My dog died today

Dis · 08-08-2005, 04:04 PM

You know I love this board for a lot of things, it kills the tedium at work, it makes me laugh, keeps me up to date on the latest from any and all MMO, and generally offers a good outlet for frustration of game design.

But this past week I have had to deal with my dog basically committing a 180 on me, in the sense that she was fine one day, and the next she was not. I could not understand what would cause her to take so a drastic turn for the worse. Come to find out that she has Auto-Immune Disease, not to be confused with AIDS. It can be caused by many things, 1.) is inbreeding from pure breed 2.) vaccinations and/or worm pulls 3.) basic pollution of the environment, turns out you dont need much pollutants in your diet to cause a screw up in your pet's system (you know that cute report you get telling you what your water is made up of)

I know this isnt LiveJournal or Dear Diary, and I am certainly not writing this in a plea for attention, I am writing this in appreciation of my dog (and my wife's). I hope if you have a pet that you love with all your heart, you would do well to appreciate the time you have with it. I would give anything for one more day with my dog, I would give my house away, empty my bank account, anything just to give her a scratch on the back and say "I love you", and make sure she knows it.

I am married, and certainly there have been times when she or I have came home, and did not exactly greet each other with enthusiasm. Be it we were tired, upset at each other, bored, whatever the reason we just didnt. Our dog would always be absolutely thrilled at the site of us, even if we went to the store and back. She greeted us as if we had been seperated for months, years even. It is one of those traits that you wish every person in life had, we call ourselves superior to any beast, well this is something that she had that was far superior to either me or my wife. Even when she was lethargic and had zero energy, when we walked into a room she still wagged her little tail at the sight of us. I am going to miss that.

All those times I grumped at her for getting into the kitchen (which she wasnt allowed, but went in anyways everytime), all those times I dismissed you away from me because I was in a bad mood, all those times I got mad at you for going to the restroom inside the house, and everytime I said any mean thing to you for whatever reason. I am sorry.

This dog was the sweetest dog you will have ever met, she was born with the eternal puppy face (she was a cocker spaniel). If you have a dog, cat, or pet, I hope you truly cherish your time with them. Our time was 8 years, far to short with someone who was basically our kid. You never know when you are going to lose them, and when you do, there was never enough time to be with them.

I still miss her...

Kiksar · 08-08-2005, 04:28 PM

I got a German shepherd for my birthday when I was nine. My parents weren't sure about it, but I always told them that German shepherds were my favorite dogs (though I don't remember ever meeting one before that). But anyway, he died from some form of cancer (it was near the bladder, they never knew for sure, but it happened pretty quickly) when I was 18. My mom's boyfriend is a vet, so we were able to keep him at home and take care of him there, but they told me that there wasn't much we could do, and they gave me the choice to decide when I wanted to put him down. But as tired and sick he was, he still seemed so damn happy. Every morning I'd wake up and play with him a bit in my room, then walk out to the living room and he'd follow, wanting to play or sit next to me on the couch. Then one morning he couldn't get up, and that was the day I decided to do it.

I don't think anyone knows what that feels like until it's happened to them. It'd be easy to say, "Man, get over it," for someone who'd never had a pet that close to them, but it'd be silly not to be torn up over it. My dog got made me a happier person for those 9 years, and I'm sure yours did for her life as well, so I'm sorry for what happened to her. But hey, all dogs go to heaven, right?

Eomer · 08-08-2005, 04:47 PM

Kinda been dealing with this on and off for a few years now. I've got a German Shep as well, but not a pure bred. He's crossed with a collie. He ended up with the size of a collie, and the bulk of a german shep. In short he ended up freaking huge, much bigger than a shep or collie pure breed. He was the most wimpy dog ever, for the most part though. Which is good, otherwise we wouldn't have kept him (brother brought him home, he was an SPCA dog that someone else had gotten and couldn't keep) once we realized how big he was going to get. I remember right after we got him, he was about 6-8 weeks old and we went away for vacation for two weeks. We came back and I swear to fucking god he was a couple inches taller and longer. But yeah, friendly and shy as hell, unless you were a mailman or someone else wearing a hat (he hated hats and uniforms, wierd but true).

