Thats cool.

After viewing all these pictures, it makes ma feel sad for these dogs who are put to sleep. It brings me some tears. My 6 years old yellow lab Hughey, I got him from PAWS (assistance dog) due my deafness and he has cancer in his head and it is inoperable. I will have to put him to sleep on Oct 10th. It is very, very difficult decision I have to make. I do not want to do it but have to do it. I wish for him not to suffer with pains any longer. He never left my side when I went in for right eye surgery and my mom took care of him for me. I will do the same thing in return when he will be put to sleep. He never been on my boat but he LOVES playing in the water. I will order a big rock in loving memory of him and place by the beach at my parents' cottage house where he loves to play in the water.
I am still very, very hurt as he's my best friend.
Any advise is much appreciated, my email is [email protected]

Thanks,
Chris

My heart goes out to you my friend . Just know he will be waiting for you on the other side . LOVE IS ETERNAL

Chris,

He will always be with you, bro. I promise you one thing, as hard as it was to put my Boxer to sleep nearly three years ago, I take pride that I was by his side just as he was for me. Very much the same as what you have experienced yourself. Enjoy every last moment with him. Take pictures. Go for a walk. Spoil him and share with him the same love and compassion he allotted you these past few years. Memories carry forward and he'll always be there for you.

Put my best friend down 2 days ago. 14 1/2 yr old chocolate lab that life had finally caught up with.
As you describe of your buddy, mine never left my side either.Had him when I had nothing and had him while in some very dark times. Only reason I had to go home (at all) was I knew he was depending on me.
I made plans to have him cremated so I could scatter his ashes on his/our favorite island/beach as I did his brother before him.
I found out that my vet uses a cremation service out of the area that would pick him up and bring him back when completed. A week or more. I really had a tough time thinking of my little boy in the back of a truck with who knows what and how many, driven by some one making minimum wage who likely could care less, and then a return trip of same.
I found a local place instead.
Day of the deed, I drove him to our vet w/him laying in the back of the Blazer. My vet came out and took care of it right in the Blazer. I laid with him during.
Local cremation facility does pick up and delivery as well but being that this is/was my boy...., I made an appointment and carried him in in my arms. Couldn't handle the idea of someone else taking care of him.
The facility was right by my wifes office and she brought his ashes home tonight. I was blown away with what they did.
They made a nose print and paw prints on a page for me and kept a lock of his hair as well. Last 2 days have sucked bad and when Cheryl brought him home tonight......., well at least he's home.
Sorry for the drama but I thought some of the info might help with what you are preparing for.
Gary

I have been spoiling him for last 2 months. Took him out for a walk, took him out for a ride in my saturn vue, and let him sleep on my bed. My friend will come over this weekend to get pictures of me and my dog before his final day.

Cancer sucks...I mean it...I never thought it would happen to my dog!

That was beautiful story. I am unsure what to do with his body. I already spent $5,000 on medicines, x ray, blood draw, ultasound, and worse of all is cat scan. I have no money left as I already have airline ticket to Florida on the 16th. I just dont know what to do with his body!!!!
Hope you get a new dog too. I never had lab before until I got him and Labs are amazing!!!! very intelligent dog.....I begged the lord to get him home instead of putting him to sleep.

Chris

Gary,

Sorry for your loss, I feel for you and Cheryl. Labs of all "flavors" from my experience are great Dogs and even better "Best Friends".

Chris,

I am so sorry to hear of your situation, please give Hughey a scratch behind the ears from all of us. I will be thinking of both of you on the 10th and let the good times the 2 of you shared together give you the strength to get through this. I promise you that in time the good times you shared will cause the pain to fade away slowly and you will be left with the good times.

Even though it was back in 2004 when I lost my last "Pal" Hardee..yes like the fast food place, which is where I found him starving as a tiny puppy on a cold winter day... I still think of him all the time. He was 15+ when we had him put to sleep and he had been with me through so much of my life..funny, I went through 2 wives and married my current while I had him, he was my "constant" in life in those days.

The last months with him was heart breaking as he had severe Alzheimer's and was suffering from kidney failure. My wife was literally his nurse even getting up all hours of the night to take care of him. After holding on to him too long, honestly out of pure selfishness, my wife and I finally got to the point we could let go...or at least could admit that it was "time".

Luckily for us our Vet had over the years gotten so attached to him (and us) that she said when the time came she would come to our home to put him to sleep in the peacefulness and privacy of our own back yard. When we finally got up the nerve to make the call my stomach was in knots and I wasn't sure I could follow through with it...but my wife and I drew strength from each other and kept telling each other it was the right thing to do.

