Big Paws Only Dog Forums
BPO General Forum => General Board for Big Dogs with Big Paws => : longshadowfarms March 28, 2006, 01:01:37 PM
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We had Piper and Josh put to sleep this morning. Even our vet was crying. He'd treated Piper's dad since he was a pup 17 yrs ago, Piper since she was a pup almost 14 yrs ago, Josh from the time he was just a few days old (dew claws) 11 yrs ago. He was bawling away with us. I think that is one reason we like this vet so much. He truly loves the dogs just as much as we do. Eider is quite lost wondering where his best buddy Piper is. He keeps running outside looking and barking. Jesse just came in shaking like a leaf. Maybe that is partly why Eider was so upset. I finally got him calmed down a little bit but he's here under my computer desk still shaking a bit but at least laying down and a bit calmer. Hmmm, he has had some slight epileptic-like fits in the past few years. Maybe the stress of the loss caused another? He did have one at the vet last time we were there. He's calming down more as I type. Whew! Typing as it unfolds here.
Anyway, how did your dogs react to the loss of the others? How long did it take for them to get back to normal? When we lost our first male, Piper and Jaeger weren't really back to normal until about a year later when Josh and Jesse came to live with us. They didn't howl the whole year after Brant died but Josh is so much like Brant that when the boys came, they all started howling again and Piper and Jaeger were happy again to have boys around.
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I don't have an answer to your question, although I'm about to find out in the very near future.
I just wanted to tell you how sorry I am for the loss of Piper and Josh. So sorry. I just read their paw prints and they both looked like awesome pups.
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I don't have any advice as I've not been through that yet but I wanted to let you know that I'm thinking of you and hoping you're doing ok. I'm so so sorry for your loss.
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I am so sorry to hear about your loss. It is a hard time for all. We lost our female rotti last May. Puck was looking for her for the first few days. He looked in all her favorite spots for her etc. We gave him extra luv'n too ;) We felt he was very lonely---hence Farley...lol. I think animals are like humans and grieve differently. I would wait and see how things are in a weeks time. Then access how the others are doing.
My heart goes out to you and your family at this difficult time.
Michelle
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I am sorry for your loss, especially two at once. :'(
I don't have any personal experience with this, but my old neighbor had to put one of her dogs down and for over a year the other howled anytime he was alone. It was such a sad sound too. My roommate and I would get teary everytime we heard him. Some dogs bond so deeply it's like losing a mate. :-\
I hope your pups take this well, I'm sending good thoughts to you and your famliy.
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I am sorry to hear of your loss. It never is an easy decision to let our fur babies go.
As far as the other dogs handling the loss it depends on the personality of the dog, I think, and their position in the pack. When we lost Rocky, Rambo (dominant male) was upset, and mopey, but not too bad. We then got Bandit, who remained submissive to Rambo. When Rambo died, Bandit was inconsolible. He wandered and cried, stopped eating, had severe separation anxiety for the first time, until we got Raven. She became the dominent pack leader. We added Merlin without a further loss for about 2 years, then lost Bandit. Merlin and Raven were only affected for about a week, then they adjusted and were fine. Now I have three again, Raven remains dominent, but she is failing. I am dreading the loss of another dominent pack leader.
Stella
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I'm so sorry for your loss. I don't know about dogs, but I do know that cats can take a turn for the worse. I had 3 cats growing up and when I left the house they stayed with my mom. One of the cats got cancer and had to be put to sleep. Her sister got so depressed she stopped eating. My mom and the vet tried everything. They just couldn't snap her out of it and two months later they put her to sleep too. It was so sad! They both were 12 years old. Maybe age plays a role. I'm sorry that's probably doesn't help. Hang in there!
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My condolences on having to have Piper and Josh PTS. Did you take them to the vets or have it done at home? A lot of people swear by letting the other animals in the household see the dogs afterwards so they know they're dead.
