yeah i've gone through 2 childhood dogs being put down, i had one from age 7 to 20 that my parents had put down while i was away at school and didn't tell me til after the fact. it was rough. however, it's different when the dog is all mine, i adopted her, i walk her and feed her and her well being is ALL my responsibility, not my parents', we do everything together, just me and her, we fall alseep cuddled against each other every night. and not to slight little dogs, my childhood pup was about 10 lbs at his heaviest, but i feel much more of a bond with my 50 lb lab, somehow her bigness humanizes her (i have a problem with over-humanizing animals, i'll admit). but damn when i look in her eyes i have a hard time accepting she's just a "dumb dog". like she's magically empathetic and aware of mortality and the wide spectrum of human emotions. lol.
i had a childhood dog as well that my parents put down while i was away at school. that was tough to get that phone call. i was pissed and felt like i was robbed in the grieving process. my mom basically just had had enough because the dog was going downhill and she just dropped it off. i gave her a hard time about it for no heads up. but, she was pretty shook up about even discussing it. i feel very strongly about being there for the animal at the end regardless of how hard it is...at least when they put it to sleep before the final deed. i want my animals to see my eyes as the last thing and know i was there for them. i did that with both my ridgebacks...as hard as it was. i have to believe it brought both of us some peace at the end. i also ran over my childhood cat on the driveway and that has bothered me forever how that happened...so that is a scar for life. so, you could say i completely understand what the OP is going through and probably moreso because i actually ran over my own siamese family cat. the memories of those end times may fade but they never leave and it's easy to recall those awful feelings the time they happened...for me anyway. i can make myself cry thinking about those things fairly easily when i want to.
For what it's worth if this helps anyone, my dog is a jumper and she can jump over our backyard fence. We had issues with her getting out and running all over the neighborhood and near the highway. So, I started letting her in the front yard on her own. I would play basketball in the front and let her sit out there while I played. I would punish her if she left the yard, so over time she realized that it wasn't such a huge deal to get out of the backyard so she stopped jumping over the fence. Now I can let her out the front door and she just stays there in the front yard on my property and doesn't run off.
So sorry for your loss. I'll second B-Bob. The bond with your dog is awesome. I don't want to think about when Bo will have to leave us.
My dogue's name is Bo as well..as he's a French mastiff, i named him "Beau" (French for handsome). When he does pass (usually around 8yrs old), i'll get another that looks just like him...i've had a dogue since the 80s.
What B-Bob said. Those of us who are dog lovers know what you're going through, OP, and you have our deepest sympathy. At the beginning of the year, I held my dog's head in my lap while the vet, a really caring guy himself, put him to sleep. And that's what it was like... he simply went to sleep and it was over. 12 years old with an incurable disease. Not the same traumatic experience you just had, but I've been there, as well. Someday, I'll get another dog, and I imagine you will. You won't forget the one you just lost and the unconditional love you were given, which is a good thing.
Oui. Considerable slobber but worth it, he's an overgrown lap dog - like having a small 200lb lion who is only attached to me.
I hate this. I didn't read any of the posts because it's just heartbreaking. The bond you feel with your pet, and your pet feels with you is the definition of unconditional love. I'm so sorry for your loss, Rafi.
So sorry about that. Condolences. Would definitely be rough and play havoc if something like that happened to me.
Sorry for your loss. Losing a dog is tough. Brings back bad memories, and I will confirm, you never get over it. This happened to me when I was in Junior High, and I still think about it frequently. And this was a dog that, while I loved it as a family pet, bit a lot and was kind of a pain in the ass.
Dogs and humans go waaaay back, FWIW. Interesting recent theory on our early success as a species, since we domesticated dogs so early. http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2012/05/humanitys-best-friend-how-dogs-may-have-helped-humans-beat-the-neanderthals/257145/
