The loss of a great dog

[snuffy]

How to start this--? Well just say it I guess--. Arrow had to be put down Tuesday. !! The emotional pain is intense. Such an all around good dog, the best behaved and most loving animal I've ever seen. His sarcoma tumor burst through the skin on his belly, the bleeding was heavy the last 24 hours . There was no fixing it, the hide was stretched to the breaking point, no way to close the skin with stitches. It would only have delayed the inevitable anyway.


Dr. Dianne (owner at the clinic), did a good job on giving me an extra 6 months with him by removing the first tumor. The regrowth was a harder more aggressive cancer, she didn't think she could remove the new growth, or that Arrow would survive another surgery.


Karen, my daughter-in-law came in to comfort me and sat with me during the procedure. She works at the vet clinic. Saying goodbye is so darn hard, why do we open ourselves to such pain. I'll eventually get another dog, so to begin another bonding, experiencing the pain of loss again.


I just wish the rainbow bridge had visiting hours!

He just turned 12 on 10-30. I had him since he was 2, my son's BIL had him before.

[rockrat]

Oh man, I feel your pain. So sorry to hear of the loss of your friend

[cephas53]

Condolences.

[kmw1954]

suffy I know exactly what you are going thru. We had to put down our 14yo. Sheltie Roscoe this summer. We had him since he was a 9 week old puppy. Even our 5yo. Husky Diesel went into Morning. This was Roscoe and Diesel on his last morning.

http://i276.photobucket.com/albums/kk8/bonz-d/008_zpszexxcne1.jpg (http://s276.photobucket.com/user/bonz-d/media/008_zpszexxcne1.jpg.html)

[kmw1954]

This is our newest addition and Diesels new best friend MAX. He is now 13 weeks old.

http://i276.photobucket.com/albums/kk8/bonz-d/008_zps4dgpx77f.jpg (http://s276.photobucket.com/user/bonz-d/media/008_zps4dgpx77f.jpg.html)

Max and Diesel

http://i276.photobucket.com/albums/kk8/bonz-d/013_zpsn20jmrwj.jpg (http://s276.photobucket.com/user/bonz-d/media/013_zpsn20jmrwj.jpg.html)

[RogerDat]

Condolences. Our Standard Schnauzer is recovering from having two mammary and teats removed this week due to a tumor forming. No results yet from pathologist but she had a small tumor removed from a back leg on same side back in 2013 and the cells in this one were not "right".

She seems to be happy and doing ok, if a bit tired and not liking the cone of shame but we know eventually we will probably be facing the same difficult choice you did where returning their love will mean having the heartache of doing what is right for them by easing them on their way rather than trying to selfishly hold on.

[shoot-n-lead]

Sorry for your loss...it is tough to lose a good dog.

[Ithaca Gunner]

I've gone through the pain of the departure of many a great dog myself. Some slipped away in sleep, a few had to be put to sleep. It's never easy, but it's the last kindness you can show them.

http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/nn179/krag1894/7_31_14-Dogs-Last-Will-Testament2_zpsslfcc8ml.jpg

[snuffy]

Thanks for the thoughts and concerns. Time has already healed my thoughts to the degree that I can smile about some of his quirks instead of start choking up or tears start rolling down my cheeks. It'll be a while before I will go more than 5 minutes without thinking about him.

I waited too long for my prior pooch Ziggy. He had some skin disease, ( the vet couldn't decide if it was bacterial or fungal), and his front end was so bad he needed my help to get down the front steps. The vet techs asked if I wanted Dr. Dianne to look at it to see if there were something that could be done to stop the bleeding. I said no, it's time! As much as I wanted to hang on, I was NOT going to wait too long again. Sure now I have second thoughts, if I had done this or that he might still be here beside me.

PETA will tell us we are mistreating our pets by imprisoning them, forcing them to satisfy us. What PETA doesn't understand is how much our dogs love us. How faithful they are, how much they will sacrifice to please us. As bad as Arrow felt in the last minutes, he wanted nothing else but to be petted, to have his fur stroked just one more time. He'd lost so much blood the vein to place the catheter, low blood pressure.181964

181965

[labradigger1]

So sorry for your loss.
Dogs are the best people ever created.

[smokeywolf]

Words cannot describe the sadness I feel. Arrow was a beautiful dog. When we take them into our house and our heart, we also assume the heart-breaking responsibility of seeing to it they don't suffer. It is the final act of love.
Timber (my avatar) will be 10 this month. When we got him, he was the size of a loaf of bread.

