Our 12 year old lab continues to decline and I've been contemplating it for awhile now but I think it may be time. Every morning I have to clean up after her, no matter how many times she gets left out. It's almost like she's went back into puppy mode. Getting into trash, tearing stuff up, laying in her own piss. I haven't told our kids yet but I think I may make the phone call today. Anyone have experience taking their dog to the vet to have them put to sleep?

Not a dog but I've had to have a cat put down. Regardless of the pet, it's a horrible decision to have to make. It's the humane thing to do but it kills you inside.

Incredibly hard. But you are being a good and responsible pet owner.

vdubb96;1669203 wrote:Our 12 year old lab continues to decline and I've been contemplating it for awhile now but I think it may be time. Every morning I have to clean up after her, no matter how many times she gets left out. It's almost like she's went back into puppy mode. Getting into trash, tearing stuff up, laying in her own piss. I haven't told our kids yet but I think I may make the phone call today. Anyone have experience taking their dog to the vet to have them put to sleep?

Had to do it twice with my bird hunting dogs. Its tough, but its the right thing to do!

Probably the hardest thing to ever do.

I'm really having a hard time making the phone call right now. I really didn't think it would be this difficult.

We’ve had 6 Golden Retrieve in our family over 43 years. In that time period I‘ve had to be the one to make the call three times to put down the family pet, two past away quickly in the night and two still living. It’s a difficult thing to do, but it is away the best for everyone in the end. I have a 12 year old Golden now that I fear I will have to make this call again soon. … Not easy but for the best

Make sure you make a plaster paw print or and ink paw print

Had to do it with my wifes dog. I hated that dog, and it was still one of the hardest things I've ever done. My in-laws just put all 3 of their dogs down last week.

I feel for you. It is a very difficult thing to do. Listen to that inner voice and it'll tell you when the time is right. Prolonging it thereafter is not in the best interest of your pet that's not what you ultimately want. The last pet dog I had to have put down was my little buddy and it took me a while to get over it. But with time, I am glad I didn't prolong it any longer than I did. He gave me a lot of gifts during his life. This was one thing I could do for him.

GoChiefs;1669222 wrote:My in-laws just put all 3 of their dogs down last week.

What the fuck!? Why?

Ours got hit by a car last winter. Didn't necessarily make the decision to put him down, but pretty much had to make the decision to NOT go further with anything, as he was on his last breath. As soon as the vet intubated him, he was out in minutes. Pretty tough, and my kids and wife still remember the little sucker. Hell, I don't know if he was even 8 months old. We have a fenced in back yard... he was just too skinny, and wiggled his way through a crack. Damn dog.

ernest_t_bass;1669247 wrote:What the fuck!? Why?

1 was 15 and the other 2 were 14. They were all blind and going deaf. Hard for them to move around, and constantly pissing and shitting everywhere. It really was their time.

Put ours down last year. Very hard. Still miss her. Don't think of it as mean or cruel. If the dog is suffering, it's your responsibility as an owner to do what's best.

friendfromlowry;1669279 wrote:Put ours down last year. Very hard. Still miss her. Don't think of it as mean or cruel. If the dog is suffering, it's your responsibility as an owner to do what's best.

Thats my only issue, she doesn't necessarily seem unhappy or suffering. She has just became extremely incontenent and almost regressing back to a puppy stage.

vdubb96;1669281 wrote:Thats my only issue, she doesn't necessarily seem unhappy or suffering. She has just became extremely incontenent and almost regressing back to a puppy stage.

Talk to your vet. That is the absolute first step.

Yeah ... Might be something they can do about the incontinence. But if you have to put them down be with them to the end, don't just hand them off to the vet.

HitsRus;1669306 wrote:Yeah ... Might be something they can do about the incontinence. But if you have to put them down be with them to the end, don't just hand them off to the vet.

Absolutely.

If you make the decision to do it, give her a "dream day." Let her sleep with you. Take her somewhere to let her run around or chase vermin, if that's something she'd enjoy. Feed her people food that you know she'll love, and let her eat as much as she wants. Give her a fun day to go out on, and make a few final memories for yourself. Take pictures.

It'll be such a hard thing to do, but while the memories will make you miss her, they'll also let you remember her on one of the greatest days she ever had.

But before you do, by all means, do talk to a vet. Had friends that almost put their dog down when he swallowed a bunch of carpet stitching and got sick, because they didn't know that it could be surgically removed from his digestive tract.

vdubb96;1669281 wrote:Thats my only issue, she doesn't necessarily seem unhappy or suffering. She has just became extremely incontenent and almost regressing back to a puppy stage.

My Mutt started have incontinence issues a few years back when she was 14. Her bladder would just leak out of nowhere. The Vet ended up putting her on a hormone pill and that took care of the issue.

I've had to do it twice. Cried like a girl both times.

vdubb96;1669281 wrote:Thats my only issue, she doesn't necessarily seem unhappy or suffering. She has just became extremely incontenent and almost regressing back to a puppy stage.

Could be something like a UTI amongst other suggestions on here. Glad you said that. IMO, sudden incontinence seems more like something's going wrong, not the dog is dying.

vdubb96;1669203 wrote:Our 12 year old lab continues to decline and I've been contemplating it for awhile now but I think it may be time. Every morning I have to clean up after her, no matter how many times she gets left out. It's almost like she's went back into puppy mode. Getting into trash, tearing stuff up, laying in her own piss. I haven't told our kids yet but I think I may make the phone call today. Anyone have experience taking their dog to the vet to have them put to sleep?

Hate to hear this. Had to put our Irish setter down a while back and it was not an easy thing to do.

My thoughts are with you. I have no doubt that I will be inconsolable when the time comes with my dog. He is the little love of my life. I bawled like a baby a couple months ago when he had his first ever "medical scare". He ended up being fine 10 minutes later and I was still a wreck.

And I also agree re: talking to vet about the incontinence. One of our Labs was the same way and was put on medication to help.

She's had the bladder issue for quite awhile now, she's just losing so much weight. Her appetite hasn't changed but she almost is looking anorexic. Just talked to the kids about, so at least their prepared if we do have to do it.

If she's drinking a lot of water, this is classic diabetes.