Failed euthanasia leads to second chance for Detroit Rottie

Recent conversations on these topics

• Me too....

  Yesterday, we put our 11 year old GSD Kona to sleep. My wife, 3 boys and me were lucky enough to have a "country" vet who came to our home so Kona wouldn't have to go to the hated vets office. I've had dogs my whole life but never had to do it like this. It's really weird. You see the train coming down the track, you know it's going to hurt when it hits you but there is just no way to really prepare unless you've been through it before I guess. Like many GSD, he had bad back hips. He had broken his meal cycle, couldn't go down stairs any more and was actually "stuck" a couple of times in the last week because he got his rear end underneath his chest and couldn't untangle himself. Anyway, I just wanted to share my story. It's only been 24 hours but I can't believe he's gone. I find myself doing little things (like looking for him in his favorite nap places, waiting for the 6:00 a.m. "I need to go potty" whine, etc) and it's awful. There is a big hole in my heart for that big (120 lb) German Shepherd. He's free of pain now and much of it has been transferred to me.

• CYBILL

  I feel horrible that I waited tolong to put my lab mix down, yet I am also selfish and did not want her to go.. She was going on 16 y/o and could hardly walk on her back legs and one front leg was getting bad as well. Did I do the right thing? Should I or could I have done anything different? Hard part is my 2 y/o daughter asking about her..... We told her she went to be with Jesus (kinda worked) but still she questions it.. Any advice?

• switching teams

  I worked at a vet clinic for sometime. We sold the veterinary level foods from several different brands. The kinds pets need when they have extreme food allergies or diabetic or renal care. This food is on the higher end of pet food price range. About twice as much as grocery grade foods. But still we regularly have people come in buying the best for their furry babies. One time, a man came in to pick up the renal food for "his wife's" cat. I think for the case of canned cat food the total was $24. He jokingly scoffs at the cost and hands me a credit card. Then he says, "I can't believe I'm spending this much on cat food. I never used to be a cat person. I didn't get them. I was a dog person. I understand dogs, they show you exactly what they're feeling and thinking. Who would want an animal that doesn't run up to you when you get home? But now that we've had these two cats, I get it. It's a different kind of love. It just took having them to understand it." I haven't worked at that clinic for a few years now but moments like that are still crisp and vivid in my mind. It sounds like a similar transition for your dad. Maybe it started as a quest for companionship but turned out to be such a close camaraderie. Congratulations to him on his newfound love and hopefully this will be a new point of connection for the two of you.

• I wrote a song to help end animal abuse and raise money for non-profit groups

  I am an animal lover and musician. I wanted to find a way I could help animals and shelters, rescue groups, etc. So I wrote and recorded the song "It's Gotta Stop: The Animal Abuse Song". My goal is to have any animal related non-profit groups use the song to raise funds. My idea is to let them upload it as an MP3 or wave file where they could put it on their websites and let people download the song for a donation. Any thoughts? You can listen to the song at www.soundcloud.com/dogmom