How to tell when it’s time to say goodbye to your fur baby is a subject that almost all dog owners struggle with.

We would all love our fur babies to last longer than they do.   No matter what age we lose our fur babies to Rainbow Bridge , it’s always heartbreaking.

Each and every dog that has been in my life and who have passed to Rainbow Bridge all have special places in my heart,   including all the dogs I have groomed as well.

As a Groomer the dogs I see in my Salon become part of my extended fur baby clan without a doubt.

I’ll also admit that I trust dogs a lot quicker and much easier than I do humans.

Dogs give us such unconditional love and trust, we are their WHOLE world, they rely on us for EVERYTHING they need to survive.  Their love is totally pure, innocent and everlasting.

This is why it’s so imperative that no matter what, we are there for them in the end.

NATURAL SIGNS THAT YOUR FUR BABY IS AGEING!

If you’re lucky enough, you’ll get to see your fur baby into old age, anything from age 9 onwards.

These are some normal basic signs that your fur baby is ageing:-

1. They don’t move around as much as they use to;
2. They take a bit longer in getting up and sitting down;
3. They’re not as fast/quick as they use to be;
4. They don’t hear you as clearly as they use to;
5. Their sight starts to deteriorate – you may see a blue tinge when looking into their eyes;
6. Their teeth may need to be pulled, or they can’t chew hard food any longer;
7. They may have arthritis;
8. They may start to lose their bowels like they did when they were a puppy;
9. Play time may not last as long as it use to;
10. They don’t want to walk or can’t walk as far as they use to;
11. Their coat may start to thin or change;
12. They can’t or won’t jump up on the lounge or into the car;
13. They may want to sleep more.

These are all natural signs of ageing in our fur babies.  As we get older  we all change and adapt to what our body can handle, it’s no different in our fur babies.

HOW TO TELL WHEN IT’S TIME TO SAY GOODBYE TO OUR FUR BABY!

There comes a time in our fur babies lives when we have to let them pass, and it’s heart wrenching, but the decision has to be made.

HENRY’S STORY!

While I was growing up I was surrounded by dogs, I loved them and we lost them and it was hard.  The first time I ever saw my dad cry was when our first Staffordshire Bull Terrier ‘Iggy’ passed away.

Henry was the first Staffy I owned after I moved out of home, I had full ownership of him and totally loved him to bits.

At the age of 11 Henry’s eyeball burst!!!  I came out one morning and he was with Isabel (my other Staffy at the time) and it looked like he had gunk on his eye, so I went to wipe it off and he screamed!!!

I took him to the vet and they said it was a  99% chance it was a brain tumour that caused the pressure behind his eye and made it burst.

I felt like the worst owner ever because he never showed any signs of discomfort at all.  He went for surgery to remove his eye, and he was totally fine afterwards.

HOWEVER, they said to me I could spend thousands more to do tests and to remove the tumour but at his age they couldn’t guarantee his survival.  Or that it wouldn’t come back or that they could remove all the tumour!!!

They said (and I’ll never forget hearing it or how much it cut me deeply) ‘take him home and love him, we can’t tell you how much longer he’s got, it could be 3 weeks or 3 months, just love him’!

Naturally I burst into tears!  I took him home and loved him the best way I knew how.  This happened in the March.

In the late October I noticed Henry starting to walk around in circles.  He also started falling over all the time until he could no longer walk.

I started feeding him by hand, and moving him around on a blanket.  He could no longer do anything for himself.

The time had come for ‘the decision‘ to be made.

For a day I struggled with myself about what right I had to make the choice to end his life?

And I’d never forgive myself if I was out grooming dogs and he died at home on his own without me being there with him.

Deep down though I knew he had lost his ‘quality of life‘.

I knew that Henry would hate the fact that he couldn’t protect his girls, myself and Isabel, any longer.

So it was time I had to say goodbye and let him pass to Rainbow Bridge.

I came home with that intention, and I noticed his breathing was laboured and not normal.

I managed to pick him up and carry him inside to his bed.   I sat with him in my lap, crying the whole time because I knew it was time.

He passed away in my arms that afternoon……………(geez I’m crying now as I type this).

IT’S TIME TO SAY GOODBYE WHEN…….

Your dog has lost their ‘quality of life’ and I don’t just mean their natural signs of ageing, I’m talking about they can’t do anything for themselves any longer.   When all quality of their life is non – existent.

Dog’s will also give you that look, the look that says I’m ready please let me go.  I don’t want to leave you either but it’s my time.

The most important thing you can do in this time is be there for your dog, as heart breaking as it is, it’s the best thing for them to see the people who loved them their whole life while they pass.

WHAT DOES ALL THIS MEAN?

As our dogs get older they have natural signs of ageing.

However, it’s when our dogs lose their total quality of life that the hardest decision has to be made.

In their time of passing it’s important that your fur babies family are the people they see while they are passing.  As hard as it is for us to experience, imagine what it’s like for them.

IN THE COMMENTS BELOW – BILLY WOULD LIKE TO KNOW – LIFE STORIES OF YOUR FUR BABIES THAT HAVE PASSED TO RAINBOW BRIDGE.

In Loving Memory of Ninja (dog pictured) my dear friend’s dog who passed to Rainbow Bridge recently.