I know when Phoebe died suddenly at home, Tinker sniffed her and she was fine afterwards. Mind you, I don't think she'd have missed her anyway! Despite them being mother and daughter, Tinker's main ambition in life was to be an only dog. Flynn, on the other hand, when Tinker had to be PTS was quite depressed when she didn't come home - I don't think he understood why she went away. A week later he got in my friend's van (we'd took Tinker on her last trip in it). He sniffed the blanket in the crate she'd been in and looked at me with a really sad and confused look on his face.
When my first dog was PTS, the cat who had thought she was her kitten for the last 13 years was inconsolable. Even a year after if you said the dogs name, the cat would run round the house crying and looking for her. Poor cat!
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I am sooo sorry for your loss. My prediction is that when you start feeling better they will feel better soon after that. They are feeling their own grief, and they are probably also upset because they know their humans are in pain.
I'm just so sorry.
Ronda :'(
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I'm so sorry about your two beloved guys, Piper and Josh going to the bridge. At least that have each other....
We lost our first Newf, Otis, on St.Patrick's Day two years ago and his best friend and half sister, Lucille, never recovered. She's lay where he laid and didn't want to move. I tried taking her on different walks, having adventures with just her and nothing perked her up. We got Cowboy hoping that another male would pull her out of it....but she ended up dying from ITP (immune mediated thromcyctopeni a...from vaccinations) five months later. It was an awful, awful year. We tried everything we could think of...massage, aromatherapy, Cowboy. I just think her heart was broken. :'( :'( :'( :'(
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I'm so sorry to hear about your babies.....I think each dog is different in their reaction to loss. Our most recent loss was Mackey and Lacey was upset for weeks after....she still goes nuts when she sees other greyhounds. My dad came home upset after she started crying and trying to go through the window of the truck to go see another greyhound but Kali didn't really mind as much...she immediately claimed Mackey's place on the couch. Which could be because Kali is more dominant and spent less time around Mackey. But give extra hugs and kisses to your other babies.
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I am so sorry to hear you have lost two of your babies :-[. It is bad enough letting one go, but two.... It must have been really difficult for you.
When we lost Bronte last April we thought Molly would pine, they had been best buddies since we brought Bronte home at 7 weeks. We were totally shocked when she didn't seem bothered in the least, in fact she seemed to be really happy about being the only dog in the household :o. I would say she was quiet for the first day or two, but after that she was so bouncy and all she wanted to do was play, not bad for a 9 year old Newf! She sulked for a week when we brought the new puppies home :D
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I very sorry to hear about Josh and Piper :'(
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I don't have any experience with this, but I'm sad for both your losses, and for your pups missing their friends. :-[ Hugs to everyone!
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I don't have any advice for you, but wanted to send my condolences to you regarding Josh & Piper. I'm so sorry for your loss. We're here if you need us ;)
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I haven't seen any of my dogs show any grief for the lose of one of the other pets. But I do know what it's like to put two down at the same time. We actually made the same decision last summer. It was the hardest thing to do. My thoughts are with you and your family.
Kat
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I am so very sorry to about Josh and Piper.
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I am sorry to hear about your beloved dogs piper and josh . When i put my smooth fox terrier in heaven my dalmation and lab looked for him for quite sometime. everytime someone came in the door i think they thought he was going to be coming in the door. A year later the lab became very ill and stopped eating he to went to heaven. My dalmation who lives with my ex is all alone she looked for both of them for a while and now i think she just realizes there not coming back. I think it's like humans it takes time to heal. My thoughts are with your family  Marina
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When Dotty died, Angel was very down. She got real excited when she saw me holding Dotty, thinking it was time to play but when she got a closer look she dropped her head and started whimpering she went inside her house and laid down. After Dotty was buried my mom and I went over to check on Angel. She was just laying there moaning. We couldn't make her eat for 2-3 days. After a few days she started getting her appetite back and started playing again.
