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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsI just put my dog to sleep today!
I'm beside myself sad.
It was the worst, most horrible thing I've ever had to do!
My GSD Echo was with me for 10 years.
I adopted her from a shelter when she was 2, so she was 12 now.
She had so many issues. I worked with her so long to make her get over them.
She was my best friend, my companion.....
And today I had to send her off.... I feel horrible, sad, empty!
A very bad day!
![](du4img/smicon-reply-new.gif)
Brainstormy
(2,384 posts)It's a very hard part of our relationship with our furry friends. In time the pain will begin to be replaced by happy memories. In the meantime, hang in, and take comfort in the long time you had together.
The Velveteen Ocelot
(116,576 posts)It's so hard but it's what we have to do sometimes, if they're unwell and can't enjoy life any more. You did the right thing.
irisblue
(33,149 posts)I am so sorry
For the bad English and typing...
I'm still crying....
I keep seeing her face as I said goodbye
mahina
(17,929 posts)![](/emoticons/pals.gif)
rainy
(6,109 posts)My little sister had to do the same yesterday. Im hoping lots of sweet memories will bring you some comfort❤️
TomSlick
(11,230 posts)You know it's the right thing and it still hurts.
I have decided that the joy of having a dog justifies the pain of the shortness of their lives. The thought of life without a dog is unbearable. If that means we must grieve their passing, there is no other real option.
CanonRay
(14,255 posts)I raised her from an 8 week old pup.
I know you understand too...
lunatica
(53,410 posts)![](/emoticons/hug.gif)
tblue37
(65,778 posts)lucca18
(1,256 posts)You gave your dear dog Echo, patience and love.💕💕
dewsgirl
(14,961 posts)about her.😢 I am so sorry for your loss.
QualTest
(84 posts)I'll be thinking and living with her shadow for a long time!
Newest Reality
(12,712 posts)I am so sorry you lost your friend.
Feel what you need to in this time of loss and don't hold back, okay? Those feelings are part of the experience and they will abate as you go through the grieving.
Remember, too, that your loss is based on ten years of companionship and love. You will remember that and be thankful for the time and experiences most of all and it will be clear that even though everything ends, you were so fortunate to have her in your live and vica versa! The real loss would have been to not have that.
Be Well! I know that feeling.
madaboutharry
(40,284 posts)I know how hard it is to say goodbye. I hope you stayed while they put her down, I think they need us there at the end.
Sometimes we have to let them go, because we love them.
FM123
(10,059 posts)I too have been where you are and it is painful beyond words. Sending you a heartfelt hug during this very difficult time.
Raftergirl
(1,294 posts)Sadly, we outlive our pets so must go through this many times in our lifetime.
Im sure in your heart you know it was time. I think our pets know when its time, too.
QualTest
(84 posts)I appreciate all your words!
I think I did the right thing...
Doesn't make me feel any better though.
Thanks....
About her.....
I do feel better about the decision...
Initech
(100,384 posts)It is the worst feeling in the world but you will get over it and remember the good times.
QualTest
(84 posts)I keep looking for her, and expecting her to be where she usually is!
After 10 years, we' were like this married couple!
Initech
(100,384 posts)Had her for 14 years. Just so weird now without her.
Beringia
(4,328 posts)tavernier
(12,516 posts)![](/emoticons/cry.gif)
Stinky The Clown
(67,924 posts)The price for the love of a dog is paid on the day we hold them and say our last goodbye.
We've been through this too many times. We've always been a multiple dog family. Young ones and elderly ones. Each loved. Each missed. Each passing cripplingly sad. Fond memories that ultimately push away the sadness.
Echo is now over the Rainbow Bridge where I know our many missing family members will be there to meet and welcome her.
We have the collar and tags of each of our dogs displayed in our foyer. They are quietly hanging from the edge of a large mirror, low key and not always noticed . . . . except by us. Every time we come or go.
QualTest
(84 posts)I have all her dog license's They are going to be my memoriam of her...
lunasun
(21,646 posts)time together .
onecaliberal
(33,385 posts)gademocrat7
(10,739 posts)Ohiogal
(32,539 posts)on the loss of your best friend. Been there and I know how you feel.
Zoonart
(12,037 posts)I have faced this many times and it never gets easier.
She will always love in your heart.
pnwmom
(109,061 posts)You and she were lucky to have each other for these ten years -- so much love.
Heartstrings
(7,349 posts)gristy
(10,675 posts)I'm so sorry.
NewDayOranges
(695 posts)SMILE because it happened.
I hope you will soon be able to remember your sweet Echo without tears... 💔
Drahthaardogs
(6,843 posts)Do not feel horrible. Grieve but be proud you did this for her!
