Mans best friend - shooting vs euthanasia

[nodyroc]

I took my last two GSPs to the vet for an injection. As some others said, it didn't feel right to me and I'm unsure how to explain it. When I got home I told my wife never again but honestly, I'm not sure I could do it. I have two GSPs (Brothers) now that are 4 years old I'm not looking forward to that decision down the road. God speed man in whatever you decide, it sucks either way you look at it.

 

[jjohnsonElknewbie]

I took my last two GSPs to the vet for an injection. As some others said, it didn't feel right to me and I'm unsure how to explain it. When I got home I told my wife never again but honestly, I'm not sure I could do it. I have two GSPs (Brothers) now that are 4 years old I'm not looking forward to that decision down the road. God speed man in whatever you decide, it sucks either way you look at it.

We had them come to the house for 2 reasons:
1. There was no way in hell I could shoot my boy
2. It's 20 minute drive to vet and he would've gotten all excited about the car ride just to meet his end. I couldn't deal with that kind of betrayal. The cold steel table and everybody in the place knowing what was happening was too much guilt for me to bear. Done it twice on 2 other dogs and vowed never again.

He got to be at home, on a beautiful day, with his nose full of rooster. Can't think of a better way to go for a bird dog.

 

[robcollins]

Depends on a lot.

The shit head gun shy rescue with an escape fetish that knocked my wife down as we headed to the hospital for a transfusion after a horrible miscarriage exited knowing what was coming when I pulled out the 45. I piled rocks where he fell, and have no regrets.

My next dog, I picked from the litter, fetched pheasant and grouse, and was sitting next to me while I was making coffee on a backpacking trip, saw a bull moose running towards us, met him half way and ran him off after trying to kill her for about 15 seconds, 6 months later, a brain tumor. I was holding her in my lap crying when the vet gave her the injection, wrapped her in a blanket, brought her home. My kids said their goodbyes, and helped me dig the hole. I packed rocks from spots we'd been for a few months to line her grave.

For me, couldn't shoot a loyal dog unless it was the only way to stop their suffering without other means. The dog that trampled my wife in a desperate situation, got what he deserved and was left to rot.

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[Blowdowner]

He’d have to be in crazy pain for shooting to be the right choice. It’s so graphic the only way you could live with the sight of his brains on the ground would be to know for certain his body was a source of endless horrific torture.

If you could get your hands on the proper drugs that might be better.

 

[Mike Islander]

TEHO.

A well placed bullet to the head = absolutely no suffering for the dog. It's humane. It's messy. It's personal. The mess wouldn't bother me in the slightest. And there is an elegance to doing this yourself. That's me, and I literally could not care less what someone else "thinks" about it.

But the dog then has to come home to be buried, and the mess would bother my wife, who would want to pet it one last time to say goodbye. I love my wife, so our animals go to the vet. But I would do the former if I were single.

 

[TaperPin]

Anyone who grew up around livestock knows shooting stray dogs chasing animals in the field is kind of a normal part of the gig. Dogs go down just like coyotes - often a bang flop and some thrashing. One especially large furry one was broadside and took a 130 gr 270 a bit above the heart - it spun around three times throwing large amounts of blood everywhere and collapsed. Had that been my Sparky, it would be a hard image to pack around, even if it were needed.

I grew up without a lot of extra money - like many people we didn’t go hungry, but we often ate out of the pantry the week before mom’s payday. Times are much better and paying for a vet isn’t a huge burden. We recently had a dear old dog put down - she was deaf, nearly blind, pissed everywhere - I watched her have a seizure Friday night - there was no doubt her time had come. I stayed up all night with her, hoping it was a one time deal, but knowing it probably wasn’t and it wasn’t.

Even in a big town, anything after 5:00pm Friday and you have to go to an emergency vet - $450 - we can afford it, but what the hell do people on a tight budget do? I googled what amount of oxi it takes to kill a dog - drug heads have been feeling no pain overdosing, you would think it would be a sensible option. Well, our dog wouldn’t even eat a little cheese or lunch meat, so pills weren’t an option. I’m probably in a file somewhere as a dog abuser since google sells information on who searches for what.

For anyone with a pet, figure out what you’ll do, with who, before you need it. The corporate emergency room is ridiculous and they do everything possible to drag it on and add extra costs.

 

[*zap*]

What a sad day that would be, to end my best friend.

 

[mtnwrunner]

God, I hate this thread.

Randy

 

[Musky]

There's no way I could put my own dog down. When the time comes, we'll be calling the vet to our home. She deserves that, in my mind and nothing will change that.

 

[neverquit]

I feel like I’m a cold hearted combat vet. But there’s no way I could kill my own dog.

