Very sad day

We had a Rough night last night. Our large German Sheppard PK has not been doing well with his hips in the last month. It started about a year ago & slowly getting worse. He wasn’t able to get out of his dog house the last day & a half. I would help him out (which isn’t easy because 145 lbs of dog is tricky to get him out of the small opening) & put him back in to stay warm. Usually when we get home he’s out of his house waiting for his cookie. He loved his cookies. We were up late deciding if we had to lay him to rest. We decided that in his best interest was to relieve him of his pain & suffering. I made a mistake in a previous post saying he is 13 years old but he is over 14 years old. He was a wonderful dog who adored kids. We go camping all the time & if a child was petting him & the parent went to close to them PK wouldn’t let them near their child because he was protecting them. Wife picked him up at the SPCA when he was 4 months old, terrified & way under weight. He was abused as a pup from previous owner. My wife took him to a small outdoor carnival a few days later & she had to carry him around because he was so scared. One of her friends said to her oh you’re taking your dog for a carry. PK & Bandit (our other dog) would get pig ears for special treats & PK would eat his as fast as he could but Bandit would just sit there and slowly savour every last bit. Sometimes Bandit would leave it there just to torment PK. The day finally came for pay back. We have a green belt at the back of the house & a lot of people walk their dogs back & forth. PK & Bandit would race to the fence barking to investigate who there. Well one day they received their pigs ear & again PK demolished his In a minuet while Bandit just sat there & watched PK finish. All of a sudden the wheels started turning inside his head & PK jumped up & ran to the fence & started barking (little did Bandit know that there was not a soul in sight), Sure enough Bandit leaped up and bolted to the fence barking. Then Bandit realized that there was no one in sight & turned back to enjoy his pigs ear. It was too late super jaws just swallowed the last bite. Pk tried another time but Bandit got 2 feet from his pigs ear & realised what was up. I could type for hours about PK of all the wonderful memories but a 2 finger typist takes forever. Most of the family (our son is out working at a oilfield camp)was in the examining room for his last minutes so the last thing he remembered was we were there with him petting & kissing him. They probably had to mop up the flour after we left because of all the tears. We will miss him deeply. We are having PK cremated & put in a beautiful cedar urn because we just can't let go. Any support will be greatly appreciated. Thank you very much for sharing our sad lonely day. Bear9090

 

Awwww, geez, Bear.............. I feel for you. Hardest day of my life was when I had to let my bestest buddy in the world go - see my avatar - that's "Pigg" - he was my squareheaded son.
Remember the good times - that's what gets me through - I taught the Pigg how to point pheasant - no nose, hardly any tail, ugliest point you ever saw but, doggone it, a bulldog pointing birds is a good trick! Pigg was heavily "in to" "peoplechow" - would rip your arm off (or beg it off!) for a piece of pizza - eat the whole thing in two bites without tasting it, then burp once or twice and spit out the black olives - hey, he was a pigg, what do you want, manners?
Bear, my heart and prayers are with you - it's tough, I know - don't fight it, cry all you need to.
Blessings,
Port-O-San

 

Oh Bear, as others have already expressed, it touches the heart deeply when anything effects our companions. They are like family members, but more so, with their unconditional love, loyalty and the attention/protection they give with such pure and trusting hearts.

Having had to part with such companions in my lifetime, the parting is always bitter and swift for their benefit, but the memories of happier times together, events, happenings will always bring a feeling of warmth and a smile to one's face.

You have our support Bear, just remember the good times now.:wave

Cheers

LS

 

Awww Bear what a sweet but sad post, you almost made me :cry

My heart goes out to you as well, its devastating when you've lost a loved one.

 

Hi Bear
I really feel for you and your family and the sad loss of such a wonderful dog
A little prayer for PK. Sadly missed but never forgotten.

G

 

Bear -
Know this: you have given your dear friend a beautiful, if heart rending, gift - the gift of a painless, gentle passing.
I know it raises religious and political questions but, after having held my dear Pigg as he passed, my thought was that it is a shame we cannot give our human family the same gift, a gentle and humane end to suffering.
When it is my time, I could not ask for a more loving thing to be done.
Bless your heart. Remember him always.

 

Sad day, indeed. It's good that you are remembering the good times. I've said it often, "Pets are family and it hurts to lose family."

I thought I was going to, too.

