my oldest and last dog Rosie

Stogies

Stogies

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She will be 16 in April and she has a cancer in her mouth (we were told it was an aggressive form) but so far that didn't seem to bother her too much but yesterday she threw up yellow bile, walked to the door and just collapsed to the right and started crying for a few seconds. We are waiting for the bloodwork to come back. Last night's dinner did not stay down either but breakfast did. She is still looking for her best friend Brett who went over 10/15 after 12 years together. I fear that her heart is broken and that she want to be back with her pack.

She is the first dog I took in and the reason why I met my wife, met Brett, took in Jinx, Eddie and 56 (all of which are gone). She was the queen of the dog house and the pack leader and ironically she is the certifiably oldest of the pack and still alive. She was born 04/15/06 right across the street from me. I had her since she was just a teeny tiny puppy and she made me realize my love for dogs. While I was still fussing over the decision to take her somebody took her briefly and my heart broke when I was told. But they brought her back and that's when I snatched her up because I had realized she was supposed to be mine.

Once she goes we will take a break from having dogs for a while.
 
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I won't let a dog or any other animal suffer. After putting down far too many dogs I still look back and ask myself did I do the right thing. So far my answer has been yes. If I wouldn't want to live in that condition, they shouldn't have to either. Quality of life trumps quantity. Hope that helps.

Plz reconsider taking a break. I said that 3 dogs back and couldn't stand it, lasted 6 months. There are so many dogs out there for rescue now, it is unbelievable.
 
Sorry to hear this. They're the most loyal with no questions asked. Other than when do we eat and go out to play. Prayers your way.
 
Story time: A long time ago, we saw an ad in the news paper about a little Chihuahua that needed adopting from the animal shelter; no joke, her name was Rosie! We went to look at her and she was eaten up with mange. Before committing to adopting her, the shelter let us take her to our vet who promptly said to do the right thing and put her down.....she was too far gone! Well, long story, longish: Mrs. Jfanatic took the little newspaper clipping with her while we were visiting her dad. ........... she was hooked. Anyway, we got back home, went to the shelter, said the heck with it, adopted her, spent about $5,000 to get her "right" and she was literally the best most grateful dog we ever had...........she lasted 16 years. When it came time, we decided to put her down because.......well, it was time. I miss that dang dog and I remain steadfast to not have another. Do what is right, despite how damn hard it is!144.JPG
 
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REELDOC said:
I won't let a dog or any other animal suffer. After putting down far too many dogs I still look back and ask myself did I do the right thing. So far my answer has been yes. If I wouldn't want to live in that condition, they shouldn't have to either. Quality of life trumps quantity. Hope that helps.

Plz reconsider taking a break. I said that 3 dogs back and couldn't stand it, lasted 6 months. There are so many dogs out there for rescue now, it is unbelievable.
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I would take another one in right now. But my wife refuses she says you go to work every day but when they get sick and old it's me cleaning them up and taking care of them and I just need a break. I can respect that.
 
jfanatic said:
Story time: A long time ago, we saw an ad in the news paper about a little Chihuahua that needed adopting from the animal shelter; no joke, her name was Rosie! We went to look at her and she was eaten up with mange. Before committing to adopting her, the shelter let us take her to our vet who promptly said to do the right thing and put her down.....she was too far gone! Well, long story, longish: Mrs. Jfanatic took the little newspaper clipping with her while we were visiting her dad. ........... she was hooked. Anyway, we got back home, went to the shelter, said the heck with it, adopted her, spent about $5,000 to get her "right" and she was literally the best most grateful dog we ever had...........she lasted 16 years. When it came time, we decided to put her down because.......well, it was time. I miss that dang dog and I remain steadfast to not have another. Do what is right, despite how damn hard it is!View attachment 400792
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That is a sweet story, thank you for sharing! How log ago did she cross?
 
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This sucks, every single time.
We’ve two Rotties, my 11yr girl is the best dog I’ve ever met, took too dog 18mo and below at a show with 161 Rotties showing. I’m afraid her time is short.

