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!