When to put my dog to sleep?

Your heart already knows the answer. It is time. It will be kinder for both you and your dog to have this done at your caring vet's office rather than a sterile emergency clinic on Christmas day where you know no one and your dog will be at even more unease.

I'm sorry, it hurts regardless what day it is. You have my deepest condolences. Know you are giving a beloved friend the final gift you can bestow--a gentle, painless crossing over.

I am so sad to hear that you are going through this during the holidays. It is a hard thing to do but putting the dog down at this point is probably the most responsible thing to do. As you said he is 14 and it will only get worse. The decision to put a dog down or not is truly one of the most important and heart wrenching decisions we can make about the care of our animals. I hope this does not ruin your Holiday season.

One thing that helps me is the thought that when i finally die all of my dogs will be there saying "about dang time you showed up lets go play".

Jessica that is absolutely one of the worst things I have ever heard. A leg I can see getting healed an neck??? You just literally put that poor animal through a ton of suffering to spare your own feelings. I hope you learn to be a more responsible owner.

Here is a good tribute I found:

May I Go Now?

May I go now?

Do you think the time is right?

May I say goodbye to pain filled days

and endless lonely nights?

I've lived my life and done my best,

an example tried to be.

So can I take that step beyond

and set my spirit free?

I didn't want to go at first,

I fought with all my might.

But something seems to draw me now

to a warm and loving light.

I want to go

I really do.

It's difficult to stay.

But I will try as best I can

to live just one more day.

To give you time to care for me

and share your love and fears.

I know you're sad and afraid,

because I see your tears.

I'll not be far,

I promise that, and hope you'll always know

that my spirit will be close to you

wherever you may go.

Thank you so for loving me.

You know I love you too,

that's why it's hard to say goodbye

and end this life with you.

So hold me now just one more time

and let me hear you say,

because you care so much for me,

you'll let me go today.

I am so sorry you are going through this right now. I can say we just had to put down our family pet right before thanksgiving who was so dear to our hearts, so i feel your pain. This is not an easy situation and always a hard decision to make. My dog had a heart murmur and fluid was filling his lungs, i will spare you with details but it got to the point where we knew he was better off going to a place with no pain where he is happy rather than him suffering. In my opinion you need to do what is best for your loved dog and what makes him feel better. I garuntee you he will be in such a better place pain free and so happy, that is how you have to look at it to make you feel better. i completely understand it is the hardest thing in the world to do but their sanity and happiness is what is most important. Keeping him as a happy healthy dog in your mind who went pain free or as close to it as possible is what got me through it. This is such a hard time and my heart goes out to you. If you do this tomorrow spend Christmas remembering the good times with your dog. Get a lot of pictures out of him during the good happy times. Once again I am so sorry about your dog and I hope you have a Christmas surrounded by a lot of family during this hard time.

I had to deal with the same thing just recently, and am starting to cry just thinking about it.

I had to put my collie down just recently. He was abused and had severe epilepsy, not the whole slobbering on the floor kind, his just looked like he was sleeping, but he was spending more time having seizures than not.

The hard part was I had just recently gotten married and moved, and we had opted to let him stay where he was at my mom's instead of subjecting my poor old guy have to deal with the stress of a new place, and the 13 hour drive to the new place in a crowded moving truck. So he was at my mom's, 13 hours away, when I had to make the decision to put him down. I never even got to say goodbye to him...

You have the luxury to say goodbye and hold him. Even though it's the holiday season, would you want your baby to see his last holiday in pain? I didn't. Even though it meant I never got to say goodbye, and it still hurts to this day.

But he doesn't hurt anymore, and to me that was the best Christmas present I could have had, knowing he wasn't hurting anymore.

You have to make the decision for your pet, not your family...

I wish I could find some tissues.....

ADDITIONAL COMMENT & IMHO: MAYBE AWARDING 10 POINTS (even by voters) for an answer here could seem crass. This exchange turned out to be a wonderful example of people who share a love of their pets trying to reach out to another person going thru what we all knew, prob from personal experience, to be a sad & difficult moment in your life. I'm sure your darling Herb didn't wonder what you were doing, he was just happy for as long as he was w you. You have a generous heart & your friend & companion knew that you would look out for him until the end. That's all he wanted. Now he would want you to spend your time smiling and enjoying your many memories of him, not second guessing yourself---hey, that's taking away time fr happy thoughts of Herb. My dogs and I will take extra time for our walk in memory of you & yours. <3<3<3

You seem like such a kind person. I've had doxies since 1991, right now my oldest will soon turn 16---I understand what you are going thru. Fortunately my girl is still doing okay but I definitely see some decline in her health. With my others (all rescues), when it came time to make this decision to euthanize I didn't find it that difficult because they had given me so much pleasure that I felt duty bound to give them as peaceful an ending as I could. Some may find that cold hearted but we all make the best decisions we can and just because it's difficult for me to say goodbye doesn't mean I should keep any of my dear pets lingering in pain. Doing the right thing for your dog is also doing the right thing for you. Even tho I don't know you, I wish I had some way to make this easier but all of us who adore & respect our pets go thru this. Your family shouldn't put you or your pet in this position, they already know this is hard and they should be supporting whatever you think is best. You know the right thing to do. I'll be sending warm thoughts your way.

I was crying when I read this =`( I love dogs I had to do the same thing when my dog Stanley got ran over by a car, I know this is hard and I hope you make it through this and bless you, if it really needed and he is really bad pain than I would do it tommorow, if he does not seem to be have very much pain wait, he might be getting better. I hope he gets better =`( Good Luck <3

A lot of this is going to depend on what you can find the strength inside yourself to do. I think inside you know that putting him down is the kindest gift you can give to him this holiday season. It's the gift of no more suffering. And who knows...maybe pets do go somewhere when they die. So maybe after you put him down, his spirit would still be aware, maybe even smile down on you. The possibility keeps me going.

Whenever you and your family muster up the courage to take him to be put to sleep, make sure before he drifts off into eternal slumber, you all love on him and remind him how much he means to all of you. Then the last thing he will ever remember on this earth will be love.

And don't be afraid to cry. If your vet has any heart or any sense they know that sometimes you just gotta cry.

I could only tell you what I would likely do. I'd want to do what you want to, but I'd call in relatives that are wanting the dog to stay until after Christmas and tell them my feelings about it and why. I'd have a hard time to go through with it if they really wanted the dog there for the weekend and wanted to say their goodbyes and maybe they are thinking he isn't sick, just old and weakening because the last time they saw him he seemed normal other than problems with bladder and bowel control. That is why I would talk to them first. So sorry you are going through this with your dog and it is hard saying goodbye.

I'm so very, very sorry this is happening to you, especially right at Christmas.

I understand how hard it is to let him go, but your daughter and husband need to put the dog first, not their feelings. This dog is suffering. He's in pain, doesn't seem to have any quality of life yet and the best gift you could give HIM is to let him go.

The best christmas gift you could probably give him is to let him go. Talk to your family about it being the best thing for the dog, hes in pain and not enjoying life anymore. It would be selfish to drag it out anymore. I hope this helps you.