It has also been my experience that the vet gives two shots, and after the first one the animal probably doesn’t know what’s going on anymore. But they may sense your presence, so I think it would be better if you stayed. It will only be a few more moments.
Definitely take someone with you.
I’m truly sorry this time has come for your pet.
Things that helped with my 20-year old cat (who was behaving very similarly to your dog - begging for food then only eating a bite or two) near the end of his life included:
- feeding primarily wet food and making sure it was warm when we served it
- putting warm water on dry food
- warming up meat-based baby food
- a prescription appetite stimulant (can be hard to get them to take it if they don’t want to eat!)
The appetite stimulant was a mixed blessing. He’d eat ravenously and then sometimes vomit it bag up. Two steps forward, one step back.
Moderator Warning
This is insensitive to the point of being jerkish. As such, consider this an official warning for being a jerk.
For the euthanasia question - as others have said it’s a two-shot process (at least for cats and I assume they do the same for dogs). We had a vet that would come to our house for euthanasia (didn’t make house calls for other types of appointments). It made a big difference in their stress levels and we could hold them continuously in their last hours and then their last minutes. The first shot makes them really out of it. We petted them a bit and talked to them before the final shot.
Geez really shouldn’t have been writing this at work. 
Another thought. If you are in a large-ish city and your usual veterinarian does not do house-calls, there are veterinarians who only do house-call euthanasia.
When my dearly departed Taffy was anemic, we found we could get her to eat these liver treats up to her mouth. She would eat them and actually get better for a while–I’m talking like a year or two.
Unfortunately, one time she ran and hid and we couldn’t find her, so we didn’t get to try giving her the treats, and so we’re left always wondering if we could have just found her and given her the treats and seen if she’d make it over the hump again.
Anyways, I’m not saying they would make your doggy better, but it seemed to get past the nausea that anemia known to cause. Though we had to hand feed them to her. We also would bring her water directly, as well.
We worked with a similar service (Lap of Love) last year, when it became clear that our cat was in his final days. He had always hated riding in the car, and the thought of making him take one final car trip (and that being his last experience) was too much.
The vet who came to the house was kind and patient, and it made a very difficult day at least bearable.
Ha, I told you those Wellness Bites were crack! Forgot to tell you how spendy they are. 
When we had to have Shanni, our girl, put down last summer. They gave her a sedative first, So, she was completely relaxed. We were in the exam room with her when they gave the second shot. We got to pet her and say good-bye before that shot, and the transition was quick and apparently completely painless. Crap. I’m going to cry again. What was nice is that they used the exam room with a separate door to the parking lot, so we wouldn’t have to walk back through the waiting room.
Good luck.
Hard boiled eggs would be worth a try. Give him the whites or yolks separately since he might object to one or the other.
Canned salmon is also good.
Our older dog with appetite problems used to eat if we fed him from our plate. We’d cook up some bits of steak or chicken and feed him at the dinner table.
Nothing really works for a long time. Eventually the dog may associate the stomach distress or whatever with the new food and reject it.
Our vet always insists on payment at the time of treatment. Except for this. They billed us. It was very thoughtful.
My experience is that there are two shots. Sheba was awake but calm and sedated after the first one. The second shot acts very quickly.
Definitely have someone with you. Bad time to be alone.
We brought our then-9 year old daughter; she would not have wanted to stay away. I think it’s important for kids to be there when a beloved pet dies. It was hard and sad for her, but she wanted to cradle Sheba’s head at the end, and after.
Of course everyone will have to judge whether their own children are mature enough.
Now I’m choking up.
