I have a GSD, adopted from a rescue 4-5 months ago. She's approximately 9 years old and on pain medication and supplements. She is a one year cancer survivor.

She struggles to get up. If I walk at a slow pace she lags behind. I have to take baby steps for her to keep up with me.

When I pick up her leash or my car keys she gets excited and goes to the door.

I bring her to work with me everyday. She is almost never alone.

She rarely sits, I think this is due to pain from her hips. She lays down for 23 hours of the day. She has a nice dog bed everywhere she goes.

She cannot get in my truck by herself. I built a step stool which she puts her front paws on and then I lift her rear end up so she can get into the back of my truck (removed the rear seat).

If she sees another animal she acts like a totally different dog and gets real excited, moves quickly, and basically wants to eat whatever she has spotted.

Hearing and eyesight are still fine.

When did you know it was time?

Dogs have a way of letting you know when its time.

Best wishes,

-Sven

Sorry to say, sounds like it is time to put her down.

I have a Husky/Chese that is getting close, that is only a few years off.

This might help you get her in/out of the truck;

If you are asking the question, I hate to say it, but it's probably time.

When they don't look like they're enjoying life any more, it's time.

My first dog was always a little hyper (in a good way) and you could tell she was trying thru the pain.  She had been to the vet and was diagnosed with severe back problems.  Similar to your dog, she could barely get up to eat and go to the bathroom.  I ended up taking her to the vet for another look...they tranq'ed her for the test, I took her home, but she never fully pulled out of it.

Two mornings later I woke up, checked on her, she gave me a hello, and about 5 minutes later my son came to tell me she didn't look so good...she was gone.

Once it is time, the longer you wait, the harder it gets...for everyone.

Do you have a web address for that?  Mine is almost 14 and needs help in and out of the truck now.

my little guy had doggie Alzheimer's

yeah my dog has arthritis and cant jump or go up the stairs so fast, but his quality of life is still good, i would also like the link to the ramps. ive built him something similar for the bed so he can get up next to me.

When they no longer enjoy life and live in constant pain. We as owners usually know when it is time but we try to convince ourselves otherwise because it is a painful emotional experience for us. If you love them, letting them suffer needlessly is something you will remember for a long time.

This. When mine started loosing control of her bodily functions, we knew it was time but we decided to wait. A week or two later, she ran away and was run over by a car. She was 18 years old, fed table scraps every day, and was overweight and she died from running away and getting HIT BY A CAR. Go figure. She was a good dog.

BUMP

Ours quit eating, almost withered away to nothing, and could not get back into the house.  I had to carry her in and place her in her bed area the last two days of her life with us.  She laid there and urinated as she slept or was awake. It all started to go down hill and lasted almost two weeks and I could not stand to see her like this any longer. It was a snap decision to go in that morning, even though we talked about it for months. I feel we waited too long.

This!

You'll know when it's time. Usually when theres no quality of life remaining, and if the dog is in pain and struggles to even walk or do other "regular" functions.

Keeping your GSD in my prayers.

..when I realized I was being selfish trying to keep him around longer....once it was clear that he was no longer able to enjoy life it was time for me to let him go...he had cancer..

The same thing was happening to my dog, there are 3 things that I have found it helps, 1.- My dog takes a tablet of Dasuquin every day. 2.- She also takes "Metacam" every day, (this is a prescription medicine) and 3.- once a week she's given an injection of Adequan. The adequan really made a difference in my dog. Consult with your vet and suggest these medications.

I forgot to mention, there is lazer treatment you can try, we did but it did not do much for her, some people swear by it

Gypsy had liver failure, and the vet said it was time to put her down.  I buried her in the back yard and cried.

My 12-year-old cat, Jack, was diagnosed with lymphoma last year.  He would have died just a few days after his diagnosis.  However, we did everything we could to give him a fighting chance, and bought him an additional 5 months of life.  My criteria was always this: if he can possibly have a happy, relatively comfortable tomorrow, then we continue.  One day, it became clear that would no longer be possible, and that was the day we said goodbye to him.  In the weeks leading up to that point, I asked myself constantly, "Is today the day?"  I tried to manage his pain and make him as comfortable as possible.  If he was sleeping peacefully, eating a little bit of food, getting in and out of the litterbox, and purring whenever we were together, I figured he still had something to live for.

To the OP, I'm sorry you're going through this.  Good luck.

Wish we had a place called "Re-pet" where we could restore our pets so they live forever...

When he had not eaten in 5 days (That I knew of) I was not going to let him starve.

He was only 6, cancer

He was happy to go for a ride with Dad one last time even tho I had to lift him in and out of the truck.

I miss my boy.



My opinion is if she is happy and not in pain, able to take care of her self (potty) keep her, she shounds happy to go to work with ya, enjoy your time with her.

My Lab Retrever mix was 13 and bad hips. She started growing lumps along her spine the vet said were tumors. A few months went by and she started to wine and cry a lot when she would try to stand up and sometimes loose her balance and fall down. Family all said goodbye and I loaded her into the truck and took her out and dug a hole for her.

I have been a hunter my whole life, Infantry combat tour of Iraq, etc, It was a lot harder to put her down than I thought it would be.

I got one from Sportsman's Guide for about $99, but I think you can find them cheaper.

EDIT: They have them from $55-100 (cheaper if you're a member). Link

There are many good answers here.  Having been through this a few months ago, I'd consider these words.

Sorry ...