[Lloyd Smale]

I lost my dog elmer this spring. Ive had many dogs but this one will allways be the ONE. He was such a great dog and such a great friend. My eyes still water up when I think of him. He was more a son then a pet. I know how you feel right now and wouldn't wish it on anyone.

[buckwheatpaul]

snuffy, I cant begin to say how sorry I am at the loss of Arrow. It sounds like he was quite a remarkable companion and will be waiting for you and your family at the rainbow bridge. In our home our dogs are all old, kind of like us, and they truly run the show. Sir, you have my sincerely condolences for you and your family loss.....Paul

[Ballistics in Scotland]

You did what you could with the first tumour. There are people who would have a dog put down as soon as they realise he is going to cost (their words, not mine) more than he is worth.

Offensive noises to PETA for not understanding a couple of important instincts a dog has. He has loyalty to his family, even if the outsider is a dog and the family member is a parakeet who tweaks his nose. He also likes being talked to. I've seen that in Arabian wild dogs who probably hadn't been owned by anyone in a hundred generations. They make friends, for most of the year regardless of sex, like horses. In some ways they are much more like us than apes are. In that same country I would have been very wary about getting out of the car to feed baboons.

This one, surely familiar to any Australian who knows dingos, has lucked out with a house-dog's job with a friend of mine, and immediately behaved more appropriately than most purpose-bred pets. She is now an old dog, in retirement with him in Spain, and I imagine her with Spanish pets who brag about their exploits, and thinking "I've been! I've seen!"

181976

Many years ago our old Labrador died, and our cairn terrier (a jealous little control freak of whom you would never have expected it) started to mope. She would take no exercise and became so fat she was hollow across the back. We had to carry her to the park, and I worried about heart failure every time I saw her dash to any big yellow dog, bouncing frantically for a moment, then relapsing into inactivity as she realised her mistake.

So I had to get a puppy in a hurry, i.e. a slightly dubious but beautiful foxy collie for thirty shillings in a Glasgow petshop. The cairn was violently jealous. She wouldn't bite a puppy - only a neurotic dog will do that - but for three weeks she wouldn't come into the same room. Then the ;ittle black nose levered the door open, and they started wrestling frantically until the collie was too big. The fat fell away like lightning, and she became the healthiest fifteen-year-old dog I ever saw. 181975

[Goatwhiskers]

And so the cycle starts again. We raise Pembroke Welsh Corgis on a very small scale and the younger female had her litter last night, two tri-color males, both already promised to good homes. Our dogs live in the house, a red/white male, a r/w female(new mom), and a tri female. All have a piece of my heart along with the ones that have gone before. GW

[BNE]

Losing your buddy is tough. I lost "Honey" over a year and a half ago. Still brings tears to my eyes.

[Freightman]

I had to put down the last three friends over the last 35 years, get another asap believe me it helps enhance your memory, and who else will be as loyal and love you unconditionally?😞

[lightman]

Its tough to loose a good friend. Best wishes and condolences.

[Teddy (punchie)]

Darn rough it changed me at 15. I never felt the same after that loss. God Bless !!

[w5pv]

I have lost a good many good friends the past 70 years but there is always one that comes to mine first, the first family pet that I can remember. He was my dad's hunting dog a black cur dog that he called Ratus because he was solid black. To us kids he was a playmate and a protector I still have very fond memoirs of him. I remember one time a family friend was coming to visit and my younger brother went to meet him and he put the brother in a tote sack and this old dog went ballistic. My dad had to run out catch the dog before he really got a good bite on the friend. A good laugh for everyone afterwards but the old dog was serious.

[DCP]

God spelled backward is DOG

[robg]

It rips your heart evey time ,but you did the right thing if only we could do the same for people too,watched my father die for two years and couldn't help at all ,knew what he wanted and it wasn't that.

[kingstrider]

My condolences to you and your family. There is nothing like the loss of a great family dog and something that stays with you for a long time. That said I could not imagine a life without a dog or two and am sure you'll find another friend when the time is right.

[jaydub in wi]

So sorry for your loss. As I have said before, I was a wreck after we lost one almost 3 years ago. I needed a pup to fill the void. Prayers will be said for you

[tim338]

I am so, so sorry. I had to put Jack down my Golden Retriever in September. I loved that dog and still tear up when I think of him. My new pup Ruby helps with the pain as I couldn't be with out a dog.

[shooter2]

We have lost many over the years. I remember all of them and still mourn. The only solution for us is to get another dog and having two is better than just one.

[IllinoisCoyoteHunter]

Thinking about you Snuffy! It is never easy to lose such a good friend. We lost our Miniature Pinscher a few months ago. It didn't take us but a month or so to get another dog. It helps but nothing ever fills that void when you lose one you have loved for so long. My wife and I both said that we wouldn't get another dog for awhile after we lost the Min Pin. But one Saturday at the local farmers market a rescue had a booth set up and there was this cute little black dog...and the rest is history LOL!