He had a few medical issues when we got him, left over from the SPCA (dog pound basically). Some stomach bug that gave him the shits, and then mites (super fleas). Otherwise he was pretty healthy until he was about 5 or 6, then he started limping a lot and being lazy. Turned out his thyroid was on the fritz and not regulating his metabolism. He had gotten up to 145lbs, and the limping was cause he was too heavy and his muscles were deteriorating. Got him on some hormone pills, and within a few months he was fixed right up and back following my mom on 5 mile runs.

But when he was about 8 or so, we started to notice he was limping a bit from time to time again, but he hadn't put on weight. Before, though, he had been limping on his front legs, now it seemed his back legs were the problem.

Turns out he's got a pretty bad case of arthritis in his back hips and knees. A couple times it got so bad he'd barely move for days at a time, and you could tell he was in severe pain. Eventually we got him on some medicine for it (Medi-cam I think), and that's made him a lot better. Every now and then it'll act up really bad and he'll slow way down, generally after him chasing a rabbit or going for a long walk or something. But he just turned 11 a few months back, and seems not so bad.

But it's a nagging thing in the back of my head. Probably within the next year or two we'll have to put him down, if for no reason other than not wanting to see him suffer. He's pretty much healthy otherwise, so long as he gets his dozen or so pills a day (none of it's that expensive, but certainly 50 bucks a month, plus weiner costs), so it's a downer that way. He's too damn big to carry around (about 120lbs now), and woulnd't let someone pick him up anyways. So once his legs get bad enough, it'll be time to say bye.

At one point last year I was positive we were going to have to put him down. I hadn' seen him in awhile as he lives with my parents, but my dad had mentioned at work that he had been really bad the past couple days, and that my mom was pretty upset. So during the day I went home to check on him, and it was just heart breaking to see him all excited to see me at the bottom of the stairs to the basement, but freaking out cause he knew he couldn't make it up to see me. Eventually we decided to take him to the vet that day, and again it was awful watching him try to scramble his way up into an Astrovan I brought home to take him there with two bum back legs. He knew where we were going, but I think he was also smart enough to know that they'd make him feel better, so he tried his damndest to get up there. Eventually I had to grab him by the hips and help him the last bit of the way.

Turned out he tore a tendon, one of the CL's in his knee. So not only did he have two bum legs from arthritis, one of his legs was virtually useless because of the tendon tear, and the other bum leg had to try to support his entire backside. The vet wasn't sure if it would heal due to his age, and said that surgery was certainly an option if we wanted to go that route (we didn't). But thankfully within a couple weeks he had healed. But when I first saw him, before I knew it was something other than arthritis causing him to move like that, I pretty much had already said by to him.

Ugh, now you got me all choked up. Gonna go see my puppy today.

EnigmaticParadigm · 08-08-2005, 05:26 PM

Get a desert tortoise for your next pet. Chances are it will be mourning you when you die, not the other way around.

But they suck to take on walks and pick up chicks

.

Kallian · 08-08-2005, 06:07 PM

Sorry man.

Dogs dying makes big bad Kallian sad.

I fear that day.

tjac · 08-08-2005, 06:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dis

This dog was the sweetest dog you will have ever met, she was born with the eternal puppy face (she was a cocker spaniel). If you have a dog, cat, or pet, I hope you truly cherish your time with them. Our time was 8 years, far to short with someone who was basically our kid. You never know when you are going to lose them, and when you do, there was never enough time to be with them.
I still miss her...

not sure if you're an artist, but i made an oil painting, portrait, of my lab when she was in her prime. she died two christmases ago, but the painting's still there, everyday, to remind me. it might help to similarly capture that eternal puppy face.

sorry for your loss,

Regime · 08-08-2005, 10:36 PM

sorry man..

