Putting a dog to sleep - when?

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so I have this 18-year old dog who's somehow still alive, however hardly. people keep telling me I should put him down. personally, I don't think it's time, but I might be biased. so before I go into any more details about his condition, could you guys help me out here - I really want to be rational about this - and tell me what your criteria for putting a dog down would be? thx

If the dog is in continuous pain through a terminal illness or other infirmity then better to let it go. I had to have my German shepherd put down at the youngish age of 9. He'd got some sort of liver problem which was terminal. He started to go off his feet and it was clear he was in pain and very miserable. Had the vet not put him to sleep he would have lived another week or two but a horrible existence.

I suppose it comes down to quality of life for the animal. I see no good in prolonging a miserable / painful existence for an animal. If you are close to your dog (which I'm assuming you are) it will be obvious to you whether he is happy or not.

it's weird to think how putting a dog down is the norm but putting a person down for the same reasons is so controversial

(i dont know the answer to your Q sorry)

Yes it is indeed. Personally if I was dying a slow painful death I'd sooner it be over and done with. As a human I have that choice over my own destiny. For a pet, the owner has to take the responsibility and make the decision.

Yes lets put people suffering from cancer down too...

do you really though? euthanasia and assisted suicide are illegal in the majority of places



i didn't say what my opinion was on putting animals or humans down, i was just noting the contrast

I'm so sorry For me the deciding factor is when they are in pain more often than not, and they aren't happy anymore. I know it's a tough decision. I hope you can find peace in whatever you decide. *awkward long-distance aspie hug*

cheers Megz! I'm not sure how to asses his happiness or quality of life at the moment though.



that's the problem though. I'm all for the legalisation of assisted suicide but personally I'd never request it for myself. I have no way of knowing my dog's thoughts on the matter ;(

I don't think my dog is in pain. he seems frustrated with his disabilities though. he has cardiac problems and recently he's had trouble walking, falls over a lot or can't get up. he still enjoys his food, even though he sometimes has to crawl to his bowl

Last edited by anna-banana on 01 Jul 2011, 4:55 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Oh okay.. I love dogs more than humans so I always find putting a dog down very very hard.. I just tend to get worked up when I hear as much as harming an animal

@ anna-banana
I am sorry about you dog Anna Banana

Some dogs keep running till they keel over. If it's healthy and happy enough why on earth would you put it to sleep?



That's a tough one.. but if he's not in pain (don't they usually change personality/avoid people if they are?) I still wouldn't be so hasty... it's hard to know though.

What does your vet recommend?

the vet says that as long as he has appetite, it's a good indicator that he still has some life left in him. I tend to agree with that. thing is the dog looks pretty bad, he's skin and bones, as I said he falls over a lot, sometimes has to crawl. he recently had a serious infection and I could tell he was in a lot of pain - looked just like the mouse from this chart at "severe" level:


usually he looks just ok. I'm not sure how to rate his irritation with his own condition - he huffs and puffs as he tries to walk around but keeps falling, and eventually just lies down; so I'm guessing it's annoying for him too. on the other hand, he seems ok on some days. he just sleeps most of the time.

I just had to put my dog down two months ago. We got her as a rescue dog, the vet thought she was around 15. It was a very hard decision but what ultimately made me decide whas her stress level.she had really bad vision, fell a lot, and noises made her really freak out. She kind of had a meltdown when someone shot off a firework or gun or something. It lasted an hour and she shook like a leaf, just freaking out. For a 40 lb. Dog, it was hard to watch. The vet said that kind of response could be a reaction to pain, not just stress. We said goodbye to her as a family. Hope this helps.

In my experience, if a dog is in constant pain it makes them uncharacteristically more irritable, grumpy and bad tempered. Another curious thing I noticed is that if they think they are going to die then they may separate themselves from the family and go and lay down somewhere unusual, away from everyone. I was brought up with dogs so can read their emotional state very well - better than I can read humans sometimes!

actually he's been doing that a lot lately - laying down alone in weird places. he never used to do that, he'd get separation anxiety every time he lost the sight of me. I'm not sure if that means he's given up though?

I think this is really something you can only judge. I had to put one of my dogs down once. She had terminal cancer. I decided to put her down when she started struggling to breath.

I find a lot of people actually put their animals down while the animal is still able to enjoy life because they themselves can't deal with it, and not the animal.

Had I put my dog down any sooner, I feel I would have taken form her time with which she was still able to enjoy the world. It was really only in the last week of her life that I saw a change in her personality. Before that she was still trying to get food off the kitchen table, and still wanted to go on walks.

I don't think I would put an animal down on the basis that they were old. I would have to know that there was an actual terminal medical problem that was causing severe discomfort.

I recall one time I was at the animal shelter and I happened upon a one eyed cat which the staff estimated to be about 19. It was a pure bred and when I asked how it ended up at the shelter, I was shocked by the reply "The owners relinquished it because it was old"

I managed to get in touch with an organization that rescued that particular breed of cat and found someone who was more than happy to care for the cat in it's old age.