Quote:
Originally Posted by Captainzing  Reminds me of a story
A frail old man went to live with his son, daughter-in- law, and four-year old grandson. The old man’s hands trembled, his eyesight was blurred, and his step faltered. The family ate together at the table. But the elderly grandfather’ s shaky hands and failing sight made eating difficult. Peas rolled off his spoon onto the floor. When he grasped, the glass, milk spilled on the tablecloth.
The son and daughter-in- law became irritated with the mess. “We must do something about Grandfather, ” said the son. “I’ve had enough of his spilled milk, noisy eating, and food on the floor.” So the husband and wife set a small table in the corner. There, Grandfather ate alone while the rest of the family enjoyed dinner. Since Grandfather had broken a dish or two, his food was served in a wooden bowl. When the family glanced in Grandfather’ s direction, sometimes he had a tear in his eye as he sat alone. Still, the only words the couple had for him were sharp admonitions when he dropped a fork or spilled food. The four-year-old watched it all in silence.
One evening before supper, the father noticed his son playing with wood scraps on the floor. He asked the child sweetly, “What are you making?” Just as sweetly, the boy responded, “Oh, I am making a little bowl for you and Mama to eat your food in when I grow up.” The four-year-old smiled and went back to work. The words so struck the parents that they were speechless. Then tears started to stream down their cheeks. Though no word was spoken, both knew what must be done.
That evening the husband took Grandfather’ s hand and gently led him back to the family table. For the remainder of his days he ate every meal with the family. And for some reason, neither husband nor wife seemed to care any longer when a fork was dropped, milk spilled, or the tablecloth soiled |
Wow, thank you for sharing such a heart-felt story,
Captainzing. Such a sweet meaningful story.
My past Bibi had a heart condition at 8 years old and was on medication for the remainder of her life. I didn't realize small dogs live a longer life back then, so I thought she was going to leave us soon. So each day of every month, of every year, I cherished her time with us. As an ignorant dog owner, our family didn't know how to properly house train her either. There were many times when she had accidents, including in my bed. But we LOVED her so much. It hurts even when I think about her now after 5 years she's left us.
At 17 years, she lost mobility in her hind legs and could not stand or walk. I still remember that day she realized she couldn't stand up anymore. She was crying and begging me with her eyes to help her. I got her a brand new pink dog wheelchair. It took some time for her to get accustomed to it. Then, we all saw how happy she was again, running around in her wheelchair! It was the cutest thing! We put diapers on her because she could no longer potty on her own. She slept in my bed each night with her diaper on, and I comforted her each night and prayed that she'd be okay. Occasionally she'd wake up, forgetting that she couldn't stand up and would cry. She later became blind, lost her hearing, and became senile, but and ate/pooped/peed regularly. It wasn't until she turned 19 that we felt it was finally 'time' and she hadn't passed away naturally that we had to put her down.
Bibi had a very long and happy life. We did everything we possibly could for her and accepted all her flaws for what she was. When she left us, I didn't know such pain was possible. She was really more than family to us.
To
Sandyx7: I can imagine your frustration of land mines, it's definitely not fun. It's probably too late for house training now too, since she's an elderly dog with health issues. I would probably put a diaper on her and do what you can. If though, you find her existence to be a nuisance, which I cannot relate to, I'd suggest that you surrender her and hopefully find her a new home, if possible, before choosing to end her life. That would be sad. But not as sad as putting her down if she still has a decent quality of life.
To answer your original question, no one can really tell you whether it's okay to put your dog down because she has accidents and you're tired of cleaning up after her. Only you can decide that.