Need Help Getting My Daughter to put her dog to rest

[Kb467]

I am at such a loss with this problem. We have an old English Springer (13 years) she is blind, and has lost her hearing. She walks in circles all day, or else bumps into things. She has been incontenent for years as well. She cries much of the time, but I don't know why. The Veterinarian says she is like an old person with Alzheimers disease, because she gets scared all the time because she doesn't know where she is. We have to give her dramamine to get her to calm down, because she screams so loudly at night.

The problem is my 23 year old daughter who lives with me will not let me have the dog put to sleep. I keep telling her the dog has a horrible quality of life and it would be the most humane thing to do. But she keeps telling me that I have no right to "Kill" her dog. I keep telling my daugher that if I was in that condition I would not want to live either. She won't listen to anything I say about this. She says it is because the dog has become inconvenient and that is not an acceptable reason to put her down.

She will never forgive me if I do what I believe is right and have the dog put down.

Stuck for an Answer

[latergatorj]

:-( Let her take care of her dog. I feel that at this point, it is less the dog you need to worry about... and more your daughter. She needs to feel that she's done everything she can for her pet. It is not a good feeling to have regrets that you made that kind of decision earlier than you think you should have. I would not put her pet down for her.

I am 25 and just had to put down my kitty, she was almost 11. She was with me through many difficult teenage and young adult years. She was there when my grandma died and when my mom was diagnosed with cancer. There were so many times, where I felt she was my only friend, my reason for being here. I know that sounds extreme, but it is true.

It took me a very very long time to make the decision to let her go. And if I had let her go before I had really felt it wasn't fair to keep her, it would have been much much harder for me. She died September 2nd, and I still don't feel any better about it. I have just started seeing a grief counselor about it.

I feel for your daughter. I don't think this is something you can "hurry" along. The fact that she is going to lose her dog, whether or not she makes the end, sooner, less painful or not, is something that she needs to realize on her own.

I would also very much recommend grief counseling for your daughter. Losing a pet you are attached to, is very much losing a part of yourself. Please don't wait as long as I have to do this.

This is an especially a difficult time for this to happen, because this is when people my age have "life crisises" in that they're finishing up with school and are just figuring out what it is they want to do with their life, and that life/plans are not what they imagined them to be... and they need to re-evaluate their plans for the future.

I wish I could say more positive, more helpful things for making this easier, but I can't. This is not an easy situation. I hope that things turn out okay for you, your daughter, and her dog.