Rant for dog owners

[WinterBorn]

A few years ago, someone started a thread (here or on Faacebook - I can't recall) saying they were finally able to get a dog. It would be their first dog ever.

They asked for advice and then asked what was the hardest part of having a dog. In a very short time there were dozens of replies. All saying the same thing. "The end".

I have a friend who is a veterinarian. Good guy with a calling. I saw him yesterday at a music festival and we had a chance to catch up.

He started talking about the hardest parts of his job. Hands down, the hardest part is putting pets to sleep. He knows these animals were loved and cherished. He said it was several years into his practice before he was able to do it without tears in his eyes.

And then he told me what makes it even worse. Apparently there people who take their old or ill dog to be mercifully helped to cross over. But they say "I can't handle being in there" or whatever.


If you cannot stand to be there when your beloved pet leaves this world, don't get a dog!

When it comes times, the dog is ill, old or both. They are scared. They should never be alone for that. They should never be in a strange room with strangers for their last moments.

That is NOT how you repay years of love and loyalty.

 

[Blues Man]

Dean Koontz said it best

“Dogs, lives are short, too short, but you know that going in. You know the pain is coming, you're going to lose a dog, and there's going to be great anguish, so you live fully in the moment with her, never fail to share her joy or delight in her innocence, because you can't support the illusion that a dog can be your lifelong companion. There's such beauty in the hard honesty of that, in accepting and giving love while always aware that it comes with an unbearable price. Maybe loving dogs is a way we do penance for all the other illusions we allow ourselves and the mistakes we make because of those illusions.”​

 

[sparky]

George G. Vest
Eulogy of the Dog
23 September 1870
Warrensburg, Missouri

Gentlemen of the jury—
The best friend a man has in the world may turn against him and become his enemy. His son or daughter whom he has reared with loving care may prove ungrateful. Those who are nearest and dearest to us, those whom we trust with out happiness and our good name, may become traitors to their faith. The money that a man has he may lose. It flies from him perhaps when he needs it most. A man’s reputation may be sacrificed in a moment of ill-considered action. The people who are prone to fall on their knees to do us honor when success is with us may be the first to throw the stone of malice when failure settles its cloud upon our heads. The one absolutely unselfish friend that a man can have in this selfish world, the one that never deserts him, the one that never proves ungrateful or treacherous, is the dog.

Gentlemen of the jury, a man’s dog stands by him in prosperity and in poverty, in health and in sickness. He will sleep on the cold ground when the wintry winds blow and the snow drives fiercely, if only he can be near his master’s side. He will kiss the hand that has no food to offer, he will lick the wounds and sores that come in encounter with the roughness of the world. He guards the sleep of his pauper master as if he were a prince.

When all other friends desert, he remains. When riches take wings and reputation falls to pieces, he is as constant in his love as the sun in its journey through the heavens. If fortune drives the master forth an outcast into the world, friendless and homeless, the faithful dog asks no higher privilege than that of accompanying him, to guard him against danger, to fight against his enemies. And when the last scene of all comes, and death takes his master in its embrace and his body is laid in the cold ground, no matter if all other friends pursue their way, there by his graveside will the noble dog be found, his head between his paws and his eyes sad but open, in alert watchfulness, faithful and true, even unto death.

~S~

 

[frigidweirdo]

A few years ago, someone started a thread (here or on Faacebook - I can't recall) saying they were finally able to get a dog. It would be their first dog ever.

They asked for advice and then asked what was the hardest part of having a dog. In a very short time there were dozens of replies. All saying the same thing. "The end".

I have a friend who is a veterinarian. Good guy with a calling. I saw him yesterday at a music festival and we had a chance to catch up.

He started talking about the hardest parts of his job. Hands down, the hardest part is putting pets to sleep. He knows these animals were loved and cherished. He said it was several years into his practice before he was able to do it without tears in his eyes.

And then he told me what makes it even worse. Apparently there people who take their old or ill dog to be mercifully helped to cross over. But they say "I can't handle being in there" or whatever.


If you cannot stand to be there when your beloved pet leaves this world, don't get a dog!

When it comes times, the dog is ill, old or both. They are scared. They should never be alone for that. They should never be in a strange room with strangers for their last moments.

That is NOT how you repay years of love and loyalty.

I'm going to disagree. A lot of people get pets because they need help and support getting through this life.

Many humans do. It's why we have drugs, alcohol, cigarettes, sports, TV, computers games and social media and many many other things. A lot of people simply can't cope with reality.

 

[JGalt]

My dog just brings me pieces of dead shit he finds in the woods. The yard is littered with bones, pieces of fur, and three deer skulls, I shit you not.

His favorite toy is a worn out army boot I threw out in the yard.

 

[hjmick]

I can't imagine not being in the room to love on my dogs one last time. I would be riddled with guilt if I didn't. As it is, I have spent weeks afterward wondering if we hadn't done it too soon... If you can't see them out, don't let them in.

