Old Dogs - classic or dud

rip kenny and condolences, suzy. he was a most beautiful dog, i'm glad he had a long and lovely life and that his death was peaceful.

My mum just texted me to tell me she's taken her 15 yr old labrador Murphy to the vet and he isn't coming back. He was a great dog and did well to get to 15 as labs' life expectancy is around 12, but he's had arthritis for a couple of years (alleviated by swimming therapy but you could tell he was still having the odd bad day) so it's for the best.

Kinda unexpectedly cut up about it tbh, I'd left home about 8 years before she got him so it's not like he was a beloved childhood pet.

"as labs' life expectancy is around 12"
My lab is now 8 and is still athletic enough to jump over the gate, but the idea that he might be in a bad condition in 4 years is quite depressing.

My parents' Basset Hound was just diagnosed with pancreatitis last week. Everyone's crossing their fingers it's only temporary and not chronic, because chronic is bad fucking news.

Kenny spent a year on pancreatitis meds and Royal Canin food as a potential 'chronic' case but after about a year, he showed no symptoms. All of this happened when he was 16, and was very expensive. Basically your folks must never give their guy people-food snacks ever again (exception: unseasoned poached chicken breast) in addition to keeping him on the special food and the pills.

It's Carl's birthday again! I don't honestly know if he's 13 or 14 but he is 100% old.

our little dog harry, aged 15, died last week after falling suddenly very ill. he was a wonderful little dog and we loved him with all of our hearts. we think we have never cried so much in our lives, but having him for all those years was was worth this grief. rip little man, you were the best.

i'm sorry, estela. if there's a doggy heaven i'm sure that harry is romping around in it right now.

thank you karl

My condolences, Estela <3

<3

<3 thank you suzy and darragh

i'm sorry to hear about harry
the time we have with dogs is so short and their love is so true
hope you are coping alright!

sorry estela - rip harry <3

Indeed, very much adding to the sympathies. Sounds like a lovely guy.

Friends here in the city just lost their dog as well; she suddenly started to fade, and they made the decision after a couple of days when it was clear there was no coming back. They adopted her when she was nine or so, so they knew the years would be shorter. I met her a couple of time -- she was a sweetheart.

I met a dude this weekend who was wearing a baby diaper around his waist because he's 17 and just can't hold in the pee like he used to. He was roaming the grounds in the middle of a first grader's birthday party like he couldn't care less, just all into whatever smells and affection he could find along the way. Screaming 6 year olds with plastic swords were no worry for him, he'd seen it all. Much love to Harry. Here is one of the better sentences that some Wikipedia person wrote:

Dogs are domesticated descendants of wolves and have a significant impact and role in human lives.

my friends rescued an elderly terrier named Hampton a couple of months ago.

poor dude was almost hairless from malnutrition when they got him so he has to wear a jacket to go out in the sun.
about a month ago he had bad dental problems stemming from the prev. malnourishment & poor Hampton had to have all his teeth removed. his little tongue pokes out the side of his mouth now.
two weeks ago an ulcer formed on his eye & he now has to have surgery to get his eye completely removed.

i feel so bad for the poor little man. he's so cute & his new parents love him so much.

i love ppl who care for these lovely aging pooches. yall are a+ ppl

RIP Harry. Sounds like you had a great life with people who loved you. All dogs should be so lucky.

My two male dogs are thirteen this year, and we are really feeling the difference in our house. On the plus side, I no longer have to get up at 6:30 on the dot to stop them tearing the house apart - they'll happily sleep in till 8:30 or even later. On the minus side, a walk that used to take twenty minutes now takes at least twice that long. Not so much a walk, more of a detailed forensic examination of the neighbourhood.