 

So sorry for your loss I no I will have a hard time when my baby goes but she is only 6 yrs.But we both really love her:cry

 

So sorry for your loss of PK, it's so hard but you all have those wonderful memories. No more pain and suffering. He will always be with you.

 

That’s true, its heart breaking having him suffer or give him peace. It’s a very difficult decision but we’re sure we made the decision. His pain & suffering was more important than our happiness. They didn’t receive much people chow but when they did they really enjoyed it. That’s funny about your mini pointer. Pk loved to chase duck but didn’t realize he couldn’t run on water. Thank you Port-O-San.

 

We just wish it was a fairy tail story. He was spoiled; actually all of our pets are spoiled. It’s so sad because PK was my wife’s baby. Thank you LauraR.

 

I’ve learnt in the past that the love& care you give to your pets is always rewarded with the beautiful memories you gain. It will be a long haul but I guess that part of being a pet owner. Thank you Legalsuit.

 

Just responding to the post is more than enough. Thank you ManKind.

 

Believe me we probable cried enough for everybody. Thank you diamond.

 

He truly was a gentle giant. Thanks G.

 

It’s always sad to here a passing of someone’s pet especially after you have lost one yourself. Thank you Musksnipe.

 

I wish your baby a long health life. Thank you Muskie’s wife.

 

That’s true. Each of our pets have their own personalities with their own special memories. Just like us. Thank you darlene1029

 

Reading your story reminded me of the white shepherd we had that we had to put down after 13 years. He also had hip trouble and we had to help him up and down stairs.
I read your story and it did bring tears to my eyes, as I can tell you love yours as much as we loved ours. He has been gone for 4 years now, but we still have pictures and memories.

Take care and take solace in the fact he had a wonderful life with you, and is now pain free.

 

The Sheppard’s are known for having hip & joint problems in their older years. We knew that it was starting because our walks were getting sorter & shorter, he was getting too tired. We had to stop taking him because he would be sore the next day. Our vet was kind enough to come to the house & examine PK about 8 months ago & said that he was in good health considering his age. But after the past two week it was to heart breaking to see him carry on in his state. We were very fortunate that he lived a very long life. Thank you gal1998.

 

How are you and the family coping now, as its been a few days since he died

 

Not great but it is slowly getting better. The wife’s having a really hard time. After work today she picked up the urn from the vets, she cried & said it’s hard to believe my pupkiss (her nick name for him) is in this small box. She wants to have her favourite picture of him on top of the urn covered with clear lacquer. I read the replies from post to her which brought more tears to her, but it did help considerable. Now Bandit is waiting for PK to come home. They have been together ever since Bandit was 4 months old. Over 10 years now. We will have to spend more time with him & hopefully it will take his mind off PK for the time being. Thanks G. We are very grateful from everybody for your words of kindness during our period of our sadness. Thank you again.

 

Bear, sorry i did not reply sooner. Best of wishes to you and your family. I seem to find it hard to type with tears in my eyes. Try it, it really is hard to type...

My 13 year old mutt, Fred, is crashed on his couch right now. He has hip problems that come and go.

We all do what we can to take the best care of our pets/friends/hell, family members.

Hope things are going well for you.

Eric

 

Same here - sorry I didn't see this sooner. It hurts when we have to let them go; as I've said elsewhere in this forum people who don't have pets have a hard time understanding how close we become to them. They are in fact part of the family, and we feel their loss as keenly as any other loss of a family member.

I wish you and your family comfort and peace.

 

Honestly, Im so sorry. This brings tears to my eyes because my black lab "Princess" met the same end. I had left the country last August where i still am in Europe (won't return till this coming july/August.

Princess has been having rear left leg issues for about a year and a half we thought maybe she hurt herself because other wise she's a very lively n young looking dog in her 13-14yo age. She never lost her Youth, Never bit a soul, sweetest most loving dog i ever came across!
I watched her be born back in 94 I picked her out of the litter because the very tip of her tail was white.

Long story short when i left i had a feeling i may never see her again, right when the airport cab came n i was packed i ran back in the house n gave her hugs n kisses as she lay on the floor watching me leave.

I got a call back in december from back home that she had gotten worse with her legs n that she had fallen down the stairs one night.

Although she had arthritus in her back leg n times was very scared to go up-stairs she always did her nightly routine of climbing those stairs to go sleep in my parents room by the bed.

she is/was a soldier of the sweetest most loving kind of course.

