Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion The Water Cooler Soon to lose my best friend.

For those dog lovers, you should be able to relate. Back in Aug 92 my wife and I tied the knot. In early 93 we went to the Iowa Animal Rescue and found Dylan (we named him after Bob). He was estimated to be 9 mths old at that time and was a stray.

Actually, I was looking at big dogs and Karen said "Hey Randy, come look at this little cutie." I told her I would be over that way in a bit. Our neighbors had big dogs, English Pointers, and for some reason I wanted a big dog...

When I finally made it over to that area, Dylan's little black nose was sticking through the small cage and his puppy brown eyes won us over. We were lucky, as when we started checking him out and filling out the paper work, 2 other families inquired about him.

He has been the best dog, and was our first kid. Those dog owners will understand...

Anyway, he is now 18, and up until about a year ago, he could still jump up on our King bed that was very high. About 10 years ago he used to like jumping up on our pool table.

Health wise we have been very lucky. He has never really been to the vet for anything serious, besides his yearly checkups. I highly recommend people consider mix breeds, as they tend to have less issues than pure bread dogs.

We think he has a little dachshund in him, and possibly terrior or other collie breed.

Anyway, this last year he has slowed up a bit. In our last vet appt. they mentioned that he had lost a lot of weight and his kidney function test had gotten a little worse since the last visit. On a scale of 5 where 5 is kidney failure, he is like 2.5. The bad thing is that he just won't eat hardly anything anymore, and won't drink water as much. He is starting to drewl a little, which is normal for dogs where their kidneys don't work at 100%.

We have even tried people food; rice, chicken, mash potatoes, at the vets recommendation, and while it worked the first few days, now he does not want that either...

I think it is only a matter of time. We may have to make the decision to put him to sleep, which will be very hard for me...

Thanks for listening, it means a lot...Randy

Very sorry to hear this, Randy.

Awww, sorry Randy.

That sucks...... Sorry Randy.

Losing dogs is probably the greatest tragedy I've experienced so far. The people I've known who have passed I haven't really been that close to, but on the other hand, the dogs I've lost have been part of the family. It's rough stuff, but at least you can know you gave your friend a life full of love.

Our first child was a back yard breeder Golden. He was the best. He lived to 15. He got cancer. Dec 27, 2002 - he could not get up. I took him to the vet and she said it was time. She, me, the tech were all bawling. In fact I am tearing up so bad now....I have had to stop typing 3 times......Yep, Dog Lovers get it....

During a recent, and simular conversation, a freind of mine told me he'd rather put his old lady down than his dog, and he really loves his wife. I believe him.

I grew up on a farm and was raised with many dogs (some smart enough to actually gather cows with nearly no supervision).
This is one of the very few things that I miss of rural life.

Randy I know what you are going through. I have had 3 whippets in my life and one of them lived to 17. My current one Nikki is 13 and is just starting to decline. I don't know what I will do when I lose her. I am single and my son moved into an apartment of his own 1.5 years ago. Since then Nikki is all that I have as a daily companion. It will kill me to lose her, but I feel good knowing I have taken very good care of her.

I look forward to reuniting with all of my animals some day, and I believe that will happen.

I'm with you all on this one guys. In addition to the FOUR dogs we currently have, we have lost two in the last five years each being just a few months short of seventeen. It was their time but it certainly didn't make it any easier and we still miss them both terribly.

All I can say is read and remember the "Rainbow Bridge".