<3 thank you La Lechera and VG and ned and tomboto and trishyb, i really appreciate your kind words. it's been a very sad time but we are getting through it. there is comfort in knowing harry had a happy life. he was a clever and cheerful wee darling and it was our great pleasure to care for him. and although it was horrible for us to lose him so suddenly, it's much better for him that he was enjoying life right up to the last day.

i've always loved all the old dogs on this thread, they are such wonderful animals. i hope hampton fares very well with his new family<3

My dog is only 3 but has hip problems that we recently learned about. So this sounds verrry familiar:

Oops

On the minus side, a walk that used to take twenty minutes now takes at least twice that long. Not so much a walk, more of a detailed forensic examination of the neighbourhood.

<3 estela

thank you ross.

i'm so sorry your dog has hip problems, karl.

our walks were also getting slower--there would be very lengthy sniffed deliberations about whether or not a particular leaf or twig or bush was spray-worthy. he became quite pedantic about it in his later years.

my old dog (who isn’t even that old really, at 8) has very suddenly succumbed to cancer. really, in the space of a month she’s become irreversibly lame in one leg. she has been at the vets today and the MRI confirmed that it’s comprehensive. there’s nothing we can do either and she is clearly in a lot of pain when she has to move/bear weight on the affected leg. she probably only has 2/3 days left with us and it’s just so sad. we’re heartbroken. mostly because it’s been so sudden and she’s such an angel. they become such a part of the rhythm of your life too. I can only imagine the house will feel empty once she’s gone. sorry just wanted to post somewhere about it

genuinely sorry to hear that:( My dog is knocking on 11 and his legs are getting worse and I'm increasingly thinking/or blocking the thought that I'm going to be completely distraught when he is gone. Like you say "the rhythm of your life" and I've been walking 40+ miles a week with him in recent years.

Bucket (chihuahua/dachshund, almost 19) was diagnosed with bladder cancer in May and given maybe a few months to live. She does not seem to have received the memo. She pretty much pees 100 times a day so we have had to make her a delimited area of about half of the living room, but she marches around and demands her meals and barks when we come home so whatever, we have the apartment that smells like pee, it’s cool

I'm really sorry to hear about your dog. Eight is no age.

We have a 14-year old mutt who was just diagnosed with advanced multiple tumours. Sadly, one of them appears to be affecting his heart, so the chances of him defying the odds are pretty slim, because it is already bothering him. Our vet thinks he has only weeks left. But the steroids have given him a new (temporary, but still) lease of life, so at least he's a lot more comfortable. And I'm delighted (in context, obviously) to be able to spoil him.

thank you

today was really hard. poor girl was really unsettled in the night and my partner slept downstairs with her to keep her company (and so she wouldn’t try climb the stairs on her sore leg). we spent the morning just fussing over her and making sure she was comfortable and resting. around 11 she stepped out into the garden and just basked in the sunshine. it’s so sad, she was a little pain confused but seemed to be enjoying the outside. we had called the vet in the morning and they came round to see her after lunchtime. it was very quick and peaceful and we’re glad she’s no longer in pain. it’s been a very tough and teary day. we really miss her

oh

:(

I'm sorry for you. It sounds like you did everything a person could do to make her end as good as possible.

yeah it’s sad. particularly for my partner because she really really loved her. and for me too because I’ve had a couple of tough years, struggling a lot with loneliness and she’s always been there for me. which is kinda what dogs do I guess

aw, my condolences. that is exactly what dogs do. <3

I’m sorry to hear that, but glad you were able to comfort her and have time to say goodbye.

I’m sorry you had to say goodbye, but what a lovely exit you gave her—exactly what I would want for myself tbh!

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DtBDhb0VYAAgAJ-.jpg:large

RIP Dogsby

The vet said: physically he was in remarkably good shape for such an old boy. But alas the swelling on his stomach might be an internally bleeding tumour and he was clearly on his way out and in severe discomfort. After he had gone I went out for a walk and was struck by how shitty and grim everything seems without him bounding about and was seriously losing it after seeing his legacy of nabbed from the grounds near the tennis club balls in the front garden. He looked absolutely fine last night and was splayed out on the couch and looking like he was on course for a comeback:(

Another depressing trigger was supermarket guy just knocking on door now and then silence rather than barking.

