For the past couple months, Toby’s health has been fluctuating. The vet put him on thyroid meds, and that seemed to help. Every week or so, he wouldn’t get up very well until he got his pill, then he’d be fine - but his energy level was steadily, slowly, decreasing.
On Saturday, Toby went outside, and laid down in a clump of bushes, and wouldn’t get up. I carried him in, and laid him on his downstairs bed. My wife was out of town, so I was in solely charge of my two boys for the day - so there wasn’t much of a chance to get to the vet, or to really sit down with him for more than 10 minutes at a time. Every 20-30 minutes, he’d get up, take a few steps to a different room, and collapse. Things weren’t looking good. I went and got Tilly’s blanket for him to lay his head on and be comfortable. (I had to put Tilly down 2 years ago, and they were inseparable friends.) My vet didn’t have any advice, other than to maybe call a mobile vet - but most likely, I should call the mobile “Lap of Love” service for euthanizing him. I called both, but 20 minutes later, he was gone.
Toby was the 3rd dog we’ve had to say goodbye to in the last 2 years. It was nice having 3 dogs all within the same age while they were younger, but god damn it - saying goodbye to so many so soon fucking sucks.
Munch, I’m sorry about Toby. Take time to grieve and then consider getting another friend – Toby would understand. There’s certainly no shortage of abandoned doggos out there.
I had to put down my dog Reggie a few weeks ago. He had a tumor growing out of his head and couldn’t walk. He was 12 1/2. That was the first time I’ve ever had to put down a pet. It was rough and there was much crying.
I buried him in the back yard and piled 50 lbs of pebbles on top so my other dog Nash doesn’t dig him up. It has happened before.
It’ll happen, at some point. We adopted Joe* last October, so we aren’t dogless in the house. But I think we’ll wait a little. The boys are 4 and 2, and a puppy when they’re a few years older would be a very good fit.
*Certainly not our choice of a name. He’s about 6-7 years old, so he’s stuck with it - pretty tough to change the name of an old dog - especially one as slow-witted as this one unfortunately is. (But not so slow that he doesn’t know what’s going on - he clearly already misses Toby. I’m going to have to set up some play dates with the dogs next door.)
So sorry for your loss of Toby and your two other doggies. I’ve been through this many times (with cats), and it never gets easy. You’ll get a new pup when you’re ready.
So sorry to hear about Toby. No, we don’t deserve dogs, dogs are better than people. And yet they still love us despite all our faults. Toby and his siblings are back together now in Dog Heaven where steaks grow on low hanging branches and there is an endless supply of tennis balls, but they still do miss you as much as you miss them.
I’m so sorry and I know how you feel. We said goodbye to our sweet Luca last Thursday. It’s sad, it’s hard, it’s heartbreaking and for me, it was also a relief. It’s just as hard to watch them suffering as it is to lose them. You did the right thing. When the time is right, another puppy or dog will help heal your heart a little.