181997

[edler7]

It's always hard to lose a good friend, whether they have 2 legs or 4.

I hope your path through this tough time is short.

[HABCAN]

The onliest 'reason' I don't have yet another BFF yellow Lab is that I'm too old to properly give the care and exercise responsibly required. Earnest condolences to all on your loss: BTDT. Thank You, Lord, for Rainbow Bridge.

[Ballistics in Scotland]

God spelled backward is DOG

That might sound irreverent, but shows something significant. Those are about the simplest monosyllables anybody can utter. Maybe God at the time was just somebody who required sacrifices, an impressive idol or keeping your fingers crossed while you lied. Maybe the dog was just a wolf that had learned following the hunters and helping with his sense of smell was better business than waiting for a child to visit the outside toilet at night. Both came very early in our evolution, and both have grown with us.

Human euthanasia is a whole other subject. There can be cases where it does good, and other cases where someone hates being a burden to his family, and needs to know it's because alternative arrangements are unthinkable. A dog doesn't know it is thinkable.

It is a good idea to get another dog when you feel you can be comfortable with it, though not to force yourself or listen to the well-intentioned sooner than that. A very different kind of dog can be a good idea in those circumstances, as indeed when you introduce a new dog into the family. A friend of mine worked on a long engineering contract in Istanbul, and brought home a monstrous post-pubescent mastiff. (The Turkish government bans the export of the pure-bred article, but I think one had conducted a misalliance.) He had two ¾-bred greyhound lurchers on the farm, one a female to excite jealousy (spayed, but it isn't all hormones with dogs), and both males were still in possession of the family jewels. They started out extremely hostile, but Merlin wouldn't have had a chance in a confined space and Yogi the Bear wouldn't have had a chance on open ground. So they had to work something out.

[Ithaca Gunner]

The onliest 'reason' I don't have yet another BFF yellow Lab is that I'm too old to properly give the care and exercise responsibly required. Earnest condolences to all on your loss: BTDT. Thank You, Lord, for Rainbow Bridge.

We, and our dogs are older and we will probably out-live them, but can't be without at least one dog. Our solution will be to adopt senior dog/dogs at the shelter. Often overlooked and often no adoption fee. We've lived with Collies, Bulldogs, Boxers, Golden Retrievers, Border Collies, Koolies, and mutts of almost every description, so we're not even picky. A former neighbor even had Pit Bulls that we loved having around. The wife would go over and get them to play with our dogs in the yard. They weren't well fed or taken care of and the male was an escape artist who would run up the road past our place. We'd see him and holler for him, he'd stop dead on the first yell and look around, the second brought him running full speed to our front porch for some food and water, and some petting. We weren't too sorry to see the neighbors move, but the dogs were welcome to stay...

[white eagle]

so very sorry for your loss
may you find peace

[Ballistics in Scotland]

We, and our dogs are older and we will probably out-live them, but can't be without at least one dog. Our solution will be to adopt senior dog/dogs at the shelter. Often overlooked and often no adoption fee. We've lived with Collies, Bulldogs, Boxers, Golden Retrievers, Border Collies, Koolies, and mutts of almost every description, so we're not even picky. A former neighbor even had Pit Bulls that we loved having around. The wife would go over and get them to play with our dogs in the yard. They weren't well fed or taken care of and the male was an escape artist who would run up the road past our place. We'd see him and holler for him, he'd stop dead on the first yell and look around, the second brought him running full speed to our front porch for some food and water, and some petting. We weren't too sorry to see the neighbors move, but the dogs were welcome to stay...

In Victorian times the English bulldog was a lighter, more agile dog which still had a pretty lethal temperament. Nowadays they are just amiable buffoons, not scared of much, but who love everybody. It is ironic that they have been well served by the breeders in the matter of temperament, but badly in physique, with a frog-shaped body, severe breathing problems and tendency to overweight. I worry every time our neighbour's plays with my Irish terrier, in case something happens, but fortunately he knows his limits after a minute or two.

They could have made pit bull terriers just as good on the score of temperament, if a few weren't bred and owned for fighting, and a lot more by propeller-heads who get their rocks off on their dog's supposed aggression.

[kenyerian]

182065 Here us my newest puppy . I still have his Grandfather who at the age of 14 is blind and very hard of hearing but still likes to chase a rabbit when he is exercising. What a great hunting companion he was. It looks like Junior is following in his footsteps.

