Scrappy
 

My dog is 16yrs. old sleeps all day. Sometimes he cannot get up his back side his legs will not hold him. When he eats its mostly chicken. He has a liver problem but his stool is ok. He is blind and cannot see too well. I question how do I know when to put him down. He pees in the kitchen on towels. My husband does not want to In 30yrs since we moved to Arkansas from Chicago we have put down 6 dogs but this one is special. How do you know if he is in pain, I need some advice Lorry

I am so sorry. A few years ago, my 17 year old maltese was blind, had no bladder control and just laid in her bed all day with no joy, we knew the time was coming but could not seem to know what is the "time". My girlfriend, a lifelong dog lover, helped us make the decision when the time came. She visited and said, sometimes, we have to give our pets a voice when they no longer have one. It was not easy. I hope you find peace when it is time. hugs.

I had breeders tell me, when I had the same gut wrenching question, "she will let you know"....I never could imagine how that would work, then I experienced it....I could see it in her precious sight dimmed eyes,she looked at me and peacefully "told" me, "momma, it is time....I can not go anymore"..... My heart broke that minute, and it is still broken....and it has been several years.....I cry now as I tell this. My precious baby girl was almost 17 years old, our little Matriarch....she is the one that continued to look for my mother after momma passed, Aija looked for momma, easily for 3 years .....

I am so sad for all of you and you will know when the time comes but it does not help much

I'm so incredibly sorry you're having to go through this, it's heartbreaking. Look inside your heart and into the eyes of your baby, and you'll know when the time is right.

I had the hardest time parting with my previous 19 yr old family dog. I still remember the day I was playing with her in our living room and she suddenly 'lost' her hind legs - she tried and tried to stand up but couldn't and she was crying and so sad about it. She cried in my bed for nights, realizing she couldn't stand up to turn around. However, besides the paralyses of her hind legs, and blindness, she was still energetic, still eating, still pooping and peeing normally. I got her a doggy wheelchair and she managed to keep on...I oftentimes think that maybe we should have let her go earlier. But we really weren't ready. My mom was also very much attached to her and she especially wasn't ready to let her go.

Finally at 19 yrs, we all agreed it was time for her to go. It was the hardest thing I've ever had to go through. Even though I'd already mentally prepared myself that it was time for her to go when she lost her hind legs a year or so before, it was still so hard when the day finally came.

Sorry for my sob story...
Our furbabies are just such a large part of our lives in both time and meaning, they never ever leave our hearts. It took me a few years to get passed the sadness. But it's life and she's now in doggy heaven. Best wishes to you to come to terms with yourself and with Scrappy to know when the right time is.