My 14y plott hound was nice enough to go in the back yard fall asleep and die a few months back.

 

[willtim]

You have to be ******* kidding me.

 

[TxxAgg]

Farm life would be hard for a lot of folks.

 

[WildBoose]

I grew up on a farm and still live rural...Farm life is tough, and you learn to become ok with things that you otherwise wouldn't. I've had to put down two dogs of mine that have been hit by cars, the thought still lives in my mind. Unless they are in severe pain I will never do that again. I will call the vet to my house, fix them a giant bowl of food and hug their neck as they pass over the bridge. Pets are a funny thing, makes me teary eyed just thinking about it,

 

[Jpsmith1]

Go to the vet. Just go to the vet, man.

 

[ThorM465]

Anyone who grew up around livestock knows shooting stray dogs chasing animals in the field is kind of a normal part of the gig. Dogs go down just like coyotes - often a bang flop and some thrashing. One especially large furry one was broadside and took a 130 gr 270 a bit above the heart - it spun around three times throwing large amounts of blood everywhere and collapsed. Had that been my Sparky, it would be a hard image to pack around, even if it were needed.

I grew up without a lot of extra money - like many people we didn’t go hungry, but we often ate out of the pantry the week before mom’s payday. Times are much better and paying for a vet isn’t a huge burden. We recently had a dear old dog put down - she was deaf, nearly blind, pissed everywhere - I watched her have a seizure Friday night - there was no doubt her time had come. I stayed up all night with her, hoping it was a one time deal, but knowing it probably wasn’t and it wasn’t.

Even in a big town, anything after 5:00pm Friday and you have to go to an emergency vet - $450 - we can afford it, but what the hell do people on a tight budget do? I googled what amount of oxi it takes to kill a dog - drug heads have been feeling no pain overdosing, you would think it would be a sensible option. Well, our dog wouldn’t even eat a little cheese or lunch meat, so pills weren’t an option. I’m probably in a file somewhere as a dog abuser since google sells information on who searches for what.

For anyone with a pet, figure out what you’ll do, with who, before you need it. The corporate emergency room is ridiculous and they do everything possible to drag it on and add extra costs.

My Wife and I discussed the emergency vet when we needed to put ours down the Sunday of last Memorial Day weekend. We were both of the same opinion that it'll be a cold day in hell before we took him to a cold strange place, and that be his last memory.

5.56 double tap by the ear, with the over pressure it was instant, he never felt a single thing. As hard as it was, I'm at peace with how I did it. It was exactly what he deserved, anything else would have been for my benefit, not his.

 

[jolemons]

I shot my last dog, first time I did it myself. .357 to the head when we were out on his last walk. If you can handle the emotion, understand the anatomy and have a dog that will hold still, it's the way to go.

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[Dwnw/theAltitudesickness]

Read and followed this thread when it first came out. Just revisited it. In September, had to take my dog to the vet to put her down. This was after an extremely long stressful day at work, including brining in a HAZMAT team. Had many phone calls from the wife throughout the day on the dogs rapid decline, think she had a stroke in the back yard. But she was still cognizant when we I came home. She tried to get up to follow me from one room to the other, could barely lift her head up.

Would agree with the statement before, make and have a plan on what you will do. We talked so many times about lining up a vet to come to the house, never got it done in time. Regret that. Had to go to an emergency vet at 10 PM.

She was 13 years old, was going deaf, and was starting to lose back end stability/ falling down in the last few months. Wish I would of planned a day to do some of her favorite things, and not just been a terrible end to a shitty day. Regret not giving her that. Just figured I had more time. Though at least another year, or 2....

I may not be the one "pulling the trigger", but to sign that paper and watch the needle go in seems close enough. I guess, I would rather remember the death of my beloved pet, and not the anticipated mess of the blood and additional work.

To be honest it has probably taken me 30 minutes to write these few words down.

 

[TaperPin]

My Wife and I discussed the emergency vet when we needed to put ours down the Sunday of last Memorial Day weekend. We were both of the same opinion that it'll be a cold day in hell before we took him to a cold strange place, and that be his last memory.

5.56 double tap by the ear, with the over pressure it was instant, he never felt a single thing. As hard as it was, I'm at peace with how I did it. It was exactly what he deserved, anything else would have been for my benefit, not his.

I see nothing wrong with that at all.

 

[Pharmseller]

“I ought to have shot that dog myself, George, I shouldn’t ought to have let no stranger shoot my dog”

 

[twofer]

I've done the at-home euthanasia route: The dog is lying in his favorite spot, surrounded by the people he knows and loves, he's getting pets while the sedative takes affect, and is totally unconscious and unaware while the final drugs are administered. The dog feels absolutely no pain and no anxiety. It is the way to go.

JMHO