[bensonwe]

I lost my dog Sam last July. I know how u feel and all I can do is say im sorry. Dogs are our best friends and so hard to see leave us.

[smokeywolf]

Getting another dog is not an effort or meant to replace your best friend but, there is a gap in your life that a new dog can fill. Timber is the one we got to fill that gap after Sammy 182087went on the Rainbow Bridge.

[shooterg]

Arrow could've been our Goldie's sibling ! Wife still won't let me get another. Understand the hurt - just got to think there's a place in Heaven for those special dogs.

[brstevns]

My Heart is broken for you and I have a lump in my throat. I know in my heart that the God Lord will have him waiting .
I am praying at this moment.

[9w1911]

So very sorry.

[Ithaca Gunner]

In Victorian times the English bulldog was a lighter, more agile dog which still had a pretty lethal temperament. Nowadays they are just amiable buffoons, not scared of much, but who love everybody. It is ironic that they have been well served by the breeders in the matter of temperament, but badly in physique, with a frog-shaped body, severe breathing problems and tendency to overweight. I worry every time our neighbour's plays with my Irish terrier, in case something happens, but fortunately he knows his limits after a minute or two.

They could have made pit bull terriers just as good on the score of temperament, if a few weren't bred and owned for fighting, and a lot more by propeller-heads who get their rocks off on their dog's supposed aggression.

I fully agree with you here. Our first English Bulldog was typical of the breed, the second was a mystery. That dog would go, and go, and go...to a point long after you would think a Bulldog would tire, then suddenly plop down wherever she was and rest, (usually right in front of myself or wife seemingly to trip us). One day she took a dive off the steps for some reason, landed about half way down, rolled and tumbled the rest of the way to the first floor, slid across the floor and crashed into the wall. I've no idea what that was about. She also lived almost twice the normal age for a Bulldog, over 14 years.

There was a time in America when the American Pit Bull Terrier was the dog of choice for families with children. "Petie" the dog in "The Little Rascals" series of shorts was just such a dog. It's a shame the "propeller heads" as you call them use them as a symbol of aggression and testosterone, teach them to be mean and aggressive. My personal experience with them is limited, but positive through the two who lived down the road, all they wanted in life was to be fed regularly and loved. They didn't listen much to the propeller head who owned them, but I never had a problem getting them to come and obey, but then we probably fed and cared for them more than their owner did. Can't stand to see a dog, kid, or old person neglected or abused.

[aspangler]

Prayers for you and tears for your loss.

[Ballistics in Scotland]

Your dog sounds a lot better in conformation than bulldogs have to be for showing in the UK. I think they are on the list airlines won't transport, because they can succumb to their obstructed air passages. There have been various attempts to get back to the original type, but they have to be classed as breeds of their own to be competitive, and then there aren't many competitions.

http://www.davidhancockondogs.com/archives/archive_494_585/566.html

But it isn't as bad as what has happened to the much smaller French bulldog, which is a very popular breed now, and is very expensive in the rare blue brindle colour. Most of their breeding requires both artificial insemination and Caesarian. The breeder of our Irish terrier runs a large and progressive veterinary practice, and she says litters of more than four never happen, but there are breeders who keep registering litters of eight or so. How does that happen? The Kennel Club, although it has been lax about show standards that verge on deformity, has a rather good scheme for certifying breeders. They aren't allowed to breed too many litters, too late in the mother's life. But they can get around that by transferring them, on paper, to a younger dog, which will assume the role of elderly mother later in life.

Lanty Hanlon is named after my grandfather's show Kerry Blue of the 1940s, whose blood runs in champions all around the world. I located some of his descendants too. But Kerries have various health problems - not serious, but the same health problems as he did, and I found odd hints that they might inherit his other failing, being a fighter of the lethal kind. (I think it was only with dogs, and perhaps only dogs looking for trouble.) So I came as close as I cared to with an Irish terrier, who is sublimely inoffensive unless you get dizzy easily. The Irish terrier's only inherited health issue was a hereditary painful hardening of the pads, and the association has got on top of that by mandatory DNA testing and forbidding the breeding of carrier with carrier. But there are a lot of far worse faults they can't breed out of the French bulldog and others, while the pedigree fakery goes on.

Aggression in pit bulls isn't purely a matter of education. In the UK there was a small subculture of illegal dogfighting, for which American pit bulls, bred for aggression over many generations, were imported. There were some dreadful incidents of apparently motiveless attacks on humans, often children, or on pets. A lot of dogs will fight, but when one gives up the winner loses interest, and those didn't. Eventually imports of American pit bulls were banned, and existing dogs had to be neutered and kept on private property or muzzled, just like a dog that actually has harmed anyone. But most of them were visually indistinguishable from the domestic Staffordshire bull terrier which is generally inoffensive. Of course two kinds of owner didn't comply - the ones who really wanted vicious dogs, often for fighting, and the ones who knew perfectly well that their pets, also American pit bulls, had nothing to do with the problem. Both serious dog attacks and dog-fighting are much diminished, but still happen.

