we loved her.
Its such a hard decision to make. I really hope and pray that your little dog will get better. I think when it is her time to go you will know.

thanks very much
my old girl had stroke i just found out today, she is on loads of meds and the vet hope she will come round in next four days, so the bad day has been put back for a whild, i hope

awman

goat2 - Thats really great news. I'm so glad she's going to be ok.

Its been over 5 weeks since my baby girl died and although I'm not spending every minute of every day crying like I was, I'm still finding it really tough. I'd do anything to have her back with me again. She was my best friend and I miss her so much.