Saying goodbye to a friend

Later today I will be saying goodbye to my little old dog of 16 years. "Arrow" has been in renal distress for about a year now. To complicate matters, he never enjoyed chewing so his dental care has always been challenging. He has become thin, losing 25% of mass. Due to a mouth infections, and tooth loss I do not know how much eating hurts him even with canned foods. With the renal failure, he has trouble with incontinance.

He was given to me 3 months after my last dog died. I took pity on him as he came from an abbusive home not deserving of such a fine creature. I cleaned him, fed him, and trained him with the intentions of finding himn a suitable home. I interveiwed many couples and found that only I could be sure to care for him how I saw fit. He was not the dog I was looking for but he was everthing I needed. He taught me so much about what I was capable of.

Dog ownership is a difficult with the responsibilty to always make good choices for these poor creatures who depend on you for everything. I hope that my decision to end his life is wise choice based on his deteriorating medical issues. I do not want him to reach the point of misery before he leaves.

I pray that I am doing right for him.

I'm sorry to hear about this....parting with a pet is never an easy process. Pets are like family members. They become very humanized, and when we lose them, we feel as if we've lost family. I've personally lost two birds already. In contrast to what most people might think, birds can be very affectionate creatures, and losing my first was actually my first exposure to death.

Atomic, you are doing right by your dog. I hope I have that much bravery and strength when the time comes for my dog, he was dumped on my doorstep by my older sister at six months, and although I never really cared for small breeds, he has taught me alot about myself. As you stated, it is a huge responcibility to take in a dog, it sounds like you gave him the best life possible...

Thank you. My Arrow was 8 months of damage when he was dumped at my door.

I am sure it is for the best...

I have lost many over the years, but I still miss one, she was with me through some mighty tough times...

Tough decisions suck... Necessary, but suck...

Pets ARE family. I remember fondly every dog, cat or otherwise I ever had. None of them ever hit me, or yelled at me, or belittled me. They just offered their love. I hope to see them all again one fine day, cuz if there aren't pets in heaven, I don't wanna go.

I'm glad you gave your arrow the love he deserved. He will miss such a fine human. May the force be with you, brother.

yes pets are family members...they protect and love you unconditionally...the hardest thing to do is let a family member go...

with my family i'm the only one capable of ending a pets suffering, so i get stuck doing that for my whole family...it's not a task i enjoy, and i make sure to do it in a manner that ensures the least amount of pain...when a pet has to be put down it's usually because they're already in pain, the last thing i want to do is add to it...the hardest part is looking into thier eyes as they die and seeing their unconditional love staring back...