Of course other dogs bite, and most incidents involve breeds thought of as inoffensive. The person who breeds exclusively to win canine beauty pageants has to let temperamental flaws go unchecked. A Rottweiler (and I've never actually met a bad one yet) gets into the papers for the same thing that gets a Jack Russell a kick and some uncanonical language.

[snuffy]

B in S, I too agree with you about how otherwise splendid breeds of dogs are ruined because of how "they should look" . Case in point, the Irish setter. A very good uplands game dog, and I even saw one in a duck marsh making retrieves. But that lush flowing red coat doomed them to show dogs and token fireplace adornments. Their brains and gaming instinct bred out of them.

The AKC also has ruined a lot of dogs. I saw a dog show where there was a German Shepard whose back legs were very short compared to his front legs. I commented on this to my buddy that is active in showing his Great Pyrenees dogs. He said that "the new look" they want to see for GS's. That poor dog probably couldn't jump very high with those legs.

I began the road back today stopping by the local no-kill humane shelter. I spent about a half hour looking at about 15 dogs., various breeds. Some of which I can't have in our mobile home community. A nice pit bull that I would love to have, another lab-pit mix that looks enough like a lab to get by the park rules. But he has an environmental allergy that requires 50 bucks a month for pills to stay comfortable. I really want and need a low maintenance dog.

[6bg6ga]

I for one know what you are feeling with the loss of your dog. I've been there a few times having to put down German Shepherds we have had in the past. The sorrow you feel in most cases can be more than what you might possibly feel for the loss of a person. There are no magic words to make you feel better. The only thing I can say is sometimes it helps to reflect on the good times you had. It seems to help to purchase another friend.

[Ballistics in Scotland]

B in S, I too agree with you about how otherwise splendid breeds of dogs are ruined because of how "they should look" . Case in point, the Irish setter. A very good uplands game dog, and I even saw one in a duck marsh making retrieves. But that lush flowing red coat doomed them to show dogs and token fireplace adornments. Their brains and gaming instinct bred out of them.

The AKC also has ruined a lot of dogs. I saw a dog show where there was a German Shepard whose back legs were very short compared to his front legs. I commented on this to my buddy that is active in showing his Great Pyrenees dogs. He said that "the new look" they want to see for GS's. That poor dog probably couldn't jump very high with those legs.

I began the road back today stopping by the local no-kill humane shelter. I spent about a half hour looking at about 15 dogs., various breeds. Some of which I can't have in our mobile home community. A nice pit bull that I would love to have, another lab-pit mix that looks enough like a lab to get by the park rules. But he has an environmental allergy that requires 50 bucks a month for pills to stay comfortable. I really want and need a low maintenance dog.

A friend bought a red setter from a working strain in Ireland as his deerstalking dog, and there couldn't have been a better dog for the purpose. She could tell a rifle from a shotgun the moment it came out of the cabinet. Another friend is on his eleventh German shepherd, and tells me they are a long way from breeding out the hip dysplasia they bred in by going for large size and that downward-sloping back. Possibly the saddest case of all was the King Charles spaniel, which often suffered agony with a little domed head which was too small for the brain.

A lot of the most undesirable traits aren't actually in the breed standard at all. Most of the standards specify activity, alertness, etc. (They don't mention normal intelligence, but neither do human job descriptions.) People just see what is winning, and try for more of it. A few years back a BBC documentary, "Pedigree Dogs Exposed" raised a storm of recriminations, denials and excuses. It has certainly produced some improvement, but it remains to be seen how much.

[Artful]

No words will express how I feel, but I feel your pain - being a pet owner is the greatest thing on earth, but also brings some of the most painful moments of your life. My sympathies to all the family.

[snuffy]

I may have a new puppy!!:mrgreen::) A local Golden Retriever breeder I contacted has a pup available. They're show dogs with great bloodlines way back. He will be registered with the AKC and several other organizations. Now to win their approval via the application. They're real careful about who gets one of their pups. Then to come up with 1500 bucks, that may be the cause of a couple of my guns disappearing from the safe!

You can't hug guns, they won't lick your face or make you laugh! An easy trade as far as I'm concerned.:-D

[toallmy]

The joy of time with a friend ,will in time help over come the pain of the loss I pray . Remember the good times fondly .