I have been a dogman for forty five years. I have trained, loved, hunted, delivered puppies, and held many as they took their last breath.
This is the price you pay for their love and companionship. You are a good owner!
Tikki
(14,586 posts)![](/emoticons/grouphug.gif)
Please know that she knew your love.
Tikki
FoxNewsSucks
(10,488 posts)it's the only bad thing about dogs and cats, having to outlive them.
nolabear
(42,061 posts)Ive done it several times. They were all my darlings, one in particular. I could only comfort myself by knowing they were deeply loved, and when they just couldnt go on, were loved out of this life. They taught me so much.
Im so sorry you lost your companion. But Im very glad you had one another. ❤️
I think we were both happier for having had each other....
That's very true.
That helps a lot...
leftieNanner
(15,267 posts)Lost our fourth Shepherd in October. Riley was sweet, smart, and handsome. I'm so sorry for the loss of Echo. They are such special beings.
QualTest
(84 posts)Echo was actually my 2nd GSD... I think they are very special!
It used to be that the issue was hip dysplasia, but now I've lost 2
to some strange spinal MS?
Their spine and nerves lose cohesion much like human MS....
This is not good!!
Are you aware of this?
leftieNanner
(15,267 posts)Gigi had it. Riley was heading in that direction. He ultimately had internal bleeding and cancer. It's not the hips, but the back. Very debilitating.
RainCaster
(11,042 posts)We are on our 4th GSD, Greta. Each has lived a long full life knowing love and family. She's only 7 now, I don't want to think about goodbyes yet.
Eventually, you will be able to remember Echo without tears, and soon after that, a smile. For now, all that pain of saying goodbye is the price of admission. She must have been a wonderful companion if it hurts so bad.
Echo was actually my 2nd GSD... I think they are very special!
It used to be that the issue was hip dysplasia, but now I've lost 2
to some strange spinal MS?
Their spine and nerves lose cohesion much like human MS....
This is not good!!
Are you aware of this?
RainCaster
(11,042 posts)Greta has something called "sabaceous adinitis" that is an autoimmune thing that kills all her sabaceous glands, leaving her with almost no hair. Otherwise, she's perfectly healthy.
The animal skin specialist told me it's a condition that happens to GSDs more than other breeds.
orangecrush
(19,889 posts)![](/emoticons/candle.gif)
tiredtoo
(2,949 posts)Put my dog down about 2 weeks ago. 13 years of love only a dog can give you. I looked him in the eyes as he was dying. Gently sobbing as he left me. The vet asked me if i wanted to stay here a bit with the dog. Every time i look at him tears came. I told her "No, i have to get out of here.
I still talk to him every day.
Sorry for your loss.
I did exactly the same this morning....
The Vet asked, Do you want to be here for the sedation? The Final Solution?
I said exactly the same thing.. NO, I need to get out of here!
I looked into her eyes and said "You're a good girl, Goodbye my sweet pea, I love you"!
and ran...
OMG!
Gothmog
(147,301 posts)It is hard to say goodbye to a member of your family
lame54
(35,482 posts)dware
(12,729 posts)Our pets do become our best friends, and children and it is devastating when we have let them go.
I have a chihuahua as my trucking buddy and I know I'll be beside myself when it's time for him to leave this earth.
Big hug for you and I hope you can find peace soon.
vercetti2021
(10,167 posts)You did the best
catbyte
(34,703 posts)The only time they are ever capable of breaking our hearts is when it's time for them to leave us. It sounds like she lived her best life with you, and as devastating as it is at this moment you performed the ultimate act of love.
Again, I'm so, so sorry.
jmbar2
(5,028 posts)I remember well the pain you are experiencing. I hadn't realized, until I had to put my dog down, how many routine interactions we had each day, from the morning greeting, to bedtime. For the next few weeks, you will be acutely aware that she's gone during those little moments of absence during the day.
Allow yourself to grieve during those times and feel gratitude that she was in your life for so long. Feel comforted knowing that your loving face was the last thing she saw. May we all be able to pass in such a loving way.
Dogs just make us better people.
I'm already doing my routine as if she were here.
10 years of companionship, can't be lost so easily!
I will miss her for a very long time.
GETPLANING
(846 posts)I have put two down in the last five years, both Boston Terriers. Best damned dogs ever bred. I held them both while they went into the good night, cried like a baby, too. But it is our duty to care for them, and we did.
I knew it was time, but you really don't want to go there.