Following pic was Angel at about 6 months with Dotty. Unfortunately only picture of them on here together. That was not long after I got her. Angel adored Dotty, and Dotty was always so patient with her, and very protective. When Angel was younger our neighbors had a very aggressive Husky (he gave him away after this incident), he got loose and attacked Angel. Dotty attacked him before we could grab her. They were so close, it worried me with Angel after Dotty passed. But it's been 3 months now and she's back to her usual goofy self now.
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Being a new dog owner I've never had to deal with this yet but I am so sorry...It must be heartbreaking for all of you there...I've heard though, that if you let your surviving animal sniff their dear departed friend they know that their friend is gone & it helps with closure...It is a little sadder day today at BPO & in the world at the loss of your fur babies...Pleas e accept my most heartfelt condolences.
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I'm actually handling it a lot better than Jesse and Eider. This really was not that unexpected at their ages. They both lived full and happy lives, spoiled rotten. If you look at my avatar, that is pretty much how Piper in particular spent the last 2 years. Jesse is better today than he was yesterday. I hope he'll do ok. I'm also a bit concerned about the Diamond food, that that may also be making them sick. I switched them cold turkey to the Nutro this morning - 1/2 Nutro, 1/2 rice to help their tummies adjust. I'll not put another piece of Diamond into them. Can't believe I didn't think of that causing the problems. My vet doesn't think so but time will tell as to how they do on the Nutro. Eider, Jesse and Josh had all been itching a lot the last few weeks or so too. I just thought the allergies were starting early. When I got home yesterday though, I got two calls for rescue dogs! Not sure if I'm ready or not but it sure would take my mind off things! 2 Pyrs that they want to stay together, or one Anatolian Shepherd. I want to be careful and make the right decision and not grab something just because I want to fill the void but I've been waiting since we lost Thor... So much happening so quickly... Gotto go call the lady who has the 2 Pyrs. :o Am I nuts???
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I'm very sory to hear about Josh and Piper. We'll be thinking of you.
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Call that lady and get those Pyrs ;D ;D ;D ;D I know that I want to have pyrs in my home until my last day.
Lisa
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 :o Am I nuts???
Ask those two rescue dogs, and I don't think they would think you were nuts....they would probably pick the word 'wonderful hero' ;)
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Call that lady and get those Pyrs ;D ;D ;D ;D I know that I want to have pyrs in my home until my last day.
Lisa
I did call! They sound absolutely WONDERFUL! I think we may have a match here, folks! Can't believe I'm doing this :o They don't have much info on the dogs because they were dropped off with a posty note saying they were UTD on heartworm. That's all! They think it is a mother/son pair. There was another female that came in at the same time who was pregnant that they think was a sister to the male, pregnant by him. Both are being altered tomorrow so it will be another 10 days or so until I can get them. I need to decide whether to try to visit first, then pick them up or just go and visit and pick up at the same time.
Thanks for all the thoughts and hugs! We'll just have to wait and see how Jesse fares, I guess. Eider I think is young enough that he'll be ok. Piper was the only female and certainly ruled the roost but Josh was clearly the dominant male. From Jesse's previous behavior, I thought he'd be happy to take center stage but he's not reacting the way I thought. He's so much like Piper and when Jaeger died, Piper didn't care at all. She was thrilled to be top female (Jaeger had been before). Jesse is really moping, though it could be for losing Piper, not Josh. Who knows what is going on in his head. He's eating so that is good. Then again, I've never known a Lab to go off its food. ::)
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I love it that you are going to jump right back in and get two more to love! I'm sure everybody will settle right in to place, once they work out their place in the pack! ;D ;D
Congrats!!
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I think what you are doing is wonderful. Everything happens for a reason. ;) We were only going to have one dog after our female rotti passed. uuummmmm somehow we have 3 :o :o :o :o :olol
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I am so impressed with your strength, and selflesness. How wonderful for these two rescues!
We will of course need TONS of pictures!!!!
:)