SurvivingInfidelity.com^®

I lost Max 3 years ago. I'm still not ready for another dog just yet, but im starting to think about it. Losing our fur babies sure hurts like hell. I'm sorry your time is now limited, but im happy that you had such an amazing dog who you loved dearly and who loved you back. I pray he feels all the live around him for the time that he has left.

I’m so sorry. It’s one of the saddest losses losing a pet. We said goodbye to our rescue/lab mix a year ago. In the run up to her death I spent a month crying and several weeks after. I built a screen porch on the back of the house which I always wanted and a recognition that life is short and I didn’t want to wait for the "right time." Ultimately getting another dog filled the void for me and I’ve been delighted with getting to know a new pup. Love is not a pie and when you’re ready to start fresh, you’ll be delighted to welcome a new dog into your heart. I still think about my old girl, but the memories feel happy now and not sad. Big hug.

I've had 2-4 dogs my entire life. Since I've coming up on retirement age this has meant I've been through this grief more times than I want to admit.
In the runup to the end of my first marriage I had 4 dogs. Sophie, I believe, would be in the running for the perfect dog for most people. She never had a toy that she didn't cherish. She never destroyed them. Just cleaned them up and kept them as long as possible. She would chase the ball as long as she could get someone to throw it. We lost her in 2008 to canine autoimmune hemolytic anemia. Fought it for weeks but without heparin due to Chinese Heparin adulteration scandal at the time she never had a chance. We replaced her with Layla who we found out after adoption had severe kennelosis. More of a roommate than a pet or best friend. In the few months before my ex left we lost two of the others.
Marshal, we found at a local pizza place as a young dog and were expecting to find a new home for him. We were watching We are Marshall at the time hence the name. That ended rather quickly when our vet diagnosed him with congenital subaortic stenosis. He ended up with a cardiologist and was prescribed medicine to prolong his life as much as possible. There wasn't a cure. Even in humans the cure was a transplant. That dog loved life more than anyone or thing I knew even though he only made it a few more years. We were woken up one night with him unable to catch his breath. We knew it was the right thing to do to end it then.
Bailey was the third to go. She was one that came with the ex. Bull dyke dog to tell the truth. Picture a basset hound body with the hair of a Scottish terroir. She was 12 years old and had had mastic cancer for at least 5 of them. We determine a few years end after a few months trying to get her skin to close after surgery to stop treating her cancer. She also had cushions. In the end, I believe it was a stroke that was the final straw. She couldn't walk and was running into walls when we made the call.
My divorce was final 4 months past Bailey's passing. Truthfully, I think the dogs were the only reason my ex stuck around as long as she did.
I went into single life with Gracie (akita) and Layla (ms Kennelosis). Gracie was my wing dog while single while Layla stayed a homebody. Six months after my second marriage, wife and I choose Molly as a third dog for her youngest child. Gracie passed within weeks. Same as Marshal woke up with her unable to breath at night. Longs full of fluid and at her age it was a death sentence. It was almost like she stuck around just long enough to know I'd be ok.
Six months past was my birthday month and I leveraged that to adopt Champ who was molly's partner in crime for the rest of Molly's life. Layla made it a few more years before passing. Leaving use with Molly and Champ as the dynamic duo of the household. This lasted until last fall when we found out Molly had cancer of the spleen. By the time we found out it was all through her body and the right thing to do was to put her out of her misery. We had went weeks without her being able to keep food down more than a few days.
The real reason I stalled on answering is Champ has peaked. He's slowing down and we know he only has a year or two left. Been through this enough to know the routine. We decided last fall that it wouldn't be fair to bring a new dog into the household. Champ was second fiddle to Molly for so long. Molly was the most dominate dog I've ever had.
TLDR; I've never regretted making the call. Sophie was the first dog that I had made that call personally. By the time we were in the room for that final time, the dogs always made it clear that they were ready and had loved their lives they had.