terrible guilt - i failed him at the end

Oh dear im crying now. My old childhood dog died last year at the grand old age of 15. Thankfully she was healthy until her last day when she had heart failure. It broke my heart and still cry about it now. She died in my arms on the way back to the vets as I decided she needed putting down after only getting home from the vets for 30 mins. I still feel guilty to this day that I didnt pick up on the slightest of signs a few days before. They know when its time to go and will let you know. You loved your dog enough to make the decision and he will be forever grateful to you.
 
Thank you so so much everybody - you really are all wonderful and im so so pleased i posted.
You are all right - he was loved from day one and had a wonderful life. Our last night together could not have been more special, it was just me and him snuggled on the couch eating rubbish - i hand fed him pork chop and chocolate biscuits lol and was wonderful.
Things are meant to be - he was meant to have last night with me.
I can now also see he was in so much pain at the end he wouldnt have cared if I was there or not and yes he would be telling me to stop beign daft and love joey who i do believe he "sent " to me.
I honestly feel so much better now, you have all put my horrible guilt into perspective - i just wish id shared sooner - bless you all :D
 
I think you did the right thing by not being in the room, firstly you said goodbye to you baby and he didn't know you weren't just popping out of the room, they don't know its the end and secondly had you stayed and sobbed and been hysterical his last moments would have been him worrying about his mum!

You did not fail him in the slightest you did what was right for him and you and you made sure he didn't suffer!

Welldone in being a fabulous owner and stop punishing yourself

XXXXXX
 
We was there til the end with our first dog, boxer called George, we had to make the decision and take him (had a form of cancer), I will ever forget him looking at us when the vet came in to inject him, I hope the look was a thank you & goodbye but part of me feels we abused his trust, so being there til the end isn't always good, it took a long time to get over that, u cant feel bad & beat yourself up, we give them a long loving homes & they give us fab times & memories which we will always treasure & these help shadow the sad times :)
 
Oh you poor thing, I did the same with my girl, i loved her so much and knew i was doing the right thing for her but I was going to break-down in the vets so i had to leave so as not to distress her. I was lucky that my dad stayed with her though.. dont beat yourself up you loved him and he loved you and you did the best thing for him.. Im close to tears writing this and that was 7 years ago.. Hold on to the happy memories you have xx
 
darkhorse123 said:
Thank you so so much everybody - you really are all wonderful and im so so pleased i posted.
You are all right - he was loved from day one and had a wonderful life. Our last night together could not have been more special, it was just me and him snuggled on the couch eating rubbish - i hand fed him pork chop and chocolate biscuits lol and was wonderful.
Things are meant to be - he was meant to have last night with me.
I can now also see he was in so much pain at the end he wouldnt have cared if I was there or not and yes he would be telling me to stop beign daft and love joey who i do believe he "sent " to me.
I honestly feel so much better now, you have all put my horrible guilt into perspective - i just wish id shared sooner - bless you all :D
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I read your post yesterday but couldn't think of anything that hadn't already been said. I was about to write out a list of examples of my own experiences but have thought better of it because actually..... death of a much loved pet is individual to us all, each and every circumstance is personal, our grief is our own.

I am so glad that you are feeling a bit more positive now and thank God for HHO - what a fabulous supportive bunch here :) And I am really pleased to hear you have another dog - chin up chick, onwards and upwards, another of life's unfortunate milestones ticked off.

You can't turn back the clock and it doesn't matter that you can't because you gave that little dog a fabulous life of love and happiness and you did right by him at the end just as you will for this new one xx
 
Dark horse

I am so deeply sorry for the loss of your fur baby, you did the best thing any one could do, you took him to the vets, I know the heartbreaking feeling of making that tough decision. Your boy did not know what was going to happen, he just knew you where going to stop the pain. Please try to release the guilt you are feeling, grieve for your boy, but please do not beat yourself up about this. He really didn't know. You would not be with him if he was knocked out for an op, he knew no different. Dogs live in the moment, they do not think ahead.

I think you should tell your husband, he will understand and support you, you need to tell someone and talk to some one, otherwise this will eat you up. If you want to talk to a complete stranger who knows how you are feeling you can have my phone number and you can call when ever you need to talk

Sending you massive hugs
Alma
 
Ahh darkhorse I believe my late shepherd sent us our new rescue dog too :) we would never have found her if it wasn't for letting Tara's breeders know that Tara had passed on and they had just taken a dog in, and it turns out she is wonderful and has made our Goldie into a puppy again.
Its lovely to think these things isnt it :)
K x
 
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