The call i got wasnt the best of news i was told she was getting bad n that soon she was gonna need to be put to sleep. I believe this has already happened since n that i was just spared of the news since.

About early-Mid january i had 2-3 dreams of Princess out here n when i woke up I had a gut feeling it might have been her tellin me she was ok...

:cry

My best to you n PK!

 

Not a problem about late posts. We are so busy with our life now a days it hard to find time just to relax. A late post is still better than no post. Truth be told even the smallest post helps. It’s nice to know that people you haven’t met in person take the time out of there busy schedule to share their feelings when other people need support. Thank you both Fred_G & Natakel.

 

very sorry to hear of your loss and i can relate since about 2 weeks ago we lost our dog we have had for about 16 years. she was a rat terrier and was part of the family.

she was dealing with kidney disease and she put up a good fight and seemed to be doing pretty good, then one night out of the blue while i was holding her she had a seizure while she was asleep then came out of it maybe 10 seconds later and looked around confused.

she lay her head back down like she was tired, then a few mins later, its hard to describe but its like all of a sudden something left her or she was lighter, she hadnt moved or anything but i knew when i felt it that she had just passed.

still miss her so much, but she had a full happy life

sigh anyhow again very sorry to hear of your loss and wish you the best

 

Oh my this thread is absolutely heart breaking. My heart goes out to all of you.

 

I've been following this thread for a while, and not really knowing what to say/type. But I do know, that as with our human companions and family, as long as one is loved and remembered, one is never truly dead. If that makes a lick of sense to ya.

Whenever I've lost a pet, (or even a human friend), I always try to remember what they gave me, rather than what I've lost. I'm wishing you and the family all the best in these sad time of grieving. Take care, all.

 

We were fortunate that PK’s mind was still in order. I’m glad that he was still alive that we had to let him go. It would have been a lot harder knowing we weren’t with him when he passed away. The same for you when she woke up & felt scared she felt everything was ok because you were holding her. So sorry for your loss. Thank you ej25lvr.

 

ej25lvr, I had an experience sort of like that.... our cat "Lucky" was ran over, we had her in the car taking her to the vet, and she was on my lap, I felt her get lighter just like how you explained. It was very weird. It was like you could feel her spirit come out of her. I also just had a cat (that I got right after Lucky died), just got hit by a car a week before Christmas. Best wishes to all of you who have lost loved 4 legged family members!

 

That’s true. The last couple of days we mostly think of all the good memories we have had him. Thank you for listening Darlene 1029 & Phantom.

 

Bear9090,

I wish I could reach out and give you and your wife a hug. It is very hard to lose someone (human or pet). I just recently lost my cat, Socks, a couple weeks before Christmas. She was the best cat and she got hit by a car. Thankfully the guy who hit her, came and told me (he was in tears) and helped my bury her in my backyard in the flower bed. We got a "dog" a couple days before Christmas because the kids were so heartbroken. LOL I have to laugh, I swore up and down that I would NEVER buy a sweater or coat for a dog......but I did. she goes outside and starts shaking she's so cold! Then comes in the house and lays on the heat vent to warm back up! She sleeps under the blankets (thankfully NOT on MY side of the bed!)

I'm really sorry your are going thru such a tough time. I guess that's part of being pet owners. But the memories of them last a life time!

 

That must have been awful. Especially after the loss of lucky & then have it happens again. So sorry to hear about your misfortunes.

 

Aww sorry for your loss.

 

Thank you pclover

 

I'm so sorry for your loss!!
Stand firm, all will be well.

The only way now is to get a puppy. No this is not a treason. We, people, who have dogs, cannot live without a pet.
I also lost 2 dogs I loved in my life. But if the first one was old and it was a relief for her to leave this world (she was ill, completely blind and toothless), my second dog died when she was still a puppy.

 

We still have 2 dogs & 2 cats. The wife doesn’t feel right about replacing PK with another dog at this time. I think we will wait a few years. So sad about your dogs especially the pup. Thank you HelpMeWithMyMac.

 

Bear9090, that feeling of loss does take time to subside...amazing how animals feel loss also. Our thoughts are with you.

So sorry hearing stories from HelpMeWithMyMac.

And jennmomof3 , reading of the loss of your cat last Christmas - how awful.

ej25lvr sorry for loss of your dog.

AlwaysInfected, it is strange how we form such a close bond with these four legged companions.

So many sad stories...we are touched deeply when our companions, who often are closer than a family member, have to leave us.