Never want to do that again.
whopis01
(3,555 posts)Im sure your pup had a great life. Take comfort in that
Raine
(30,565 posts)they're family and it's so hard to lose them.
phylny
(8,412 posts)I know you have her the best life.
Laura PourMeADrink
(42,770 posts)I cried forever. Larry was 12 too. Sounds lunatic but I would go outside and look at clouds. It's just amazing how you'll be able to see clouds that look like her. It made me feel better anyway.
PoindexterOglethorpe
(25,985 posts)Our four legged furry friends can be the very best thing.
You gave her a good life. That's what's important.
Karadeniz
(22,831 posts)And kidney problems. She'd been lackluster since T day, but Sunday night she began dripping blood from the mouth. Monday morning the bedroom floor looked like an axe murder had occurred. Wall to wall blood. I really felt like she'd probably lost a tooth. The vet thinks that's what happened and at her age and health, she's going in for teeth cleaning Friday the 13th...I tried to get a different day! Like I told the vet, after intensive care by me for over a year, it's hard to let them go...his job, I told him, was to find a way to get past this hiccup. Hope he can!
Deepest sympathy on your loss. Don't dwell on the loss. Be thankful for the years you had. ❤
Niagara
(8,000 posts)It's heartbreaking having to our furry family members put to sleep. It's also heartbreaking when they have personality changes from suffering unbearable pain. I've been there, it's awful!
radical noodle
(8,047 posts)That's the toughest thing in the world to do. We owe it to them to let them go, but we grieve so about doing it.
Last week I lost my beloved cat. I'd had her for 20 years and I had to make that same decision. It's gut-wrenching but the kindest thing.
Hugs to you, QualTest.
TeamPooka
(24,454 posts)MarianJack
(10,237 posts)I still mourn.
RESIST!
StarryNite
(9,555 posts)You are not alone. We had to make that decision for one of our dogs last August. I still cry for her. At some point I hope the pain will ease for us.
Greg K
(599 posts)I know how you feel - we lost our beloved 14yo Goldendoodle back in March, and an amazing feline friend last week on black Friday, to cancer.
It's heartbreaking to lose them, and not at all easy to make that decision.
Demovictory9
(32,624 posts)![](/emoticons/sad.gif)
cate94
(2,829 posts)Its heartbreaking to lose our fur babies.
Stonepounder
(4,033 posts)absolutely the hardest thing that a pet owner has to do, even if it is the most loving as well. We had to let our Bosley go in August and I still find myself starting to pull out his food dish at meal times, and then getting a lump in my throat.
What I have always is that one of our fur babies leave us, they take a piece of our heart with them. But as time passes we discover that even though they took that piece of our heart, they left a piece of theirs with us.
You have a perfect right to mourn. In time you will be able to remember the good times and the fun times.
Sending comforting through and waves of sympathy your way.
chia
(2,245 posts)BigmanPigman
(51,811 posts)my first dog died at home right before her 15th birthday. I skipped Christmas that year (10 days later). Her ghost was here for about a week. I felt her move under my bed, against my bed, at the closet door, etc. I heard her chain at these places too. Since then I have learned that a few friends had the same experience.
My baby now is 16 1/2 and every single night I wonder if this will be my last day with her. I think she is hanging in there just for me since my dad died suddenly 8 months ago. Until then my dog's death is the worst thing I have ever experienced in my life, nothing comes close.
I dread the day when I wake up and she is no longer here. I am crying just thinking about you and feel empathy for your loss. Please take care of yourself!
Initech
(100,384 posts)Even my recent loss, it does not get any easier.
My dog was 16 and the last month has been so hard. I do have a dog now so it's helped but still, having a dog like that for so long and now not anymore has been extremely difficult.
BigmanPigman
(51,811 posts)which will numb me but not fill the empty space in my heart or home. My health sucks and I will not get another baby since it wouldn't be fair to leave her. Dogs are as emotionally attached to us as we are to them. I am grateful that I will last long enough to be able to take care of her like she has taken care of me all these years.
I am leaving most of my assets to the Humane Society and the Morris Animal Shelter in Phila. I was a foster parent to dogs while in college and lived across the street. It is the oldest animal shelter in the US (1874).
https://www.morrisanimalrefuge.org/
emmaverybo
(8,146 posts)child, I can never find the words. It was everything to her that you were there as she passed out of this world, to maybe somewhere beautiful, with love. The cost to you is immeasurable. You have taken it all on yourself as we do, as we must. The only solace is that she had a life of love and passed with it. If we do things right, this is what we dogive that final loving moment that costs us endless sorrow. Thank you for your sacrifice. She is at peace and had a passing we, many of us, can only dream of.
I do believe our loves remain in soul and watch us, wanting eventual peace for us too.
