Please Help Old Age - Page 1

 My German Shepherd is going to be 17 years old this spring.  He has degenerative nerve damage in his back end.  He can no longer stand on his own.  For about a year now, I have to carry him outside to go to the bathroom and hold him up while he pees or poops.  He has always slept at the foot of my bed, so now I have to carry him up and down the stairs.  Although it is a lot of work, I would continue to do it for a s long as necessary because I love him so much.  The problem is now the the nerve damage is affecting his bladder and he urinates where he is laying about 5 times a day.  I make a bed of towels and blankets, so that the urine does not get into the carpet, but it is a lot of work doing 5 or so loads of laundry a day.  He is not in any pain or suffering otherwise I would have done the unspeakable brought him to his resting place where I would join him hopefully many years from now.  Not only is he not in pain, but he eats well and drinks well and gets extremely excited (wagging his tail, barking) any time I walk in the house.  I live in New Jersey and it is very cold and snowy outside here.  If it was spring or summer i could put him outside in the front yard during the day.  He loves it out there and is perfectly happy being out there all day long.  

I don't know what to do?  If he was in pain I would do what is right for him, but he is not in any pain.  If anyone would have any suggestions as to how I can make life a little easier for us all it would be GREATLY appreciated.  My wife and I had our first child two months ago and my wish was for Cody (our dog) to make it until then so that I could get a few pictures with entire family.  I got my wish.

Thank you in advance for any suggestions.

Keith

 Keith,

It sounds like you love your dog very much and you have cared well for him. Everyone makes their own choices about when it is time to say goodbye. If your dog is not in pain and IF you are inclined to continue doing all you do, then you might want to look into a cart that can support his hind end. This assumes he is strong enough in his front to stand. It also assumes his quality of life is what it should be. And it assumes he really is not in discomfort. Sometimes it can be very difficult to know how a dog actually feels. And now you must also be very certain to carefully wash the dog or it is going to get urine scalding and infection. 

I know my choice would be to have said goodbye by now because I don't think a dog that cannot move has much quality of life. But that is my opinion. I suggest you look into a cart, but also talk to your family and vet. Sometimes the most kind thing is to set the dog free of these kinds of infirmities. But only you can make a choice for your dog in your situation. If you need help locating a cart manufacturer, ask here and some of us can help. I should tell you that they are not cheap.

Let me say this in closing.....No one loves their dogs more than do I. I have a female who is a beautiful female and only 7 years old. She has an aggressive mammary tumor. I could put her through a lot of surgery and chemo and other treatment, perhaps to get a few months more out of her life. But I won't do this because I think the quality of her life will be greatly diminished. So this week, I will put her down and say goodbye to her as painful as it will be for me. I will most certainly cry, just as I am doing now as I write this. But it is the right thing to do. I will remember her forever and I will always be glad that I was fortunate enough to have her. Of course, I will always have dogs as long as I can afford it, and am physically capable of doing so. At the time I can no longer care for myself, I would certainly wish to be relieved of this life. But that is just how I think about such subjects. 

Good luck in your difficult decision.

 I have been through an identical situation with very old dogs twice. Twice. The first time the dog lost control of his bowels and would not allow me to clean him. He could no long stand up and though he was not overweight, I could not carry 87 pounds. I was forced to put him down.

The second time my dog reached the stage where she could not stand up any more. We chose a room on our ground floor. Bought hospital bed foam mats to less the bedsores. Covered the mats in sheets and chaned them twice a day. She seemed to be in no pain, enjoyed eating and being petted. So we did not put her down. As a precaution, because many dogs are stoic about pain, I had the vet prescribe a low level pain killer that I gave her daily just in case and to insure she was comfortable. Had she been in pain that we could hear or see, of course, we would have acted differently. Our dog died in our midst of a stoke suddenly. It was tough to watch, she was gone in 15 seconds, but it was better than having to put her down...

Obviously, your dog does not have long. Less than 1% live so long. You simply want to make your dog as comfortable as possible. Try and keep your baby aware from the oldster. What an old dog wants is peace and quiet.

 Keith,

You have had the privelage of having a good loyal friend with you for a long , long time. You have great memories of him with you, and now with your family. You now face a difficult decision. I know as I had to face the same decision a couple of weeks ago.  My opinion is let him go with dignity, put him down in the comfort of your house with you by his side. He would want it thiis way , that I'm sure.  Good Luck. Peace be with you and your familty at this difficult time.

Frank

Keith:

It is so difficult to watch them age and to decide when is the right time.  I went thru this about 3 years ago with my first GSD Reno.  She was not quite 14 and became unstable on her back legs at about 13.  The last 6 months of her life I comfined her to the lower level of my house and made a bed as well.  She also started urinating on herself and would sometimes lose her bowels.  She was still eating and seemed to be in no pain, however I also had pain meds prescribed just in case.  I struggled way to long about when to put her down.  One afternoon I came home and found she has passed away while I was out.  To this day I regret not putting her to sleep and being there with her when she died. 

I also wish you luck in your difficult decision.  We have all been there and it is never an easy one.

Cheryl

Keith,
Same scenerio with one we had for 14 years. She knew my wife and I so well you knew what she was thinking and she knew what we were thinking. We had to make the same decission. As bad as it hurts we had her put down. She always was in the house and slept by the bed. All of our kids have been gone for years so she was always just the 3 of us in the home. It hurts like heck, but in time her memory gets stronger and she will never really be gone. I'm sorry man.
Hank

Crap, I'm bawling as I type this. We had to put our first GSD down over a year ago. The decision to put her down was extreamly painful for me. I'll never have another dog like her, ever. But in the end I may have kept her around a bit to long for my own selfish reasons. Do what's right for you dog, not what's right for you. If your dog had a voice what would he say you should do?

The advise you have been given is sound. It is so very hard to let go of those we love, but know that your good dog will be free of infirmity & whole again. You can be there for him, & hold him. If he is like mine was, he'll be comforting you until the very end. Until you come to that place, you could use Depends or even a doggie diaper (they are made for girls or boys with the absorbent stuff in the appropriate areas) to lessen the mess, but you'll have to be very careful to keep him clean so he doesn't get sore from the urine, that can happen very quickly.
Prayers to you & your family as you ponder such painful choices, just always keep what Cody would want first & foremost in your heart, & you'll be sure to do right by your dog. Best wishes, jackie harris

You did an awesome job maintaining your dog's dignity with carrying him around.
As your vet probably told you, this would be a reason to put him down, but you decide if you want to do that or not.
There are carts for dogs to support your dogs hips (dogkarts.com) and there are dog diapers (disposible at Petsmart or washables online - you google "dog diapers").