So the Vet arrives, we go to our back yard and all sit around the patio table with Hardee in my arms as we all talked about many of the good times with him, she was fantastic, no rushing, no pushing and let us take our time...it seemed much longer, but it was at least 30+ minutes she sat with us. Finally I got up the nerve and looked her in the eye and without a word she discreetly reached over as I held him and gave him the injection. At the time it honestly felt like I was the one getting it....in 30 seconds or less(seemed like minutes) I felt him go limp as his breathing ceased....the Vet saw it too and after a few minutes reached over with her stethoscope to check for a heartbeat and looked up at me with tears in her eyes.

I lost it...so did my wife...and I was holding him tightly in my arms and squeezing him over and over for a minute or so...... and my wife saw it first...his nose started twitching and he started breathing again!!

The 3 of us froze in shock..and I think the Vet most of all. We were speechless and all the doubts of if we were doing the right thing flooded back in my wife and I, and we finally verbalized that....we were distraught in that moment. The Vet checked and verified his heart was beating again. I think my wife said it first, but we were both thinking it, something about the damage that surely could have been done now and that we probably had no choice but to continue...but, but.. was it a sign we had done the wrong thing??

The Vet was honestly and visibly shook up(she later told us in her 25 years as a vet this had never happened to her as she apologized over and over), but confirmed it was best to give him another injection and she would double the dosage....she did and injected him again...we waited as the minutes ticked by (seemed like hours)...no change, his heart and breathing was still strong.

The previous doubts we had were now magnified many times. The Vet was beyond bewilderment...after more discussion she decided to open another "bottle" and could only guess the first one was defective or something. The second dosage she had used was for a 120lb dog, Hardee was only 35lbs at this time...but this time she gave him 3 separate injections of the larger dosage..out of respect for others here I won't say where these injections go, but I watched her inject him in various places all in that area.....we waited....and waited...it seemed even longer this time, but after a couple of minutes as she continuously listened to his heart, we both could feel his breathing slow down and finally after a few more minutes it stopped, she confirmed the same for his heart.

The waves of emotion came again...BUT this time there was a twist... in with all that sadness was some happy thoughts...we were all pretty thinking it at the same time...but our Vet said it first..."You know that was the old stubborn Hardee coming back to say goodbye one last time".....you see, in his day, Hardee was STUBBORN, he was sweet as heck and a wonderful best friend, but in his own way he was stubborn as a mule sometimes....my wife and I knew it, the Vet certainly knew it as he used to drive her nuts with his stubbornness during visits....BUT, with all of his illnesses in the previous years, we hadn't seen that part of him and we had all forgotten....he just had to remind us one more time...and even though this whole situation was truly heartbreaking...we laughed as we cried...all 3 of us. It now seemed "right" and all previous doubts were erased, we were all at peace in our decision.

After our Vet excused herself a while later, my wife and I laid Hardee in his "Final Bed" (that I had built for him earlier that week as he watched me, talk about a tough thing to do) with all of his toys and favorite blankets and stuff. We had his "bed" on a little wagon and slowly pulled him across the back yard and up to the other end of our property to his previously dug grave site. The crazy thing is our 3 outside cats(he had basically raised them, as much as a dog could) followed right along behind us,..they knew. It was not planned but it was like a literal funeral procession and seemed fitting. The cats stayed with us and sat there as we sealed and wrapped up his "bed" and placed him in his final resting place.

As you can see in this picture below, my wife had already made his Marker using some Cedar we had and a soldering iron for the inscription on the Marker, along with his favorite "Frisbee Ring". We also planted a Dogwood tree at the head of his grave in the woods. It still booms every year at the first of May to mark the anniversary of his passing,(although it is much bigger than in this pic).....His grave, the Marker and Hardee's favorite Frisbee you see in this pic are still there today, 8 and a half years later.





Sorry for the long winded story...but you guys touched me and reminded me of all of this and I felt compelled to share with you.

All my best to you AND your "Best Friends", past and present...oh, and future too.

Dave

Wow......... what a story....... not an easy read first thing in the morning.......... So sorry for your loss.......

78cig24,

Holy smoke....what a story! It made me tears little. You knew that Hardee is very, very bond with you that's why Hardee refused to let it go. I feel the same thing for my dog hughey..I live in an apt. My dad says, it's totally up to me. My mom felt that my dog should be cremated with other dogs so he won't feel being alone.
It is very difficult decision about what to do with his body....Should let him cremate with other dogs? Or I keep his ash? Or They give back ash and I will scatter at Lake Huron where he loves to play on the beach and the water?? Decisions, decisions.......

Chris