Algrinon · 08-09-2005, 12:20 AM

Very Sorry to Hear that man... It sucks when you loose a friend like that, unconditional love.

Jait · 08-09-2005, 03:45 AM

I hear ya...

I had 2 Siberian Huskys and an American Beagle. The Beagle just died at 16 last month, pretty heartbreaking. And the final Husky (17 this April) is losing weight fast, but I put her on a 'human' diet of roast beef, bread, fruits/veggies, and she seems to be eating a bit better. But I know she hasn't got long, it sucks.

Imbreeding seems to be a big problem lately. When my dad got this dogs (when I was a kid) he got two of them from a professional breeder and they both lived past 16. My third husky which died about 5 years ago was from a puppy farm, and only lived to 8. He was on two different kinds of medication for siezures and a thyroid problem. If I ever get dogs after this I'll be sure to buy from the pro's. It's worth a few extra hundred, though I know not everyone has that option =/

Kasonic · 08-09-2005, 04:53 AM

I had my Golden Retriever/Lab mix die a few months ago.

He had a stroke one morning, and vent said that strokes aren't nearly as bad for dogs as they were for humans, and there wouldn't be much damage; I didn't worry too much about it, as he was fine. I realized I didn't spend much time with him at all anymore, I said to myself I should play with him for a few hours a day, and kept putting it off and putting it off. A few weeks later his health started rapidly declining from some form of cancer, and sometime in the afternoon he could barely breath and has choking on some really disturbing-sound coughs. I was so pissed at myself to the extreme the entire way to the vet, home, and the rest of the night and felt guilty about it for days.

It's a subject everybody hates.

Hooby · 08-09-2005, 05:29 AM

I'm sorry to hear that man, I had an american eskimo from about the time I was 3 til when i was 15 or so. I took her out on a walk one dayu and she died infront of my eyes, had a heart attack right infront of me. I will never forget the sounds that she made when she fell over, me and a few of my friends were freaking out, casrrying her limp body back to my house... It was the only time I can ever remember crying. I am able to connect wiht a dog just as much as I am to a human being pretty much, I have 2 right now that I love with all my heart, I can't see anything replacing them short of a child (if that day should come). Honestly I am pretty drunk right now (which i have been for most the summer) But seeing this thread really makes me think back on all the ite I have had with my dogs, whom I viewed more as siblings than anything else.

I truily hope you are able to look back on your time with your dog and smile about it rather than lamenting the loss. I went through mourning for a few weeks also, but now looking back on it although I miss my dog Beemer dearly, there are so many memories that are just irreplacable.

To any haters out there that don't understand the bond trhat a dog and human casn share, I am just about as cold as any person can expect to be, yet I still miss my dog more than any human I have ever met. They aren't some stupid animal, they have ffeelings and emotions just as any other being does.

Hooby · 08-09-2005, 05:34 AM

Also, reading jait's post would like to make me add, right now I have two dogs. A pure breed miniature american eskimo, and a mutt German Shepaerd/ Chow Chow that we found abandoned. Both of them are amazingly beautiful dogs. I haven't seen either in a week or so as I have been out of town. But no Matter what kind of dog it seems that ehey each have their own qualities to offer. Although a pure breed may be healither in the long run, I know my Chow/Shepard mutt is without a doubt the most loving dog I have ever seen. Evene though we paid $100's for the pure breed and found him for free, I would gladly choose him over our pure breed for any cost. Even though they may not be as healthy, they are still just as worthy for a loving family.

Blaezenfury · 08-09-2005, 04:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kallian

Sorry man.

Dogs dying makes big bad Kallian sad.

I fear that day.

Heh yeah I agree, Gonna hate to see my dog go.

She's a mix of a German Shepard/Chow.