Just as your love for her will never die, so her concern for you. In these dark hours, may you find her. She is looking over from another place and wanting your comfort. She will be helping you.
Maru Kitteh
(28,373 posts)in our hearts.
greytdemocrat
(3,299 posts)Been through it many times and
it is never easy.
Collimator
(1,643 posts)My heart goes out to you. It was in October 1994 that my recently-divorced ex and I had to put our little girl down. It was the last intimate thing we ever did together.
I am grateful to the vet who looked at her when we brought her in for the second time in two days and said, "It's time." That gave us the assurance of knowing that we had done the right thing.
When I returned to the house where I was staying, one of my roommates asked how my trip home went and then held me while I wailed like a banshee for a good ten minutes.
Our little girl had a good life and we gave her a peaceful end. That is what I hold onto.
To BigmanPigman--I don't know how many days it was after she was gone when she came back to say goodbye. I was drifting between levels of sleep in my bed when I felt her presence. She was stretched between my legs with her head on my stomach.
As an aspiring rationalist, I can imagine that there are all sorts of neurological reasons for the sensations that I felt. But I still believe it was her offering me comfort even as I had offered it to her when she left this world.
Prosper
(761 posts)and brother to his sister was suddenly unexpectedly taken from us on August the 3rd by congenital heart failure. Worst tragedy in our lives. Two weeks shy of 8 years old. The two had never been apart and never out of sight their entire lives. She had a couple bad weeks but is doing okay now. Just find some comfort in knowing she had you to take care of her. Its not fair that such innocence and devotion and friendship is taken away.
mahina
(17,929 posts)Of closest friendship.
Would you like to share stories about Echo or pictures?
Hearts are with you. Some of us believe we will be reunited. Im one.
Aloha no. Wishing you hearts ease soon.
Right now all I see are her eyes as I said good-bye....
Just killing me!
But, maybe this will help.. Echo in better times...
I'll see if I can share...
Either I'm too stupid, or un-priv'd to share photos...
I tried...
QualTest
(84 posts)My Echo was just an integral part of my life for the last 10 years.
I got her from a local shelter when she was "about" 2 years old.
They said she was a "breeder" from a puppy mill....
She didn't like men much, chased her own tail out of nervousness,
bit strangers because she was fearful....
It took me years to make her feel at home, loved, comfortable, safe....
After about 5 she was happy here and was happy to be with me. She always
followed me everywhere. I would say that if I stopped short.. I'd have a tail
coming out of my ass! LOL!
That's the part that is already making me crazy! Every time I move I am always looking for her.
Because I always know, she's right behind me.... Not so much anymore.
My Ex-wife never liked her much, always said she had "no light in her eyes".. I was more upset
today about losing Echo after 10 years than my ex-wife after 10 years... Tells you something..
OK, enough stories for now....
duforsure
(11,885 posts)We lost ours and had to put her to sleep 4 years ago today, and after a year we got a little female Bichon, and she's like a child to us. The lost never goes away , and it takes time.
malaise
(270,647 posts)I cried for a month and just thinking about it brings tears to my eyes.
mountain grammy
(26,776 posts)Im so sorry for your loss. You must remember you did right by your friend. Thats what gets us through.
Bayard
(22,583 posts)I've also lost many unexpectedly, where there is no time to say goodbye. It never gets any easier.
Our little graveyard has greatly expanded here on our farm over the past 5 years.....dogs, cats, goats, horses, donkeys, and various species of fowl. Every time I walk past, I say--I see you. It means, your life mattered. You meant so much to me, and I still love you dearly. It makes me feel a little better.
So, say--I see you, Echo. Your life will always be intertwined with mine.
Bettie
(16,231 posts)we lost our 14 year old girl a couple of years ago. She was a good girl.
I had to take in a young cat today. FIV, I couldn't save her. It's so hard, knowing that they trust us so much and sometimes we can't do anything about it.
Leith
(7,830 posts)![](/emoticons/grouphug.gif)
Maraya1969
(22,693 posts)OhNo-Really
(3,985 posts){{{{hugs}}}}
I pretend my best friend & I will run through fields of grass, flowers & butterflies 🦋 in Heaven.
smirkymonkey
(63,221 posts)Losing a dog is just heartbreaking. My condolences.
mcar
(42,676 posts)She was 11 but quite lively and healthy. Went downhill fast - vet thought cancer.
She died at home on her favorite blanket near us.
It was hard. I still get melancholy about it, but I'm glad she didn't suffer long.
You were there for her and gave her a good life, after what sounds like a bad start. She must have loved you with all her doggy heart!