The end of an era

[willy]

Have two dogs now, yea they are a pain sometimes but for me as an adult I always had dogs that offered something more than just the companionship which in itself is wonderful.
I have had two dogs, well one in particular, a Standard Schnauzer, not the miniature, the original German version, who was the most fabulous watchdog for my home and my wife. Especially with me being at work for years at night with my shift work and often long hours.
God help anyone who would try to get to my wife and kids when I was not home, but would sit and play all day with adults or infants like a doting grandmother. His name was Smokey and he knew evil when he saw it and had the sword of Gabriel to deal with it, he was tested a couple of times.
A couple of years after when I got involved with the bird hunting I started with an English Springer Spaniel and the past eight years with my two Brittany's who are phenomenal hunting dogs.
They all contribute more than they receive so I don't see it the same way as some.
When they have left i felt it a lot.

[RWilson2526]

Hey dont get me wrong guys , I'm not some animal hatin' douche bag or anything which I think 6 dogs and 3 cats (all shelter dogs by the way) kind of proves but in the last 2 years we lost 2 dogs and 2 cats and unfortunately none of them went "elegantly" should we say....

One of the cats had diabetes for 10 years.....gave that cat insulin shots twice a day every day for 10 years....when we finally put him down the vet was utterly amazed and said she has never seen a cat go 10 more years with diabetes requiring insulin.... and just a brief mention of the last year or so with the cats for some reason when they got older they would hang their *** OUT of the litter box....that was a fun daily ritual.

When my favorite dog got towards the end 2 years ago he had some major digestive problems that none of the vets could figure out....only thing that worked even moderately well was boiling him chicken breast for dinner every night....cooked that dog boiled chicken breast every night for at least a year.....(could tell you what grocery store had chicken on sale at any given time) and you know what a dog does that has digestive problems and things arent right? lets just say its quite a mess and it was pretty much a daily routine of cleaning up after him as he could rarely make it out the door in time...

The beagle had tumors in his belly which were pushing on his bladder....had to keep him in a crate while at work which entailed washing his blanket and such every single day for about the last 6 months at least as well as dealing with his accidents in the house (thank god for hardwood floors)

I'm just burnt out a little about now....maybe I hold on to my animals a little longer than I should but if they arent in any pain or discomfort I could never bring my self to put them down. Throw a 7 year old boy and 3 year old girl in the mix ....a boy is equivalent to at least one dog and girl may be like 2 dogs!!

Its just been a tough 2 years.

[parishht]

Bittersweet, that is all I can say.

I have my sons Beagle, he could not keep him because of his wife's allergies, so the Beagle got shipped to me from Ca.
This dog (Bentley) is great, he does not howl like other beagles and he just loves to be around me and my wife.
When my son had brain surgery for an AVM, Bentley was his best companion and stuck by him making him feel better.
Last Christmas, Bentley started to hunch his back, so I took him to the vet
and it turned out he broke his back. The choices were emergency surgery or put him down.
I just could not bring myself to put him down especially with my son coming home for Christmas, what a holiday that would have been, welcome home and oh yeah I put your dog down.
So, Bentley is now my new boat engine, as that is how much his surgery was.
And to top it off Bentley is now crippled and has to wear diapers all the time.
Bentley can be a real pain at times, but his companionship and affection to me and my wife, offset the bad times.

[willy]

Parish and RW I understand, have had my share of care issues with them. Went without a few times in my life and yes, it is a relief sometimes.