I recently had to make the difficult decision of putting my black lab “Sam” to sleep. I feel bad about it everyday because I had to do it. I had to because I could not keep up with the constant cleaning and bathing. Also he could not be left alone for more than an hour and a half. He was in pain and had to be lifted into our car and sometimes down our stairs into our condo, often under the influence of a drug cocktail. Regardless of all the extra work I tried, I really tried. I was hoping as everyone does that he would pass away in his sleep. But he was a fighter and he hung in there always wanting to go on the walks with me and my other dogs (even if he couldn’t make it all the way back). I did all this and lots more for the last year just to help him out, but I was stressed and tired all the time. Now with my grandson crawling around I felt I had to take him into the vet. My vet didn’t encourage me but said he understood & that 14 years for a rescue lab who had heart worm and multiple other problems was actually a pretty good run. I hated to see Sam looking like a different dog, one that I didn’t know. For the last couple of years he was looking depressed and more than anything I felt bad for him, he was the pack leader and always so much the proud dog who was (it seemed to me) part human. So you may have noticed a few more “All dogs go to heaven paintings” being posted and now you know why. The Photo above was taken in 2002 ( in his prime) he loved the snow, we often called him Nanook because he could not get too much snow.
