My precious doggie passed today.
She was over 16 years old and in very poor health, so this was not a surprise. Still, the emotional loss my husband and I feel is overwhelming. We came home from dinner tonight and I picked her up to change her diaper (yeah she was that far gone). Anyway, all of a sudden she started to seizure, turned over and started gasping for breath. I kept my hand on her heart because I feared the worst. Then the heart beat stopped. I am grateful that she was surrounded by those who loved her and that she died at home but it is still so raw. I loved her so much.
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it still hurts. My thoughts go out to you and your family.
Losing an animal friend is so hard. 
I love my dogs too.
I'm glad you were able to be there for her at the end. Thought are with you.
it does hurt so much - it is all about love with us and them.
Wishing you and your husband comfort.
Moonriver, you have my sincerest sympathy. I know how hard it is to have lost a wonderful companion, a treasured member of your family 
It's so hard to lose a wonderful companion, but it happens, and you are lost. We all were there too when we lost our wonderful babies. Please, I know it is so soon, please consider adopting a sweet baby from your local animal shelter. Your next baby may be from a shelter who is protecting him or her for you! They are waiting for you..... they depend on you for their lives.
It's so difficult to lose a loved one. I hope you don't suffer too much, and I am glad that your beloved doggie was with you at the end.
I've dealt with three tough losses this past year...a dear longtime friend, my old mother, and my sweet little brown tabby. My poor kitty was the first to go yet she is the one that I still find myself so sadly grieving. Time is said to heal all, but losing that closeness we share with our furry friends sometimes leaves such a void...they may be smaller creatures but the love they bring us is huge.
Sending on good vibes for you and your family, hugs and thoughts of strength and peace.
A loving owner is all a dog asks for.
It's not easy to lose a furry family member.
I know how much we all love our pets. It's sad that they have such short lives, comparatively speaking. It must have been terrible to see her die, but we should all be so lucky as to die in the arms of our loved ones. She's now at peace.
on the loss of your beloved pet. For her to have lived that long is a testament to the wonderful care she received from your family over the years. Sounds as if you and your husband had an excellent hospice arrangement for her so that she was comfortable and at peace. You are both to be emulated by every pet owner.
I totally empathize and understand your grief. Our pets are so much a part of our life, and emotional connections. It hurts....even when they are old and ill, it's very difficult to let go. She was likely waiting for you to come home and hold her one last time..... If it's right for you and your family, hopefully a new loved creature may come into your life to fill the void.
I'm sorry you lost your girl. But I'm glad you had her and loved her, and held her at the end. Who can ask for more, really?
our fur babies become part of us and it's so hard to lose them she died knowing she was loved and in the warmth of your arms-may peace and healing be upon you
our family (both two-legged and four-legged) to you and your husband...
Our dog died last month, and I still hear the toenails on the wood floor too.
It's so hard to lose a close family member.
Grieve not,
nor speak of me with tears,
but laugh and talk of me
as if I were beside you.....
I loved you so --
'twas Heaven here with you.
--by Ilsa Paschal Richardson
how wonderful you had each other.
i'm sure there are no words of true comfort now -- the comfort would be her and to have her back.
i went through this parting with my little furry girl seven months ago and i still grieve for her. i think saying goodbye for this lifetime is the hardest thing we do. when we love someone we never want to part with them. and although i believe i will see my baby again, and i feel she is still near (the scratching sound on the kitchen door frame, a bump against the couch when she'd rub her face along the bottom of it, and more), my heart is still broken.
i was with my girl at the end too.
how amazing it is that we (us and them) love so much.
my heart goes out to you.
hard to say goodbye to out beloved pets. My beloved dog passed in 2012 and my heart still aches for her, I understand the grief you and your husband are feeling.
I want to share this writing with you - the veterinarian gave this to me when I picked up my dog's ashes. I hope it eventually brings you some healing and comfort.
The Fourth Day
by Martin Scot Kosins
If you ever love an animal, there are three days in your life you will always remember.
The first is a day, blessed with happiness, when you bring home your young new friend. You may have spent weeks deciding on a breed. You may have asked numerous opinions of many vets, or done long research in finding a breeder. Or, perhaps in a fleeting moment, you may have just chosen that silly looking mutt in a shelter ... simply because something in its eyes reached your heart.
But when you bring that chosen pet home, and watch it explore, and claim its special place in your hall or front room - and when you feel it brush against you for the first time - it instills a feeling of pure love you will carry with you through the many years to come.