The local Lap of Love vet is also a personal friend and I used LoL when Widget had to be put down two years ago. You register ahead of time and give all the needed info online so when the time comes you only have to make one phone call to schedule and they take care of the rest. Everyone involved is very kind and caring every step of the way and I 100% endorse them. It’s so much less stressful for everyone taking care of things at home. When she came for Widget’s visit he was out playing ball with the other two and she brought him triple chocolate brownies for his last treat. The visit took well over two hours but she knew it would and left plenty of time for me to process and for us to chat before the inevitable occurred. I’m glad to this day that I didn’t make him wait until he was completely decrepit and in pain–he was barely eating by then and it was only a matter of time but I wanted him to go out on a good note and I don’t regret that I might have lost a little time with him because that was the best way, really.
My experience with having my Labrador euthanised, was the vet came to our place. He shaved the injection site and just one injection. It was very quick, only seconds until breathing stopped and the vet checked her heartbeat. So final, but definitely a relaxed end for the dog.
I thought I was prepared, but straight away found I was not. The vet did a tactical withdrawal so we could start our grieving with a good crying session.
I’ve read advice from vets that say, if the dog is just left with the vet, the last thing the dog does is look around to see where the owner is, sometimes with panic. I know my girls do not like the vet’s office even with added liver treats, so it’s always going to be the choice to have the vet come to my house.
And I’m sorry for moving from the thread topic, but it sounds like the next step may be very soon. Remember, if you are asking “How long does my dog have to live?” it may well be time to call the vet for that last visit.
For the last couple dogs, I drove them to the vet (they liked car rides), but the vet came to the car and administered the shots there, so they didn’t have to go into the building.
We just lost our dogs (twin ratdogs, went within a few months of each other). One stopped eating, which the vet said was his way of knowing the end is at hand. He suggested not trying anything special to get the dog to eat, “just bring him in when it gets close to the end. Better to end it a little early than too late.” The vet’s big concern was to spare the dog any unnecessary pain. That was our concern as well, and it was a preview of how I’d want to go. Family gathered around, other pets there… daughter couldn’t be there, so she was FaceTiming us, and talking to the dog.
I feel for ya; tough to lose a family member. It’ll take a while until life approaches normalcy, post here if it helps!
Hi, Sampiro, sorry for your situation, I went through the same thing a a month ago. Georgie went through stages of eating/not eating and would avoid anything we put in front of her for a day or two then would eat normally. For the last few months, we would purchase a Sams roasted chicken and use a piece or two to hide a pill, she always seemed to go for that. Like others stated above, at the end she stopped eating anything and I really believe she was letting us know it was time.
The best thing I did to grieve was to write down Georgie’s history and share it. If you have to make that decision, please let us know more about the life of your dog.
It is simultaneously the best and most awful thing you can do.
I will echo those suggesting the familiar will be a comfort – if you do go out of the house to have it done, take an old smelly favorite toy or blanket along.
IME over the years the vet. has given one shot and the cats just stopped breathing. I’ve always held them.
I’ve also had cats who have quit eating die quietly at home – one of them very quietly; purr, purr, sleep; a little while later, unconscious; a little while after that, gone. For another couple who did this the time they spent uncomfortable was less than the time it would have taken to get them to the vet. But you do need to be watching for distress.
If you have other cats/dogs: if it’s at all practical, show them the body so they’ll know what’s happened. Otherwise they may search for the missing friend.
Long-distance hugs. It’s a hard thing to go through; but it would be harder not to have had them to love.
I know it’s not pleasant but on the days she won’t eat, you could try a little force feeding. We had a couple of cats that we thought were goners, though not because of old age, who wouldn’t eat. We figured if they had a chance they’d need food, so we very slightly watered down wet cat food, put it in a syringe and shot a few cc’s of it into the back/top of his mouth every couple of hours. Eventually they got their appetite back.
Our 15-year-old pug has also become a picky eater. She doesn’t even really like her high-dollar Wellness Bites anymore.
What she does eat is:
- a scrambled egg every morning
- Wellness canned food twice a day, with deli ham shredded on top
- even more deli ham
- some days just out of the blue she decides to eat the Orijen dry food we leave out just in case. On those days she tends to eat quite a lot of it.
So far, she’s maintaining her weight even though she’s eating less than half a can of Wellness a day.