Small but funny story:

Few days ago my mom had an operation, histerectamy(sp) and bladder uplift, our dog had fucking huge claws(we didint want her jumping on my mom and clawing her the fuck open)she was also shedding like a mother fucker, so we brought her to the clipping place. Few hours later we get a call ''Uhh sir, would you like your dogs hair on her tail removed?'' my dad: ''uhh yeah i guess''. Few minutes later we got another call ''Ok your dog is ready, come pick her up'', we picked her up and we were like ''WTF HAPENED TO OUR DOG!?'', The stupid asshats fucking shaved her completely except her head, so she looks so hilarious it's unbelieveable how funny she looks.

My digital camera isn't working right now but if I get it fixed in time i'll try and get some pics.

ValkyrieIsAboutToDie · 08-10-2005, 12:35 AM

Had my boxer die on me about 8 months ago. Great dog, was a real fighter and a sweet michief maker. He was only 6 years old, I was enjoying summer before shipping off to college, then one day 'Hey, what's this lump on his neck?'. Next thing you know, one month later, dead from cancer. Didn't even have a chance.

It's such a bummer with pets. We get so close and attatched, yet we know that 16 or 17 years is the most we're going to see them for, then that's it.

AngryGerbil · 08-10-2005, 05:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Blaezenfury

Heh yeah I agree, Gonna hate to see my dog go.

She's a mix of a German Shepard/Chow.

Small but funny story:

Few days ago my mom had an operation, histerectamy(sp) and bladder uplift, our dog had fucking huge claws(we didint want her jumping on my mom and clawing her the fuck open)she was also shedding like a mother fucker, so we brought her to the clipping place. Few hours later we get a call ''Uhh sir, would you like your dogs hair on her tail removed?'' my dad: ''uhh yeah i guess''. Few minutes later we got another call ''Ok your dog is ready, come pick her up'', we picked her up and we were like ''WTF HAPENED TO OUR DOG!?'', The stupid asshats fucking shaved her completely except her head, so she looks so hilarious it's unbelieveable how funny she looks.

My digital camera isn't working right now but if I get it fixed in time i'll try and get some pics.

Fucking shit hell...bitch.

08-08-2005, 04:28 PM	#2 (permalink)
Kiksar X-D Join Date: May 2002 Posts: 828 +4 Internets	I got a German shepherd for my birthday when I was nine. My parents weren't sure about it, but I always told them that German shepherds were my favorite dogs (though I don't remember ever meeting one before that). But anyway, he died from some form of cancer (it was near the bladder, they never knew for sure, but it happened pretty quickly) when I was 18. My mom's boyfriend is a vet, so we were able to keep him at home and take care of him there, but they told me that there wasn't much we could do, and they gave me the choice to decide when I wanted to put him down. But as tired and sick he was, he still seemed so damn happy. Every morning I'd wake up and play with him a bit in my room, then walk out to the living room and he'd follow, wanting to play or sit next to me on the couch. Then one morning he couldn't get up, and that was the day I decided to do it. I don't think anyone knows what that feels like until it's happened to them. It'd be easy to say, "Man, get over it," for someone who'd never had a pet that close to them, but it'd be silly not to be torn up over it. My dog got made me a happier person for those 9 years, and I'm sure yours did for her life as well, so I'm sorry for what happened to her. But hey, all dogs go to heaven, right? __________________

08-08-2005, 05:26 PM	#4 (permalink)
EnigmaticParadigm Is Kermit gunna have to make a bitch go "GLARRRRGH?!" Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Pre World War III America Posts: 2,491 +53 Internets	Get a desert tortoise for your next pet. Chances are it will be mourning you when you die, not the other way around. But they suck to take on walks and pick up chicks . __________________

08-08-2005, 06:07 PM	#5 (permalink)
Kallian CHARLIE DON'T SURF! Join Date: Jul 2004 Posts: 779 +0 Internets	Sorry man. Dogs dying makes big bad Kallian sad. I fear that day. __________________ In Soviet Russia, Exception throws you!

