Sorry for your loss, I don't know what I would do if I lost any of my dogs. I am still dreading the day that happens. They're all young and I've never experienced having a dog die before =(
Rainin, it is one of the worst experience of your life. With dogs, you feel so helpless and they depend so much on you.
At my age, I have had it happen many times in my life. It never gets easier, I dread each time. Bogtown's dog has really hit me hard as her dog looks just like mine. It too is trained to hunt and leaves the chickens alone, and actually protects them from predators. This is a major feat for a lab.
My older dog is ten this year. I tried to breed her a couple years ago and she did not take but went into a false pregnancy, because of that we found a tumor on her uterus. I had it removed and a hysterectomy preformed. I look at her and thank God for every day I get. She is losing hair and just does not look good at times. My dogs are lap dogs, I hold them every night while I watch TV. There are nights I do not want to hold her, but I know my days of holding her are limited.
With dogs you have to weigh the cost of vet care versus how many more days you are going to get it is hard. I do not have EJB's unlimited monies, so I have to be careful with what I do. The last dog we did euthanasia on. it was hard. She had Cushing's disease and we had spent 4 grand on her and she was scared to go to the vet, she would actually shake and cry when we drove in the parking lot. I could not put her through that. I set up a gas chamber and laid her in it and used carbon monoxide to put her to sleep for a painless death. It was better than the vet and a needle I think.
As I said it is hard, I hope your dogs have a long happy life. Sorry this story got so long. I guess I needed it to help prepare for my dogs demise.
