How do you deal with an 'on the way out' pet?

Since 2008 I’ve had to put down 5 dogs. The first one was the wife’s dog about 9 months after we married. She was 16 years old and it was time. It nearly killed my wife. We had the vet come out and we did it right here, in the house. Annie was on her bed and I was laying down with here and telling her all the good things about here and how important she was to us.

She passed quietly and without pain. We buried her in the back are and after that I swore I’d never do that again. All the other dogs knew something was up when I was digging the hole. They knew something bad was coming. And I have to see her every day out there. I won’t do that again.

Next up was Chester, a special needs dog. We adopted him out of the Humane Society. He had been abused, neglected and had hip dysplasia and he suffered from seizures from the abuse. When I took one look at that dog and how ad he’d had it, I called the wife and said I’m bringing this dog home. And I did. He had a rap sheet as long as my arm, and it was all crapola. He was a fine dog.

When it was time for him, I made the HUGE mistake of making an appointment at the vet’s office. I will never do that again either. As is usual, I lost it and I didn’t like that in public. We had Chester cremated and his ashes are on my nightstand.

We adopted Sofie from the same Humane Society. She was a special needs dog too. A little tom boy Schnauzer that wanted to be a big male dog. Same thing with her. The vet came out here. Two easy shots and she just fell asleep in my arms. We had her cremated too. Her ashes are on my nightstand.

Then the Wednesday before thanksgiving 2015 I had to put down my number 1 dog ever. She was my ride or die road dog. A German Shepard that was dumped by some asshole. She was a spectacular dog. She went everywhere I went except to work. If I had to work late I’d run home, take her for a quick walk and then head back to work with her for a couple of hours. In 2013 she got cancer and I paid the 1500 bucks for the surgery. It saved her for almost 2 years. It came back with a vengeance. The vet and I discussed a second surgery and I was going to go for it. The issue was it had to be done at Washington State University. And it would take 12-15 days. When I told my vet the biggest issue was going to be the hotel and food costs to stay with her up there. And my vet said you can’t see her when she’s up there. And I said I’m not leaving my dog alone like that for 2 weeks and not see her. So that ended that.

The vet came out and right here on the living room floor, on her bed we did the 2 shot program and she literally went to sleep in my arms. She was cremated and is on the nightstand.

Buddy was next. I found him one Sunday morning on the way to a motocross race. He was sitting along side the road and it looked like he already crossed that busy road and he had nowhere else to go except back across that road. As I slowed down I could see he was a bit bloody so I figured he’d been hit by a car. So I pulled my dumb *** over, went and met him. He was a big, sweet dog. He’d been dumbed because he was covered in ticks and was a bit bloody. He followed me almost all the way to my truck, but he didn’t really want to go. So I went over and told him he was a good boy. Then I picked him up and put him in the truck. When I got to the track I called the wife and had her come pick him up and take him home.

We took him to the vet the next day. He wasn’t quite a year old and he had been shot with a shotgun. Someone tried to kill him or scare him. Either way, the vet removed what shot she could and we brought him home. That dog was a ball chasing fool. He lived to play ball. In 2019 when it was his time he got the same. Vet came out and then he was cremated. He sits on my son’s nightstand.

Up next is Rocky. He has Cushing’s, which caused him to be diabetic. He gets two insulin shots a day. Late last month we found out his little kidneys are shutting down. So now, every other day he gets an infusion to help his kidneys. The vet said he might make it 4 months. Maybe 8nat the most.

It will be the same for him. He will be taken care of here at the house with 2 shots and cremated.

After all that I can say I don’t remember what we paid for each dog but my wife says the most was 120 bucks. That included the house call and the drugs. I think the most we paid to have them cremated was 150 for the bigger dogs.

The only way I can put one down is with the shots. It’s clean, quick and painless. And I can’t bury another dog. I’d rather pay for the cremation.

It’s a tough, personal decision. Sometimes there is no clear, right answer. You can only do the best you can do.

A good vet is worth their weight in gold.