08-09-2005, 03:45 AM	#9 (permalink)
Jait Irritable Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: :noitacoL Posts: 3,512	I hear ya... I had 2 Siberian Huskys and an American Beagle. The Beagle just died at 16 last month, pretty heartbreaking. And the final Husky (17 this April) is losing weight fast, but I put her on a 'human' diet of roast beef, bread, fruits/veggies, and she seems to be eating a bit better. But I know she hasn't got long, it sucks. Imbreeding seems to be a big problem lately. When my dad got this dogs (when I was a kid) he got two of them from a professional breeder and they both lived past 16. My third husky which died about 5 years ago was from a puppy farm, and only lived to 8. He was on two different kinds of medication for siezures and a thyroid problem. If I ever get dogs after this I'll be sure to buy from the pro's. It's worth a few extra hundred, though I know not everyone has that option =/ Last edited by Jait : 08-09-2005 at 03:47 AM.

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08-08-2005, 04:47 PM	#3 (permalink)
Eomer You mean I can change this? Neat! Join Date: Feb 2002 Posts: 10,202 +39 Internets	Kinda been dealing with this on and off for a few years now. I've got a German Shep as well, but not a pure bred. He's crossed with a collie. He ended up with the size of a collie, and the bulk of a german shep. In short he ended up freaking huge, much bigger than a shep or collie pure breed. He was the most wimpy dog ever, for the most part though. Which is good, otherwise we wouldn't have kept him (brother brought him home, he was an SPCA dog that someone else had gotten and couldn't keep) once we realized how big he was going to get. I remember right after we got him, he was about 6-8 weeks old and we went away for vacation for two weeks. We came back and I swear to fucking god he was a couple inches taller and longer. But yeah, friendly and shy as hell, unless you were a mailman or someone else wearing a hat (he hated hats and uniforms, wierd but true). He had a few medical issues when we got him, left over from the SPCA (dog pound basically). Some stomach bug that gave him the shits, and then mites (super fleas). Otherwise he was pretty healthy until he was about 5 or 6, then he started limping a lot and being lazy. Turned out his thyroid was on the fritz and not regulating his metabolism. He had gotten up to 145lbs, and the limping was cause he was too heavy and his muscles were deteriorating. Got him on some hormone pills, and within a few months he was fixed right up and back following my mom on 5 mile runs. But when he was about 8 or so, we started to notice he was limping a bit from time to time again, but he hadn't put on weight. Before, though, he had been limping on his front legs, now it seemed his back legs were the problem. Turns out he's got a pretty bad case of arthritis in his back hips and knees. A couple times it got so bad he'd barely move for days at a time, and you could tell he was in severe pain. Eventually we got him on some medicine for it (Medi-cam I think), and that's made him a lot better. Every now and then it'll act up really bad and he'll slow way down, generally after him chasing a rabbit or going for a long walk or something. But he just turned 11 a few months back, and seems not so bad. But it's a nagging thing in the back of my head. Probably within the next year or two we'll have to put him down, if for no reason other than not wanting to see him suffer. He's pretty much healthy otherwise, so long as he gets his dozen or so pills a day (none of it's that expensive, but certainly 50 bucks a month, plus weiner costs), so it's a downer that way. He's too damn big to carry around (about 120lbs now), and woulnd't let someone pick him up anyways. So once his legs get bad enough, it'll be time to say bye. At one point last year I was positive we were going to have to put him down. I hadn' seen him in awhile as he lives with my parents, but my dad had mentioned at work that he had been really bad the past couple days, and that my mom was pretty upset. So during the day I went home to check on him, and it was just heart breaking to see him all excited to see me at the bottom of the stairs to the basement, but freaking out cause he knew he couldn't make it up to see me. Eventually we decided to take him to the vet that day, and again it was awful watching him try to scramble his way up into an Astrovan I brought home to take him there with two bum back legs. He knew where we were going, but I think he was also smart enough to know that they'd make him feel better, so he tried his damndest to get up there. Eventually I had to grab him by the hips and help him the last bit of the way. Turned out he tore a tendon, one of the CL's in his knee. So not only did he have two bum legs from arthritis, one of his legs was virtually useless because of the tendon tear, and the other bum leg had to try to support his entire backside. The vet wasn't sure if it would heal due to his age, and said that surgery was certainly an option if we wanted to go that route (we didn't). But thankfully within a couple weeks he had healed. But when I first saw him, before I knew it was something other than arthritis causing him to move like that, I pretty much had already said by to him. Ugh, now you got me all choked up. Gonna go see my puppy today.