Aw, that’s rough, Calz. But what a lovely picture and of such a happy VGB in glorious countryside.

aww, rest in power dogsby

that photo is only 9 days ago, and he had a stroke that night after it was taken:( I suppose a positive is that he lived a very high quality and fully active life until then.

:***(

sorry calz. you have my sympathies - know how tough it can be

i'm sorry calzino. that brought tears to my eyes. RIP good boy.

i think i mentioned my dachshund-chihuahua Bucket got diagnosed with a tumor on her bladder wall in May - the sense given was probably a couple of months left to her. 7 months later she is totally incontinent (has been since shortly after the diagnosis) and v skinny, but ambulatory and still wants her damn food; it's looking likely she will make it to her 19th birthday (january).

i mean she is definitely dying but she is such a ridicuously determined little bastard.

half the livingroom is her area now which we keep paved with pads; i change out her bed once a day. Our apartment smells like pee and so do we, probably.

old dogs.

i'm sorry calzino. that brought tears to my eyes. RIP good boy.

same here. you helped him have a good long happy life, that's as much as any being can ask for.

jon not jon i'm glad Bucket is still hanging around. 19! that's damn impressive.

big dog-hugs to Bucket, Jon.

Thanks for Dogsby commiserations ppl. I've taken this much harder than when my dad died, which isn't saying much but still it really feels like a dagger in the heart. Dogsby was just so sweet, never had a fight in his life. Just loved play and gallivanting about. The purest spirit you could ever meet.

Oh Calzino I’m so sorry. I dread the day when I will have to deal with Benson passing. Thinking of you. ❤️

sorry for your loss Calzino, Dogsy looks like a very good boy in that picture

i’m so sorry, calzino. rip dogsby, what a gorgeous boy. i really feel for you, it’s such a painful loss. our dog died a little over a year ago and it was heartbreaking. the relationship with a dog is such a pure and uncomplicated love. i’m glad he had such a good life with you right until the end.

and jon, best wishes to bucket who sounds like a little trouper<3

Oh Estela I’m sorry to hear that. I remember your little pup. ❤️

thanks enbb<3, harry was 15 so we knew the day was going to come eventually, but it happened very suddenly during the night (he had internal bleeding from a mass on his liver, but he showed no symptoms of illness until the last couple of hours) so it was really shocking and terrible to go to the emergency vet and come home without him. i hated how quiet and empty our house was, and how clean the floors were after he was gone. but it was still worth it because he was a joy and i can think of him with joy now (as well as sadness) and it was great to be able to give him a good life. dogs are so wonderful. give darling benson a kiss and a treat from me.

I'm sorry for everyone's old dogs. We lost Milo recently. He was nearly 15, and also had cancer. He was only sick for a few weeks before he started to refuse all food and stop going out for walks. He put up absolutely no resistance at the vets when we took him to be put to sleep. Even having a load of other dogs doesn't stop the house from feeling stupidly empty without him.

yeah the silence when delivery vans park outside and the postman clanks the gate is eerie and sad. I can't deal with it tbh, might be posting to the puppy thread soon. I keep thinking I can hear him shaking his ears or trotting up the stairs.

Went for a walk today with a friend who has a puppy golden retriever called Stanley. He has some very bad habits like jumping up at joggers and trying to bite their upper arm, chewing wooden pub furniture, eating just about anything on the ground including plastic and manure. I had forgotten what a riot puppies are in comparison with sensible old Good Doggies!

Yeah, the only thing that has made me feel better is taking in a young foster dog while he has his snip, gets vaccinated, and gets used to living indoors. The nurse in the vets said, "Milo would approve." I laughed. Milo would not approve. He disapproved of young dogs and their annoying, lively, young dog ways.