Rosie, our 3yr old is a mentally retarded spazz that drives my wife nuts. She loves everyone WAY too much with never ending energy. Being in our mid 50’s I don’t know what we’ll do ten years from now.
 
Goofyfoot2001 said:
I waited 5 plus years after my last one; then Grace found me one day visiting the pound. As said before, so many good dogs out there that need a good, caring home.
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Most of the time a dog will find you, even at a pound or a rescue. They just know things............... I'm actually thinking about volunteering down at the pound. Problem is I'd want to bring them all home.
 
The wife and I have a Pom born Jan of 05, he’s half blind (cataracts) and mostly deaf, but still gets around good (a little slower on cold mornings) and even though he’s missing most of his teeth he still cleans his bowl of the home made dog food every morning. We’ve talked about it, it’ll break our heart when it’s time, but we won’t let him suffer, if he ever acts like he’s in bad pain or just lost the “will to live” I will do what needs doing.
 
We took a break after we put down our last two. It was pretty awesome. We didn’t have to make sure we were home at a certain time to feed them etc.

After about 6 months I realized I plain missed having a dog. So we have two more.

Probably take a short break when they pass too.
 
Loosing a baby is the worst loss. When my Chihuahua died I said his loss was enough to make me not want another dog. Still had my girl mini pin.He died on Nov 17. The boys we have now were born the same day.6 weeks later my step daughter told me about them. So we went to see them and they came home with us. Best medicine for us. Keep that in mind.
 
Goofyfoot2001 said:
I waited 5 plus years after my last one; then Grace found me one day visiting the pound. As said before, so many good dogs out there that need a good, caring home.
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r
Have gun-will travel said:
Loosing a baby is the worst loss. When my Chihuahua died I said his loss was enough to make me not want another dog. Still had my girl mini pin.He died on Nov 17. The boys we have now were born the same day.6 weeks later my step daughter told me about them. So we went to see them and they came home with us. Best medicine for us. Keep that in mind.
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Don't know how you did it Brother! Since our Rosie, we have not had another dog. Our little Duchesse ("Doooochie") the cat curls up with me every night. Once she is gone, I just don't know if I have the fortitude to go through it again!
 
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jfanatic said:
r

Don't know how you did it Brother! Since our Rosie, we have not had another dog. Our little Duchesse ("Doooochie") the cat curls up with me every night. Once she is gone, I just don't know if I have the fortitude to go through it again!
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I still think about Romeo daily but these boys make his loss a little more bearable. You know what they say about unconditional love. They depend on me for everything
 
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My heart hurts for you. Please have peace that you gave a good life for her.
 
I am very sorry to hear this. We lost the one that is in my avatar picture about two weeks ago. His absence, is noticed. unfortunately, sometimes the most difficult and yet humane thing we can do is give them death. I am very sorry you are facing this. It is never easy. Their lives are long enough to become a fixture in ours, but yet too damned short.
 
jfanatic said:
r

Don't know how you did it Brother! Since our Rosie, we have not had another dog. Our little Duchesse ("Doooochie") the cat curls up with me every night. Once she is gone, I just don't know if I have the fortitude to go through it again!
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I'm sorry you're going thru this. It's been almost 2 years since Buddy the cat made that last trip. I miss him, but I can't bury another cat. I just can't.
 
The first one I remember was Lady, she was 4 wks and I was 7 yrs and from that first day until 16 yrs later when I was 23 I remember few days spent apart, my heart broke when I had to say goodbye. Since then I have always had dogs ( and even a few cats) around. Some were pups and some were discards but all were loved after we met. Lil bit, Herepup, Mishka, Brandy, Lady (again), CJ, Tippie, Blue Belle, Freckles, Lil Man, Murphy, Mishka (again), and so so many more. Many of them were medical rescues and I have to admit the expenses have been in the 6 figures, but the Lord has always provided. My wife jokes that we should have a wing at CVS Greensboro named for us.
Right now we are at a low point in the number we have because we are old enough that it is harder to take care of them, but I cannot imagine not having them around. We have said goodbye so many times and cried at each loss but we're glad that we gave them the best life possible while they were with us.