08-09-2005, 12:20 AM	#8 (permalink)
Algrinon Banned Join Date: May 2003 Location: Oklahoma Posts: 732 +0 Internets	Very Sorry to Hear that man... It sucks when you loose a friend like that, unconditional love.

08-09-2005, 04:53 AM	#10 (permalink)
Kasonic dumb Join Date: Mar 2005 Posts: 2,627 +1 Internets	I had my Golden Retriever/Lab mix die a few months ago. He had a stroke one morning, and vent said that strokes aren't nearly as bad for dogs as they were for humans, and there wouldn't be much damage; I didn't worry too much about it, as he was fine. I realized I didn't spend much time with him at all anymore, I said to myself I should play with him for a few hours a day, and kept putting it off and putting it off. A few weeks later his health started rapidly declining from some form of cancer, and sometime in the afternoon he could barely breath and has choking on some really disturbing-sound coughs. I was so pissed at myself to the extreme the entire way to the vet, home, and the rest of the night and felt guilty about it for days. It's a subject everybody hates.

08-09-2005, 05:29 AM	#11 (permalink)
Hooby Registered User Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Portland, Oregon Posts: 455 -1 Internets	I'm sorry to hear that man, I had an american eskimo from about the time I was 3 til when i was 15 or so. I took her out on a walk one dayu and she died infront of my eyes, had a heart attack right infront of me. I will never forget the sounds that she made when she fell over, me and a few of my friends were freaking out, casrrying her limp body back to my house... It was the only time I can ever remember crying. I am able to connect wiht a dog just as much as I am to a human being pretty much, I have 2 right now that I love with all my heart, I can't see anything replacing them short of a child (if that day should come). Honestly I am pretty drunk right now (which i have been for most the summer) But seeing this thread really makes me think back on all the ite I have had with my dogs, whom I viewed more as siblings than anything else. I truily hope you are able to look back on your time with your dog and smile about it rather than lamenting the loss. I went through mourning for a few weeks also, but now looking back on it although I miss my dog Beemer dearly, there are so many memories that are just irreplacable. To any haters out there that don't understand the bond trhat a dog and human casn share, I am just about as cold as any person can expect to be, yet I still miss my dog more than any human I have ever met. They aren't some stupid animal, they have ffeelings and emotions just as any other being does.

08-09-2005, 05:34 AM	#12 (permalink)
Hooby Registered User Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Portland, Oregon Posts: 455 -1 Internets	Also, reading jait's post would like to make me add, right now I have two dogs. A pure breed miniature american eskimo, and a mutt German Shepaerd/ Chow Chow that we found abandoned. Both of them are amazingly beautiful dogs. I haven't seen either in a week or so as I have been out of town. But no Matter what kind of dog it seems that ehey each have their own qualities to offer. Although a pure breed may be healither in the long run, I know my Chow/Shepard mutt is without a doubt the most loving dog I have ever seen. Evene though we paid $100's for the pure breed and found him for free, I would gladly choose him over our pure breed for any cost. Even though they may not be as healthy, they are still just as worthy for a loving family.

08-10-2005, 12:35 AM	#14 (permalink)
ValkyrieIsAboutToDie Needs food badly Join Date: Feb 2005 Posts: 1,370 +17 Internets	Had my boxer die on me about 8 months ago. Great dog, was a real fighter and a sweet michief maker. He was only 6 years old, I was enjoying summer before shipping off to college, then one day 'Hey, what's this lump on his neck?'. Next thing you know, one month later, dead from cancer. Didn't even have a chance. It's such a bummer with pets. We get so close and attatched, yet we know that 16 or 17 years is the most we're going to see them for, then that's it.