I have an old labrador who's nearly 15, and to me, seems to have little quality of life.  She is practically deaf, going blind and showing signs of dementia.  Although still eating, she has lost so much weight off her back end, and her back legs have very little strength in them.  Quite often she falls over.  She still gets outside to 'do her business' but stands in what she's done.
I look at her sometimes and she looks so confused and pitiful it's sad.  She no longer goes out for walks and very rarely wants fuss anymore.  I think if it was up to me I may consider having her pts but the problem is that she is my husbands dog and he just says nothing when I mention the subject.   What would you do?

Why don't you take her to the vet (just tell hubby she's got the runs or something) and see what he says.

Good luck, Sarah :)

Mygirl,
We took her to the vet in December, and the first thing he did was give her a booster.  When I told her how she was, and I thought she also seemed confused, he did say that dogs can get a form of alhzeimers and we could try her on tablets which would have a 50/50 chance of making a difference.  He also said we could do blood tests which would give a clearer indication of how her kidneys and liver were.  He never mentioned having her pts although he did say she had a slow heartbeat.  As she's an old dog my husband decided not to try the medication.  He seems to want to leave her and wait for her to go on her own.  But I think this is not fair on her, and maybe he should remember her how she used to be.

Sarah, only you can make a decision about what is best for your dog because you live with her & are therefore the best person to judge whether she is still happy with her quality of life or not. I'm getting the feeling that probably you think that her quality of life has deteriorated to an extent where she is not happy & you are are looking on here for reassurance?
This happened to us with our last Labrador at the age of 15 we agonised over the hardest decision of our lives but we know now that it was the correct one.
It's really, really tough but only you can decide when enough is enough & you have to go with your gut feeling on these things. Sorry if this is not helping much but only you will knowthe right decision to make.
Whatever you decide, I (and many others on here) know what you are going through & wish you well. :)

Fablab,
thanks for your message.  You're right - I do want reassurance and I know that if she was my dog I could not watch her deteriorate anymore.  Last Saturday we actually thought she was coming to the end as her breathing was laboured all day and she barely moved, and had to be practically forced to eat.  The hardest thing, though, is persuading my husband to let her go.
sarah

:(

Very sorry to hear about your furbaby :( These descisions are never easy to make ever :(

She'll let you know when she's ready. My feelings would be that if she's not in pain or suffering, then let her carry on. :) Sounds like she's still got the fight left in her yet, fingers crossed you get many more happy days with her :D

I really do know how you feel.  I had my boy pts in November and it was the most difficult decision I ever had to make, particularly as my partner and I did not see eye to eye on the subject at all but in the end I couldn't bear to see him suffer (he'd been very ill for a couple of months) and after a couple of particularly bad days I took him to the vet myself for his final view on the matter and when the vet told me that if it was his dog he would not hesitate in having him pts I rang my partner from the vets and he agreed that if I decided he should be pts then that is what I should do and he wouldn't ever bring it up as a 'weapon'.  Looking back I think my partner was pleased that I took the decision in the end because he just didn't want to, and I think he was very relieved that I had taken a stance.  I know that if he hadn't been behind me in my decision he would have DEMANDED that I return back home with my boy.  Maybe your hubby wants someone else to shoulder the responsibility?  Maybe he is just sticking his head in the sand, it is, after all, a very difficult decision to make.  My heart goes out to you and your hubby.