Currently: Bailey 15 and arthritic, Toby 14 blind, Harley 9 3-legged, Princess 10 puppy mill, Riffie 9 picked up roadside, Fred 11 owner surrender, Lolo 6 death row pull, Patience 10 owner died, Parker 10 street dog, Cats are Sassy 16 bottle baby, Fancy 15 bottle baby, Hope 12 owner give away, and Izzie 10mo found at work.
I have said after almost EVERY LOSS never again...it hasn't worked just know that you have given them the BEST life possible and be there when it is time for them to go. You are their whole world.
 
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Take care of her the best you can, and spoil her rotten until the time comes. Losing one is tough............ real tough.
 
Sorry about this. We put down my favorite dog ever last week. Still sucks. Will always suck. His brother went last year. He was an great dog too. Now the debate in the family is when do we add a new family member. I am neutral, daughter says today a d wife says this summer. I’ll watch them duke it out. Should be fun. But I miss my buddy either way.
 
We put one of ours down last week too. I hate it. They're so worth it for the time we get with them though.
 
The bloodwork did not reveal any issues, thank god. Maybe it was just a fluke. These days I get scared quickly because all the other ones went downhill so fast.
 
For all of those of you that were so kind as to reply we recently got a piece of good news: Due to the last vet visit the local vet got a look at all the recent medical paperwork and told us that the growth in her mouth is NOT an aggressive cancer but most likely fairly benign. While that is good news indeed we are now done with Banfield where we were told in no uncertain terms she was basically done for and had a few months left.
 
I will always have a dog.

I had a German Shepard mix that bit my sister in laws husband on the right butt cheek, right through his blue jeans. Had to get four stitches. What did he to for the dog to bit him you ask?

He yelled at my wife.

I wish I had his DNA I would have a whole pack of him and rule the world.
 
She is still with us but her hips are getting worse. This morning she spent 15 minutes just wandering around the front yard, I really think she is still looking for Brett, it just breaks my heart to see it. I really hope she will see her 16th birthday in April.
 
She will be 16 years old tomorrow. She made it!!!

Her hip has been getting bad, sometimes she needs a little help getting up. Her morning appetite is so-so but dinner still gets finished. The walks are slow and short now such as they happen. She tends to sleep in really late and then spend much of the day going in and out from the house to the porch and eventually taking a long nap. We think she is a bit senile.

Thunderstorms no longer bother her since she has lost some hearing and maybe some eye sight and the things she used to bark at now getting ignored, whether graciously or grumpily is anybody's guess.

She was my first dog, if I had not taken her in I would not have met my wife, taken in any of the other dogs or become a dog person. She changed my life and when she goes it will truly be the end of an era for me.
 
"She tends to sleep in really late and then spend much of the day going in and out from the house to the porch and eventually taking a long nap. We think she is a bit senile."

She sounds like me!

Love on her as much as you can. It's the most we all can hope for. I know well how hard this is.
 
Some exiting news: My wife ran into a stray at the vet yesterday that the people that found him can't keep and she really liked him off the bat so she agreed to try it with him. After the passing of our Brett last October she was adamant that this was it for us and having dogs even though we both thought that it must be hard on Rosie to be a single dog after 13 years of always having K9 company. So she is on her way now to pick him up and get him checked out.

There is more to the timing of the chance meeting at the vet, essentially the probability of her walking in there at just that moment should realistically have been zero. So we intend to name him "Fate".
 
Stogies said:
There is more to the timing of the chance meeting at the vet, essentially the probability of her walking in there at just that moment should realistically have been zero. So we intend to name him "Fate"
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Sometimes it works out that way. We lost one of our cats several months ago and his sister Freja went through a period of acting out in anger. She was obviously going through mourning. About the time she settled down a forum member had a kitten that needed a new home. We took him in and the two of them get along splendidly. The timing was just right and something mysterious was looking out for our animal friends.
 
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