Advice on putting our dog to sleep?
Question by : Advice on putting our dog to sleep?
Our chocolate lab/german Shepherd mix is almost 11 yrs old. She has severe hip dysplasia in both hips and is on pain meds. Here is my question. She seems to still want to play, eat, be loved on.
But she is now going after my children when they are eating. If my kids have any type of food in their hand, she tries to snap it away from them. My fear is that she will one day bite them. What do I do? Is it time to put the old girl down?
Thank you for most of your great advice. Yes our dog is much loved and she is definetely one of my children. (she was my “first baby”).
She is on pain meds, and is having a hard time getting up and down from laying down, plus getting up and down our stairs.
I will try to seperate her from the kids during mealtime, but again, my fear if she is around food with any human is that she will snap.
I love her but also don’t want her to suffer too.
Best answer:
Answer by S G
I would
Give your answer to this question below!
Tagged with: Advice • putting • sleep
Filed under: hip dysplasia in dogs treatment
Like this post? Subscribe to my RSS feed and get loads more!
no just leave her outside when ur family is eating and dnt put her to sleep thats cruel..
she still seems full of life, i wouldn’t unless the hip dysplasia gets worse!
Keep her in a separate room when your kids are eating might help
You could always just not let your dog around your children when they are eating. Your house has doors right? If your house does not have doors – you’ve heard of baby gates right?
If your dogs pain is managed by the pain meds and she still wants to play, eat, etc. It’s not time yet. It’s not time until she is clearly suffering and not enjoying life anymore and you feel in your heart you’d be doing her a favor.
The only thing I’d do is make sure I had a recommended surgeon, 2 opinions, and also do some cost comparison.
#
If she’s getting aggressive, it’s either Pain or Old Age, or both. Your choice and decision about putting her down though.
Try and separate your kids from the dog while they are eating before you make the hard decision to put her down. You will know when she is ready to go. If she is really a threat to your children’s well being then go ahead, but don’t do anything that you will regret. Putting a pet down is hard, but no matter what she will always love you!
If her pain is under control, I wouldn’t put her down. Just keep her in a different room when your kids are eating. Ask your vet if her meds could be affecting her temperament.
To be honest, I would call the vet and discuss this. It may be something your vet has a suggestion for. It may be as simple as crating her when your kids have mealtimes, or making sure your children eat at the table so their food is not at her level. Don’t make this decision on your own, work with your vet to make the determination.
It’s very unfortunate about the hip dysplasia. It’s genetic and it’s very sad that she was so poorly bred when it’s easily preventable.
Oh that is sad. i just had to put my shepherd down 2 weeks ago and she was only 4, but got bloat.
If she is snapping at the children you should do something…but IDK…she might just be playing and taking their snacks because maybe they tease her or something.
When it is time you will know.
Here is a poem that may help you decide.
A Dog’s Plea
http://carol10.com/a-dogs-plea.html
This is very very hard.
Blessings
If she can still enjoy life, don’t put her down. Hip dysplasia in both hips means that the time may soon be coming when she’ll need it, but not yet. You’ll need to simply keep your kids away from her when they have food, that’s all there is to it. Don’t euthanize her for lack of early training. If she had been trained not to bite but is now doing it, all I can say is avoid the behavior.
She old. Anyways. like she said up there, keep in seperate rooms when your kids are eating. Or when your dog is eating keep the kids away, always.
Just like when people get old, and snap for no reason, dogs do too. They get old.
We dont put our grand parents to sleep just cause they get mean and snappy when they get old.
goodluck with the grannie in the family lol
I would talk to my vet and ask about the pain meds she’s on. Any change of behavior, including aggression, can be a sign of pain, and she may just need a simple adjustment. I agree with you that it sounds like she still has a high quality of life and I’d want to try this before considering putting her down. Also, if the pain meds are causing her to eat less (which frequently happens) make sure she has enough to eat. With this situation, there’d be no harm in feeding her extra treats she likes, such as scrambled eggs (all dogs love this) cottage cheese, carrots, etc.
Your dog seems very full of life. My answer to any of these things is, ‘if the dog has a good quality of life, then there’s no reason to put it down.’ Some behavioral training should help with the snapping. A dog can learn at any age.
Take care!
it’s time to stop babying her, is what it is.
stop feeling sorry for her, stop coddling her – it’s giving her the message that she’s “top dog”. in the natural dog world, second-class citizens never EVER approach the alpha (top dog) when eating – that would earn them a quick reprimand and even a slashing bite if they don’t get the point.
she is NOT HUMAN. she’s not sitting around thinking “oh, i’m so old… my hips hurt…. i should go for a walk…. someone should come and read to me…. oh, i’m so old… poor me”
she’s thinking “damn, i must be good! look how all these silly monkey people are babying me and treating me like the queen of the world!”
get her back into place behind the humans and take steps to correct her food possessiveness now before it escalates.
just because she’s old and ill doesn’t mean you need to treat her any different than when she was a young vibrant pup because, in her mind, she still is!