Anytime I know someone has suffered the loss of a dog, I send them, or post this:

My Dog: The Paradox - The Oatmeal

A comic about my dog, Rambo.

theoatmeal.com

 

[WinterBorn]

I'm going to disagree. A lot of people get pets because they need help and support getting through this life.

Many humans do. It's why we have drugs, alcohol, cigarettes, sports, TV, computers games and social media and many many other things. A lot of people simply can't cope with reality.

I understand that. But I also understand, when it comes time, you suck it up and send them on their way with the same love and loyalty they gave you for years.

 

[WinterBorn]

I can't imagine not being in the room to love on my dogs one last time. I would be riddled with guilt if I didn't. As it is, I have spent weeks afterward wondering if we hadn't done it too soon... If you can't see them out, don't let them in.

Anytime I know someone has suffered the loss of a dog, I send them, or post this:

My Dog: The Paradox - The Oatmeal

A comic about my dog, Rambo.

theoatmeal.com

This reminds me of an old joek.

"If you want to know who loves you more, your wife or your dog, lock them both in the trunk of your car for 30 mins, and see which is glad to see you when you open it."

 

[sparky]

A lot of people simply can't cope with reality.

yet another reason why dogs are better people.....than people.....~S~

 

[Blues Man]

My dog just brings me pieces of dead shit he finds in the woods. The yard is littered with bones, pieces of fur, and three deer skulls, I shit you not.

His favorite toy is a worn out army boot I threw out in the yard.

One day my dog came trotting out of the woods with a naked cabbage patch doll. I shit you not from a distance it looked like she was carrying a baby

Freaked me right out until I got close enough to see what it was.

 

[WinterBorn]

yet another reason why dogs are better people.....than people.....~S~

We don't deserve dogs. But they think we are the greatest.

On a board I used to frequent, one of the posters had a line on their profile that I loved. "I strive to be the person my dog thinks I am".

 

[JGalt]

This reminds me of an old joek.

"If you want to know who loves you more, your wife or your dog, lock them both in the trunk of your car for 30 mins, and see which is glad to see you when you open it."

Mitt Romney's wife would have divorced him if he had tied her to the roof of his car, like he did his dog.

Mitt Romney dog incident - Wikipedia

 

[rightwinger]

We have always been with our dogs when they have been put to sleep. It is a very emotional time but I can’t condemn those who choose to say their goodbyes and then step out of the room.

Everyone handles grief differently

 

[WinterBorn]

We have always been with our dogs when they have been put to sleep. It is a very emotional time but I can’t condemn those who choose to say their goodbyes and then step out of the room.

Everyone handles grief differently

Yes, everyone handles grief differently. That comes after. No dog would ever leave their person to die without them. The least we can do is offer the same.

 

[Moonglow]

I can't imagine not being in the room to love on my dogs one last time. I would be riddled with guilt if I didn't. As it is, I have spent weeks afterward wondering if we hadn't done it too soon... If you can't see them out, don't let them in.

Anytime I know someone has suffered the loss of a dog, I send them, or post this:

My Dog: The Paradox - The Oatmeal

A comic about my dog, Rambo.

theoatmeal.com

I had one put to sleep on the first of September because of lymphoma, she was a great mouse catcher.

 

[hjmick]

I had one put to sleep on the first of September because of lymphoma, she was a great mouse catcher.

In the last eleven years we've had to take care of two (we have three now) and each time I cried more than when my dad died. Don't get me wrong, I loved my dad, but I had time to prepare for his passing and I knew he knew what was happening... my dogs? I don't know what they knew. Besides, I'd been spending everyday of almost 17 years with those dogs...

 

[JustAnotherNut]

 

[HeyNorm]

A few years ago, someone started a thread (here or on Faacebook - I can't recall) saying they were finally able to get a dog. It would be their first dog ever.

They asked for advice and then asked what was the hardest part of having a dog. In a very short time there were dozens of replies. All saying the same thing. "The end".

I have a friend who is a veterinarian. Good guy with a calling. I saw him yesterday at a music festival and we had a chance to catch up.

He started talking about the hardest parts of his job. Hands down, the hardest part is putting pets to sleep. He knows these animals were loved and cherished. He said it was several years into his practice before he was able to do it without tears in his eyes.

And then he told me what makes it even worse. Apparently there people who take their old or ill dog to be mercifully helped to cross over. But they say "I can't handle being in there" or whatever.


If you cannot stand to be there when your beloved pet leaves this world, don't get a dog!

When it comes times, the dog is ill, old or both. They are scared. They should never be alone for that. They should never be in a strange room with strangers for their last moments.

That is NOT how you repay years of love and loyalty.

Agreed. The wife and I were both there at the end. Can’t imagine no being with her. Sad Day indeed.

And why we never got another.

 

[rightwinger]

Agreed. The wife and I were both there at the end. Can’t imagine no being with her. Sad Day indeed.

And why we never got another.

More of a reason to get another

 

[HeyNorm]

More of a reason to get another

I have a friend that adopts older dogs. They know they will have them for a short time, they’ve put down at least a dozen.

It’s the only way I’d do it again.