Losing a dog

Is like losing a family member. We just lost our 11 year old golden retriever today 😢

A flood of emotions came over me when he was put to sleep. I knew it'd hurt but not this bad. It's really true, losing a pet is like losing a family member

I am sorry to hear about your dog Krysrenee 😢
Hugs—

I'm so sorry! We had to put our 16+ yr old dog down recently and it was SO DEVASTATING to all of us. Srsly one of the worst times of my life 😢 but you have to know that its selfish to keep them when you know they are suffering and its a very selfless act and one of the most extreme of love.
Pets ARE family members and it is a great loss. Please accept my most sincere condolences and wishes for comfort at this time.

I don't know if you know the story, QS, but HD is definitely not the most likely explanation. Many dogs do live over 14yrs. Goldens aren't that big of dogs (although they are very prone to HD). The most likely explanation is that the dog got cancer or kidney failure. Unfortunately, most people are not educated about vaccines and dog food and can shorten their dogs lives.. I don't blame the owners, I blame the vets and dog food companies that sell this garbage.

Krysrenee, I'm so sorry.. losing a dog is the hardest. It is just as hard as losing an immediate family member, and harder than losing one that doesn't live with you. They don't have to speak english to be just as human (if not more so) than some people.

The soul is the same in all living creatures, although the body of each is different.
~ Hippocrates

This one doesn't allow embedding, but it is even more beautiful.

So sorry for your loss of your Golden Retriever Krys. Our pets are truly as much family members as the humans. It is a devastating grief and we never anticipate how intense it can get without experiencing it. Our life is interrupted as we once knew it, but it is our job to take the good that our pets leave us with, and go on with our lives —as better people. It is the most loving way that we can honor them. We owe that to them.

The love we have for our pets should transcend our own selfish need to keep them with us longer. We need to allow our pets to die with some degree of dignity. Euthanasia is an act of mercy done with love.....it is the most pure and unselfish way to say, "I love you".

Can you tell us what happened?

Do you have good support around you to help you through this awful time? Keeping a daily journal of your feelings and your life with your Golden is a great tool to help heal the wound of loss.




A butterfly
lights beside us like a sunbeam
and for a brief moment its glory and beauty
belong to the world
but then it flies again
and though we wish it could have stayed...
we feel lucky to have seen it.

~Unknown

Your friend didnt die. He/She is now locked in your heart, warm and safe and loved forever :-)

QS, he looks like a sweetie. Rotts are such great dogs with such a bad rap! My dog isn't a White German Shepherd tho 🙂 She's an Alaskan Husky.

http://www.ridethewilderness.com/Bancroft% 20Ontario% 20Alaskan% 20Huskies.htm

@Sultanna.. if you got one that was dog friendly, you could always take it to doggie daycare. They have a blast 🙂 I'm sure they miss you, but not any more than taking a kid to daycare, because they have so much fun they kind of forget about missing you until you get back.

I'm so very sorry Krys. 😢
I'm facing this myself, and don't know how I'll get through it.

Sorry to hear about your dog OP 😢

My friend lost her cat yesterday and was so unexpected as he was all fine, then the next minute, Vet says he has to be put down asap.

Thanx for the love everybody!!!!!

My dog had Cancer, liver & kidney failure. 1 min. he was just fine. The next min. we noticed that he wouldn't/couldn't eat. When we took him to the vet hospital, they assured us that we shouldn't feel guilty for not catching his disease earlier, b/c with dogs, by the time their symptoms stop coming, it's most likely already to late. I still feel a twinge of guilt for not ever knowing how much pain he must've been going through this whole time, but then again when the vet said this it made me feel a little better.

I had a golden retriever that was almost 11 years old. The vet told us that most golden retrievers & big dogs period don't usually live past 11-13 years. So technically, my dog was already at the end of his life's cycle...

Almost makes me not want any more dogs...I don't think I can take the pain of getting so attached to 1 again only to lose it a decade later. 10-13 years is NOT a long time, compared to the average number of years we're priveledged to be attached to a human being.

Yeah I know that all dogs eventually die of natural causes or of disease, but I wasn't expecting it to happen so soon. I guess you can NEVER be ready. I'm feeling alot better though. Just glad he's not suffering anymore =)

*When we took him to the vet hospital, they assured us that we shouldn't feel guilty for not catching his disease earlier, b/c with dogs, by the time their symptoms START coming, it's most likely already too late.

Glad you are feeling better much better now.

My dog had Cancer, liver & kidney failure. 1 min. he was just fine. The next min. we noticed that he wouldn't/couldn't eat

I guess unlike humans, they can't say something like "hmm, I feel kinda funny"

That's like my friend's cat, 'cept it was a tumour and one min he was fine, next, wouldn't eat. The Vet also said similar, that the internals will fail pretty soon after the eating stops so had to be put down before he suffered.