A close friend of mine has 2 dogs, a very old one, and a very young one (like myself...dogs that is).

It appears that the older dog needs to be p.t.s for health reasons, she wants the vet to come to her home to do this ; However she's unsure as to what to do with the younger dog; who has always knowen the older one. Does she leave the youngster in the house while the 'procedure' is carried out, or get someone to look after her for a while. Also what would be the best way to deal with any pining from the young dog, who's bound to feel lonely. Do they realise that their chum has 'gone to rainbow bridge' ?

liberty

When I've had to do this is the past, the other dogs have waited in the living room while the vet and I 'did the deed' with the old one in her bed in the kitchen where she was comfy.

Both times I've done this the vet has then taken the oldie away without the others seeing the body - I've been told that it is a good idea to let the rest see that the old one has gone, but I find it too distressing anyway.

They certainly look for the missing one for several weeks - they only have to hear the name mentioned and they look around to see where she is (which breaks my heart all over again :( )

I personally believe that it helps the dogs to get over the loss by letting them see the oldie when they are gone. Somehow they accept it better and get over it quicker. Dogs are very good at accepting death, far better than we are.

We have done this in the past and found it works very well, but when we lost (as in really lost) our Herbie 2 years ago, they were distraught for weeks afterwards.

It is quite a difficult thing to do because you are devastated yourself at the time, but to be honest having the others to hang on to whilst the other one is going to the bridge helps me to.

We let the other two girls stay in the conservatory whilst our vet put Mars our oldie to sleep last August. He made sure we were OK before he left very quietly and without any fuss. We then let the other two in and sat next to her whilst the two came and said their goodbyes. ( I am crying whilst writing this !) It was a lovely and peaceful way for her to go and what we felt was the best way for the other two to say their goodbyes. We then took her to be cremated and her ashes buried. We wanted to be with her on her last journey.

We went back home soon afterwards and tried to keep as much normality as possible for the girls so that they couldn't sense that we were so devasted which was very hard and don't think I succeeded for the first couple of days. They were both fine and gave me so much comfort, but I am not sure what it would have been like if there was only one left, hence why we got another before we had to say goodbye to Mars. I think that it is best not to give the one left too much fuss and attention, as in more than it normally gets, otherwise they will sense that something is wrong. They do grieve so just keep an eye out to make sure that they are sleeping and eating OK and I am sure it the young one will be fine. Are they going to get another at all ?

It was funny clearing out a cupbord we found one of the old beds Mars used to love lying on and the girls went bonkers sniffing it ! They must have remembered her smell ! I wonder what went through their minds ??

Lucy

I know this is slightly different but when one of our cats was knocked down on the road outside the house, we took him into the back garden and laid him on the grass to allow our other two cats to visit him, see he was gone and they seemed to cope okay with his going. Although it was very upsetting to see them trying to wake him up, they seemed to realise that he was no longer with us and eventually just walked away.

Grace

Lucy,
" i am crying whilst writing this."
I'm crying too!! :-(
I can't bear the thought of having to go through having a dog pts. It must be the worst thing in the world.
Lucy

I've shed a few tears reading these posts too :(
I do appreciate those who've shared their special moments, as although this post was for a friend (no plans to replace the old dog), as my situation is very similar, I will remember the advice posted, just in case.

liberty

well what can i say after lost two dogs with in two weeks of each in april,harley and rush were pts at the vets beacuse both were rush in,again i keep the routine going in the house,nomal time for walks,feeding ect,at the time we had a litter so wispa who was very close to the boys had her mine on her babys,but the first week she was different,the other were ok,to just keep the rountine the same for the ones that are left,it me that misses the boys last night i had a email from usa, they just read about the boys and it just hit me again i was busy with the litter too now that they have gone to their new homes,i hit me more this week than the time when they went,just got to think of the good times we had together.

Lucy

It is a very hard thing to do but at the end of the day the kindest thing you can do for you dog to make sure they are not suffering. It is perhaps the last bit of love you can show for your loved one.

Oh gosh I am starting to cry again ! Too many pregnancy hormones !

Lucy
xx