Posted on 06/29/2012 1:17:17 PM PDT by afraidfortherepublic
Full Title: Finn is now at peace: TOBY HARNDEN recounts the final, heart-rending days of the beloved rescue dog who was put to sleep in his arms
Finn is now at peace: TOBY HARNDEN recounts the final, heart-rending days of the beloved rescue dog who was put to sleep in his arms
When the end was nigh for Finn, my faithful shaggy companion for more than 14 years, he knew it and I knew it. We had travelled a long way together, from Belfast to Washington to Israel to London and ultimately to the suburbs of northern Virginia but it was clear his journey was over.
The pain in his body was suddenly making him cry and yelp much more frequently. And then he just stopped eating and drinking. For several days, he didn’t touch his food and had to be forced to drink. I took him for a walk but he moved with agonising lassitude.
His hind legs seemed to have seized up. They would fold underneath him, he would try to haul them up and then he would let his front legs down in resignation and just look up at me plaintively. On his final proper walk, he collapsed nose first in the dust and I had to carry him home.
As I wrote in my recent piece about Finn’s waning days, his decline had been slow and steady. For a year, I had been carrying him up and down the stairs. For more than six months, he had been incontinent and wearing a nappy inside the house – something that distressed me at first but never seemed to bother him much.
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Pookie could go on for quite a while.
She doesn’t want to leave.
I don’t know what to do.
I’ve only ever had to put one of my dogs to sleep and he definitely told me he wanted to go.
Phoebe wanted to go, also but she died on her on terms, just like she lived.
The night before we were going to take her to the vet to see if she was going to get well again or not, she passed in her sleep.
She looked so ‘normal’ that I thought she *was* asleep but before I even touched her body, I knew she was gone.
It was a terrible shock because she’d just been “off” for a couple days but she would sit and look me in the eye with the strangest expression of sorrow.
I think they know when it’s their time.
Her aunt Izzy died on election day in 08 [talk about double agony] and she too had ‘looked at me’ like that for several nights.
There wasn’t anything that wrong with her.
Oddly enough, her sister in Canada *almost* died the night before Izzy did and then actually did die a week later.
Thank God for that, at least.
My yard is starting to look like a Stephen King novel.
[somewhere, you know, is a special, needful puppy that Clancy has picked out just for you. go find it]...:)
Dogs & Cats are a part of us, and tied to us... God looks after our companions with whom we have built a bond. Some say that what we say is what we would like it to be, and Heaven is reserved for humans. They are the ones who put limits on God. I too have had a situation where clergy say that animals are soulless and go to oblivion after they die. I can only feel sorry for someone who believes that.
You wrote: “[somewhere, you know, is a special, needful puppy that Clancy has picked out just for you. go find it]...:)”
We’re already looking. I told Pat to go online to research German Shepard Breeders. We had a beautiful “Black and Tan” German Shepard a few years ago.
We rescued “Buddy” from near death when he showed up at our door steps one evening in May 2006 after having “wintered-out.” He was in BAD shape. Unfortunately, he either took off or someone stole him.
It’s been a bad few years for us.
You will know what to do or Pookie will tell you. As long as she’s not in pain and you are able to take care of her, why not wait until she lets you know.
I think the thing that hurt my husband the most is that he thinks he made a premature decision and cut Stewart’s life short too soon.
Yesterday, Bubba and I met the first dog we’ve ever met who was named Stewart. He looked nothing like our Stewart but he was a sweet fluffy blond dog belonging to a neighbor.
Thanks for the information. I will remember it for our next dog. Sadly, Hershee is not long for this world. All we can do for her now is make her last days, Months, or hopefuly year as pleasant as possible. She takes more medication rthan me and my wife combined, but they do help pain, blood preasure, incontenance, and thyroid troubles. She is not to the point that we feel the need to take her on that last ride, but we do expect it before Winter.
“It’s been a bad few years for us”
Same here.
When you have quite a few dogs, all around the same age, it seems to come in waves.
With rescues, though, you don’t really get to pick and choose so you cope as best you can.
I’m not going to lie and and say it hasn’t taken a huge mental and physical toll on me but I will still bring another pup into my life as the old ones pass on.
It only seems right.
One leaves to make room for another who needs after their needs have been met.
Best of luck in your search.
Clancy would not want you to grieve endlessly.
Now he only knows the joy of perfect health and youth again and I think that we inadvertantly drag them down if we try to ‘keep them with us’ by sinking into despair.
[I have a very good reason for believing that but don’t feel like posting it publicly]
When I say she is obsessively attached to me, I make a huge understatement.
I worry that she will not let me know when it's getting too bad simply because her fear of not being with me is too great.
[she is without doubt the most severely ‘damaged’ dog I've ever met and having done Dobe rescue, that's saying something]
I understand exactly how your husband feels.
With Pookie, no matter how long I wait, I will always wonder if it was ‘too soon’.
Degenerative myelopathy doesn't “hurt” physically but it takes its toll by incapacitating them.
She's always been a very tidy dog and having accidents upsets her, even though we both tell her it's okay and she shouldn't be ‘ashamed’ or ‘sorry’.
If she were a ‘normal’ Ibizan, the inability to run, alone, would make her lose her will to live but she's never been a runner.
She's very agoraphobic and rarely strayed far from my side when in the yard.
*Sometimes* she'd forget and run with the pack but then suddenly remember herself and haul butt back to the safety of my side.
This poor dog has gotten the rawest of deals in life and no amount of love here ever fully erased the abuse she'd endured in the year and a half before she came here.
[sight hounds are very “primitive” and their minds aren't as resilient to rehabbing as ‘normal’ dogs]
Merlin, the most horribly abused Dobe I ever had only took a little over a month to bounce back to a completely happy and well adjusted dog and Dobes are terribe for never forgetting or forgiving but poor Pook has PTSD and I reckon it's much harder for her.
She has been much loved and cared for and I hope that somehow, it made her life better.
I always hoped she'd have some 'perfect time' before she passed but apparently that's not going to happen.
All I can tell your hubby us that Stewart understands what happened and loves him dearly, still.
At least it served as a heads-up to other dog owners, here.
It’s *very* common and very commonly misdiagnosed as something else.
I truly hope Hershee is with you both for a long time to come.
She knows you love her.
Thanks for your kind words, Salamander.
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