The second day will occur eight or nine or ten years later. It will be a day like any other. Routine and unexceptional. But, for a surprising instant, you will look at your longtime friend and see age where you once saw youth. You will see slow deliberate steps where you once saw energy. And you will see sleep where you once saw activity. So you will begin to adjust your friend's diet - and you may add a pill or two to her food. And you will feel a growing fear deep within yourself, which bodes of a coming emptiness.
And you will feel this uneasy feeling, on and off, until the third day finally arrives.
And on this day - if your friend has not decided for you, then you will be faced with making a decision of your own - on behalf of your lifelong friend, and with the guidance of your own deepest Spirit.
But whichever way your friend eventually leaves you - you will feel as alone as a single star in the dark night sky.
If you are wise, you will let the tears flow as freely and as often as they must. And if you are typical, you will find that not many in your circle of family or human friends will be able to understand the depth of your grief, or comfort you.
But if you are true to the love of the pet you cherished through the many joy filled years, you may find that a soul - a bit smaller in size than your own - seems to walk with you, at times, during the lonely days to come.
And at moments when you least expect anything out of the ordinary to happen, you may feel something brush against your leg - very very lightly. And looking down at the place where your dear, perhaps dearest, friend used to lay, you will remember those three significant days.
The memory will most likely be painful, and leave an ache in your heart. As time passes the ache will come and go as if it has a life of its own. You will both reject it and embrace it, and it may confuse you. If you reject it, it will depress you. If you embrace it, it will deepen you. Either way, it will still be an ache.
But there will be, I assure you, a fourth day when - along with the memory of your pet - and piercing through the heaviness in your heart, there will come a realization that belongs only to you. It will be as unique and strong as our relationship with each animal we have loved, and lost.
This realization takes the form of a Living Love - like the heavenly scent of a rose that remains after the petals have wilted, this Love will remain and grow - and be there for us to remember.
It is a Love we have earned.
It is the legacy our pets leave us when they go - And it is a gift we may keep with us as long as we live.
It is a Love which is ours alone - And until we ourselves leave, perhaps to join our Beloved Pets - It is a Love that we will always possess.
It really helped reading your kind words and knowing that there is so much love and caring here on DU. I do believe my baby, as well as other fur companions I have loved and lost, and I will be reunited in love someday. We plan to get a rescue dog at some point, but I'm not ready yet.
Glad to support this thread. My 15 year old cat died last winter.
I understand how it works.
They are like family but better.They give unconditional love just because they can.
Edit: For a long time I couldn't reply or even read these threads after I lost my beloved Budster.It's hard
You gave her a wonderful life, and how fortunate that she passed in your arms, knowing she was loved.
Peace and healing to you and the rest of her friends and family.
How wonderful for her. I'm so sorry for the loss. I know how much it hurts.
bittersweet she went wraped in loving arms.
I love doggies too. Bless you for being such a good doggie mommy. I wish I could do something. Take care.
I have been there. Nobody, NOBODY, loves us like our dogs do.
When I finally accepted that my beloved Cammy-dog was near the end of her 13 years with me, I scheduled an appointment at the vet's to have her suffering ended. We carried her to the front lawn, one of her favorite places, and gently laid her down. It was a beautiful sunny day. She raised her head, looked around sniffing the fresh air, and then turned on her side and breathed her last. I've always thought that somehow she knew how difficult it would be for me to have her put down, and thus she spared me that awful experience. It has been almost 9 years, and I still cry when I think about her. She was my friend, faithful companion and source of unconditional love through thick and thin. Hard to express how much I loved her. May you be blessed by every memory of your precious doggie, and oh, endless tears are okay, too. I'm living proof of that.
Blessings and
I couldn't bare the idea of making the final decision. My baby did it for me in the best possible way.
{{{{{MoonRiver}}}}}}
We lost our silly sweet Freckles (our Labradoodle) last August. it was heart breaking. Thankfully we were with her too. My heart goes out to you and your husband.
You came through for her and I know that if she saw you suffering she would be the first one to try to cheer you up. The sixteen years of the life you gave her is a reward for both of you. So sorry for your loss.
My sheltie Emma went to doggy heaven Friday. She was 14 and had congestive heart failure. She woke up at 4:00 a.m. on Friday struggling for breath. She died at the vet's office--in my arms-- at 4:20 that afternoon. My husband gifted me with a kitten at Christmas and it has,surprisingly, been a real comfort. As my holistic vet said, it's the circle of life. My thoughts are with you 
for your loss.
Always remember that... and all the good times. 
We're going through the same thing.
My husband did too, but in a different part of the house. We talked about it later and the "coincidence" was amazing. She is definitely our precious angel now!
She is happy too!! Enjoy the presence of your precious angel! 
