Following on from sawheaties post about planning for the day we have to accept is our beloved dogs last day this is something people do which I am not sure I would do myself but just look at those lovely oldies faces heartbreaking :-(

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2510103/Beautiful-heart-breaking-pictures-terminally-ill-elderly-pets-final-embrace-loving-owners-just-die.html

What a beatiful article, so sad but lovely at the same time.

Thanks for sharing.

h

They were beautiful.
I wouldn't mind doing that. Whether I could ever look at the photos, I don't know... but there is something very special about them, such a perfect moment.

It is the fifth picture of the Lab looking into the chaps eyes , it was the exact look my wonderful Moose gave me when I said yes to my vet to give her the injection :-(

Tissues please:-( . Those pictures show the simple love between dogs and their people that even death doesnt diminish. I wouldnt have the strength to face doing it yet I know the pictures would be precious to me in later years.

I wouldn't want it myself. It's not how I want to remember. I don't want to remember the old and frail and ill and almost at the end time, I want to remember the good times, when everything was perfect. Ever since my very first dog I have often taken one last photo of a special animal on the very last day. I hate those photos, every one of them, and I never look at them. I have them for one reason only: to have a record of the difference. The photos really shows when the time has come, that look in the eyes.

yes tissues for me as well.

Sheila xx

I agree Marianne, I do the same as you and have a photo of my pet the day they go, mainly so I can remind myself in moments of doubt, that they were ready to go.
But I'd prefer to remember them young and full of life.

> I wouldn't want it myself. It's not how I want to remember

Me too :( We're taking loads of photos of Bramble while he is happy and healthy - each day is special. I'll not be taking any photos of him when he is not - I'd never want to look at them, so why take them ? :( Remember the good times :)

This started my morning off with tears. After my post about Ed we had a couple of restless nights and I thought it might be time to go but now we have had some really good times.

The replies to my post and this article  proves that what suits one person does not suit another because whilst some of those pictures were endearing I would not want to do this for us but it obviously gives others comfort so there is no definite "right" or "wrong" way to act.

Give them all an extra special hug this morning :)

That's why I never took any pictures of my Harry when he was so bad that we decided we had to end it for him. Although I will always torture myself with 'what ifs' and pictures of his suffering would make me remember that there was no option, I would hate to see him like that again. I'd rather stayed in my mind as my happy bouncy boy, not my cripple.

It's odd how we view our dogs during their lives. I had always felt that my last dog was the 'youngster' as there were two of them for much of their lives and she was the younger, so even as she aged, I still saw her as a young looking dog. I guess she did have an air of youth about her as I kept her slim throughout and consequently she was a lively soul despite a heart problem in latter years. One thing about lighter coloured retrievers is that they don't show the whiteness around their muzzles as darker coloured dogs do. People were always surprised when I told them her age as they all way thought she was much younger, even a puppy which I did think a bit unlikely, but there you go. So I have, in my mind, a young dog still. I found a picture the other day which I took last year when she was fourteen and although she is still looking bright eyed I realised that my memory is faulty and she was quite old looking, this has been made even more apparent as we have a six month old retriever in the house who really is young. On balance I do prefer to keep those memories of my young healthy and lively dogs rather then the old ladies they became. Of course I am still young and gorgeous as I was in my twenties. :-) (yeah right)

I have to admit making a video with Mars my first girl who went to the bridge with me on the floor talking to her about how icy she had brought to our lives and how much we loved her a few days before we had planning her journey.

I have never watched it but needed to do it as it was yet another way of making 'peace ' and saying good bye

> am not sure I would do myself

I couldn't.
It seems so inappropriate to take a photo because of imminent death :( :(

> It seems so inappropriate to take a photo because of imminent death :-( :-(

I can't see anyone posting photos of their human loved ones on their deathbed :( Seems a bit obscene really posting such photos even if it is a dog :(

There was a guy who recorded his wife's battle with cancer in a series of photographs.

Have to say I found it very moving, but guess we are all different.

I wonder if they are more poignant to others looking in than to the actual subject themselves, (not sure that makes sense but I know what I mean).  It hits at something very personal with me, and makes me remember loved dogs past.

h

They are beautiful photos that show the love between pet and owner.
Personally, i would rather look back at the photos of my pets when they were healthy and full of life but each to their own.x

I saw this the husband photographer,  it made me very sad. I dont even want to think about any of these leaving my side. Pickle my youngest dogue is still the baby girl and shes 5 soon. But I still think id want one last photo of us together.  But taken by me or my oh not by some stranger who id not fully express my grief when in there presence.

>I agree Marianne, I do the same as you and have a photo of my pet the day they go, mainly so I can remind myself in moments of doubt, that they were ready to go.

I took a picture of my boy who I found in the garden, my friend said it was morbid, and I've only looked at it 2 or 3 times in the more than 3 years since he died, but just occasionally I want to remind myself of the proof that he was lying quietly and had clearly died quite suddenly and peacefully, and there was no evidence that he had been in pain as he went.

I don't mind having photos of my older dogs as they are still healthy and happy, though my 11 year old has a lot of white on his face these days. But I don't think I'd want too many of them when they really started to fail.