What does your old dog do??

[AnyDream]

I knew it was time to say good bye to our old girl when she wouldn't eat and hardly had anything to drink. The vets suspect that her liver/kidneys were failing in the end, she went down hill pretty fast (in the space of 3 weeks).

Yep, exactly the same with our gorgeous old girl, she was 14...nearly made it to 15. I was making a quilt one night, had it all spread out on the floor, and she walked over, layed down on the quilt and kinda sighed. I knew at that moment she was letting go and we lost her a week later.

It's quite normal for them to slow down...our girl still enjoyed fossicking around in the garden but other than that, didn't put a lot of effort into guarding or barking or running around for a few years before that. Older dogs can live comfortably for quite a long time at an elderly pace. I regret not taking Beags to the Vet more frequently in that last couple of years, in hindsight I think we could've put more effort into her diet and I think that would've made a difference in the end with her kidneys & liver. Even though it's painful to think about now, doing some planning around the end of your pets lives can pay off when the horrible day finally comes. Not that it need be soon...a friend's poodle kicked on for 20 years!

[Astrolady]

our 12 year old border collie x kelpie pretty much does the same. She will be 13 in August. She is starting to get cloudy in the eyes as well, so any little noise she hears at the front she will bark at. She still has her days though where she will charge around like she is a puppy again, but yeah the moment doesn't last to long.

She is to big for us to bury, so she will have to go to the vet if she passes at home. She currently has a large lump in her stomach. We took her to the vet, and they suspected it is just a large fatty thing. It has been 6mths since it was noticed and has not grown in size so they are not overly concerned about it.

[Turkish Delight]

I find that i'm checking on her a lot more too. To see if she is breathing. I'm giving her a lot more cuddles and kisses, just so that she knows that she is loved. Our younger dog is the dominant dog and she is always by my side and hence she is the one who gets most of the attention. I'm going up to my older dog now and giving her a pat and a cuddle,since she isn't making the effort.

For those doggies which have passed on, did you bury her/him in your backyard? Does it have a memorial stone or plant as such? Did you have to bury it deep?
I don't know, i'm sensing that she hasn't got much to live. Mummy intuition may be??

i'm going to cry. i can feel tears welling up.

[Astrolady]

Some of these posts have already made me cry TD. I know what you mean about the intuition. I also sometimes think that Kayla won't be here for much longer. She is sitting here at the moment staring at me, as if to say c'mon lets go. So must go follow old wise one LOL

[AnyDream]

We buried our old girl in the backyard of the house we lived in then. DH dug a very very deep hole, we wrapped her in her fave blanket, then filled the hole. Later we planted an apple tree on the spot (because we'd had an apple tree earlier but never ate any apples because she always got to them first LOL). I plan to have an apple tree in any future gardens...to remember her and any other pets we lose.

[Kazbah]

I have Rexie's ashes in a lovely box, his favourite collar around it and a photo of him as a gorgeous pup. It's one of the first things I pack in our evacuation box ....

The vet organised everything for us too.

[Tinks]

I've teared up reading these posts too.

We buried all our dogs in their favourite part of the garden. Our first dog is buried under the clothesline because she always pulled clothes off it. The 2nd dog is buried in the fernery (sp?) that he loved to play in and the ****er Spaniel is buried in the garden under the bedroom window. They're all buried at different houses.

You do have to bury them deep, (tmi warning here - highlight to read - don't read if you're squeemish) my sisters cat who is buried with the ****er Spaniel was dug up by an animal and we found him strewn across the yard. It's such a hard job to do. I didn't know you could have your pet cremated. That would be lovely, I wish I'd known.

[CharlieBrownGirl]

Kazbah,
That's how our set up is on the entertainment unit. The ashes, her collar, a photo and the lovely card and rose we got from the vets.

I've also kept some of her fur in a plastic bag for especially when I was studying. She was always beside me in the wee hours when I was writing essays.

I've picked a star in the sky (the brightest) and talk to her at night.

This is the note we got from Pets at Peace (the place we got her cremated at)

Through life's journey we took a ride,
The times you spent by my side,
You were always were there as my best friend,
But we knew one day, there would be an end,
Heavens doors are open, just walk through the gates,
In this Animal Kingdom sunshine awaits,
To a place you can run free, never grow old,
A world full of freedom, rivers of gold,
Towards the rainbow, you can play and run,
Or in the green fields, you relax in the sun,
Under the trees, just rest in the shade,
As this is the place, where dreams are made,
No pain or suffering exists in this place,
Only fields of endless happiness, butterflies you chase,
Beyond the hills, you lead your friends,
As my broken heart tries to mend,
When I light a candle, and whisper your name,
This shall become forever, an endless flame,
When you look down from pet heaven, see tears on my cheek,
Make me strong, day by day, week by week,
When I look amongst the stars for you,
I can see you shining in heaven, it's true,
Just wait for me, I'll see you one day,
But now my friend, just relax or play....

Author: Christian Mitchell

[Trillian]

We were just talking about this the other day. DH has a brown kelpie sheepdog who would be about 16-17yo and she has come really close to not making it a few times, but MIL gives her a dose of rawleighs tonic and it picks her up again. She doesn't live with us as she never got along with the Kelpie I have, who is a black kelpie sheepdog and they are bigger and tend to be more dominant personalities, so she stayed at the IL's. She hasn't 'worked' in the sheepyeards for about 2-3 years now because she just couldn't jump the fences and lost her speed so she wasn't able to move the sheep like she used to. She just sits around under the tree in the backyard or in her bed in the laundry now and to watch her move around really is like watching an old person walk, really crotchety and unsteady and you half expect her to just fall over because her balance is starting to go too. I honestly don't know what DH would do if the time came where it just got too much and she would have to be put down. He loves her dearly. My dog on the other hand is 11yo and she is slowly starting to show her age. She is greying around the muzzle and gets knocked up pretty quickly if she is working all day with the sheep but she still has a lot of life in her yet.

[CharlieBrownGirl]

For those doggies which have passed on, did you bury her/him in your backyard? Does it have a memorial stone or plant as such? Did you have to bury it deep?
I don't know, i'm sensing that she hasn't got much to live. Mummy intuition may be??

i'm going to cry. i can feel tears welling up.

TD,
We have our old girl ashes with us. The vets organised it for us. I think it was about $300 all up. She is always with us.

I hope you get to spend many more special moments with your 'baby'.