Pretty much describes our situation a few months ago.  Our pup was 12 1/2 though –– miss him too.

http://www.ar15.com/archive/topic.html?b=1&f=5&t=801243

When you care for your dog, more than yourself.
M

One of our two chocolate labs developed diabetes at about age four.

Fast forward to age 11, on the verge of 12. Graying hair, cataracts/nigh blindness, and shaky/unstable hind legs.

We had the dogs on a feeding timetable, because she needed insulin twice a day, 12 hours apart. One night we realized, after having lost track of time, that they needed to be fed. Normally these dogs start barking and getting loud and jumping around when they wanna eat, they know when it's food time.

So I went downstairs and said "Well I'm sure you guys are hungry." Chocolate Lab #2 and mom's Maltese start bugging out as per usual. The other lab though, she was just laying there not moving. I said hmm, that's weird. Let me check to see if she's still breathing. We knew her time was coming, but we didn't talk about it much since, it being my mom's dog, we wanted to avoid stressing out my mom, especially since she just got over a battle with cervical cancer by means of a hysterectomy.

I step over, and as I'm leveling out to look at the dog's ribcage, I step in something wet. Now I look up and realize, this can't be snow trekked in from outside, the door's too far away and there's too much water here. Then, in the light, I could see the puddle stretched all the way to the dog proper. Now I think, ah fuck, she's purging? Why did it have to be me to find this dog dead? Why did I know it was gonna be me?

I look over and see that her eyes are as wide as saucers, and I feel myself wanting to panic. I took my wet sock off and brushed the dry side across her face and she blinked, so I could tell she was still there, but she wasn't responding to voice commands. We couldn't get her roused up to eat at all. I called for my brother first to see if we could resolve it without getting my mom alarmed, gave the dog the insulin shot, and tried getting her up, didn't happen. We resolve to call my mom in.

She comes down hysterical, laying with/holding the dog, dad just gets in, we start hand feeding her food, that seemed to wake her up a bit since she was snatching it up. But we couldn't get her to stand up and walk around, her legs wouldn't have it. Then she had a seizure, and we thought that was gonna be it right there, but she was still in the fight.

We rushed her to a 24 hour animal hospital, where it was revealed that her blood sugar level was extremely low. They hooked her up to an IV of sugar water and wanted to keep her overnight to monitor her levels. She seized again while we were there, but they were able to stop it right away. Since they're a 24 hr hospital, my mom was able to call every hour on the hour if she wanted to for a sit-rep.

An hour after we got home, my mom is bawling in her room so loud I can hear it down the hall. I go in there to find out that she'd just called the vet, and they told her the dog's systems were shutting down. Kidneys, liver, all of it failing. My parents went the next morning to have her put to sleep. She's since been cremated, and her ashes/urn are in my mother's room.

Trina was a good dog.

So did mine.  His health was fair but his mind was gone.  
When it was obvious he had no clue where he was or what was going on around him we took him on his last ride.

When it looked like they were in trouble. First dog got sick and had renal failure. I did everything I could to make him happy and comfortable. When those things didn't seem to make him happy or comfortable anymore I knew it was time.

My other dog was a GSD, very old about 13 years. Starting having nightly seizures that terrified her, I knew it was time.

My old blue heeler was hurtin bad, just old. I went out in the yard and dug a hole, then went to find the dog, called and called and no answer. I go back to the hole and she is lieing in it looking at me. I gave her a treat and finished it. Crying my fuckin eyes out after 2 yrs.

im in a similar situation with my 100lb shepard whatever mix.  he is 13 yr old pound mut i rescued the day he was scheduled to be put down.  almost had him put down last xmas after he stopped eating for 3 days.  brought him home a double cheeseburger as a last meal, fucker ate it in 2 sec.  i went out and go him 6 more, slowly started mixing it in to a new batch of food and here we are a year later.  his hips are pretty bad, and he sleep most of the day until i get home, then he is a puppy for 10 min.  carry his big ass up the stair every night to his post just outside all the bedrooms where he stands guard till i get up.  I think once they stop taking care of themself, ie eating and going to the bathroom, then its time to let them go.  Otherwise i would let it go baring any serious medical issues of extreme obvious pain

This is Gus, an 11 year old Beagle. We had to put him down last Monday due to Lymphoma. He was mainly my Brother's dog, but was a family dog as well. My brother finally decided to do it when he was having trouble breathing to the point he couldn't even fall asleep. I honestly haven't cried so hard since my grandfather passed away in 2003.

When he had a stroke and couldn't even stand up.

I know the feeling. Put down my lab today.......12 years, two days old. He had bad hips and tumors too.

OP, you haven't had a good run with pups in the last year or so.  i am sorry.

It's not time.





It's time when she passes away, or has a terminal condition that is too painful to live through.





She sounds sweet, and like a real fighter.





Continue to give her the support you have been.  She's got lots of fight left in her.





There's a reason you were the one who got her from the rescue shelter despite her issues and condition.





Gettin' fuckin' dusty in here...







http://www.ar15.com/archive/topic.html?b=1&f=5&t=928497





 

Depending your location winter tends to be pretty harsh on dogs with joint problems. My 5 year old boxer has severe arthritis in his back and knees. During the winter he was having trouble getting up and jumping on the couch etc. Since it's warmed up a bit he's doing much much better. He's running and jumping like a champ again and in very good spirits. Don't want to give you false hope but if you can try some of the drugs Bear posted and if it helps i would wait till summer to see how he holds up. Maybe he can last one more season. We used Metacam on our guy and it surely helped him. I worry what's going to happen to my best buddy next winter.