Well that's depressing: When your pet was dying...

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odusgolp
odusgolp Posts: 10,477 Member
in Chit-Chat
or, had just passed away, what is the best, most creative thing anyone's done or said to make you feel better? Or to simply comfort you?

What's the worst?

My friends dog has cancer and will soon pass and I need suggestions on something other than, "I'm so sorry. Have this hallmark card and a hug." I feel awful, as this dog is just the greatest and he's broken :( But I really suck with words.
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  • hbrittingham
    hbrittingham Posts: 2,518 Member
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    When my parents lost their beloved GSD mix at 5 years old after he became paralyzed, I put together a photo book for them. They told me it was the nicest thing someone could have done because they could look back at all of the pictures of him in happier times.
  • Jacwhite22
    Jacwhite22 Posts: 7,012 Member
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    this is what I am going through....... can't add much...... not much makes me feel better.... except time....... maybe a keepsake of some kind...... paw print with a photo? whatever you do don't get them all dogs go to heaven or old yeller.
  • hsacksy
    hsacksy Posts: 15 Member
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    We just had to put our dog down on Tuesday. A friend on Facebook (who lost her own down a month ago) had this posted today. i thought it was so sweet.

    http://cdn4.aplacetolovedogs.com/wp-content/uploads/3706834192.jpg
  • BusyRaeNOTBusty
    BusyRaeNOTBusty Posts: 7,166 Member
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    beer or food
  • odusgolp
    odusgolp Posts: 10,477 Member
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    beer or food

    That is done, and on repeat *LOL*
  • odusgolp
    odusgolp Posts: 10,477 Member
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    We just had to put our dog down on Tuesday. A friend on Facebook (who lost her own down a month ago) had this posted today. i thought it was so sweet.

    3706834192.jpg

    OMG... *sob*
  • hsacksy
    hsacksy Posts: 15 Member
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    a) thanks for adding the img tag in there for me ;-)

    b) yeah... i had just been having my first tear-free day... then... ugh..
  • Begood03
    Begood03 Posts: 1,261 Member
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    We just had to put our dog down on Tuesday. A friend on Facebook (who lost her own down a month ago) had this posted today. i thought it was so sweet.

    3706834192.jpg

    OMG... *sob*
    So very true!
  • Captain_Tightpants
    Captain_Tightpants Posts: 2,215 Member
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    3706834192.jpg

    That was golden. Thanks for sharing!
  • thedreamhazer
    thedreamhazer Posts: 1,156 Member
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    Our vet has sent a poem and condolence card. It's a really cheesy poem, but when you've lost a pet cheesy sometimes helps.

    This is what she sent us when our Great Pyrenees, Freya, passed away at 13 (!) years old.

    I got to the gate of Heaven today, after we said goodbye.
    I began to miss you terribly, because I heard you cry.

    Suddenly there was an angel, and she asked me to enter Heaven's gate.
    I asked her if I could stay outside for someone who would be late.
    I wouldn't make much noise, you see, I wouldn't bark or howl.
    I'll only wait here patiently and play with my tennis ball.

    The angel said I could stay right here and wait for you to come.
    Because Heaven just wouldn't be Heaven if I went in alone.
    So I'll wait right here, you take your time, but keep me in your heart.
    Because Heaven just wouldn't be Heaven without you to warm my heart.


    What you shouldn't do, for the record, is take the person to see Marley & Me two weeks later. My friend did this -- I didn't know what the movie was about. I had to sit in the bathroom crying for the last 15 minutes of the movie.
  • odusgolp
    odusgolp Posts: 10,477 Member
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    NO marley and me. No Hachi.

    No All Dogs Go To Heaven. No Old Yeller.

    Got it.
  • jhc7324
    jhc7324 Posts: 200 Member
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    I had to put down our dog earlier this year. We had gotten pretty close to our vet over the years (our dog wasn't healthy even as a puppy so we were regulars at the vet for emergency type visits). About a week afterwards we got a package in the mail from the vet. They made plaster molds of our dog's footprints with a birthdate-dod on it. It was so completely unexpected and once I realized what it was I was just bawling. Still pretty surprised that they would go to the trouble to do that when I thought I was just another dog owner.
  • TubbsMcGee
    TubbsMcGee Posts: 1,058 Member
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    I raised my husky. TJ, from the day she was born (my dog had puppies!)
    The day I bought my own house, a duplex, my dad sent me a text message saying she'd passed in her sleep of a heart attack (she was 13).

    To comfort me, my boyfriend decided to take me out for dinner to take my mind off of it, and because our kitchen was being remodeled.
    We left our 2 year old dachshund at home at our new place.

    5 minutes into the dinner with me crying like a baby, my upstairs tenant had me emergency paged to let me know that my "damn stupid dog wouldn't stop barking because her (POS) cat was clawing at the walls."
    She demanded we leave dinner early to "shut him up" or else she refused to pay her rent for that month.

    TJ's father was also a puppy we raised from birth. Taz was a sweetheart who went missing one day. I arrived home from school one day asking my dad where he was. He told me he had to give him to a farm.
    15 years later, I find out he never went to a farm. The dog tag lady went to check his tags one day, sneaking up on him, and he bit her. She ordered he be put down to sleep that day.
    And to think I spent 10 years searching the streets for him, thinking some other loving family adopted him :(

    When I was 5, my first dog, Turbo a German Shepard, accidentally drank anti freeze when he found his way into a neighbour's garage...and he passed away a few hours later.

    I don't remember anything really consoling me.
    The only advice I can give is to not let the "mother"/"father" owner be alone during this time. Reminisce, share pictures, happy stores, whatever you can to let them know that they'll never be forgotten.

    I burst into tears whenever the horrible thought of losing my fur baby passes through my mind.
  • tonyacoursey
    tonyacoursey Posts: 404 Member
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    I had to put down our dog earlier this year. We had gotten pretty close to our vet over the years (our dog wasn't healthy even as a puppy so we were regulars at the vet for emergency type visits). About a week afterwards we got a package in the mail from the vet. They made plaster molds of our dog's footprints with a birthdate-dod on it. It was so completely unexpected and once I realized what it was I was just bawling. Still pretty surprised that they would go to the trouble to do that when I thought I was just another dog owner.

    ^^^^^^this, and in addition to this my SIL had his friend make a digital 3D drawing of my favorite picture of him. We put the picture and the mold together in our living room.
  • jaz050465
    jaz050465 Posts: 3,508 Member
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    We just had to put our dog down on Tuesday. A friend on Facebook (who lost her own down a month ago) had this posted today. i thought it was so sweet.

    3706834192.jpg

    OMG... *sob*

    God. I just burst out crying.
  • odusgolp
    odusgolp Posts: 10,477 Member
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    Jesus, Tubbs! That's effing awful!! (((hugs)))
  • jaz050465
    jaz050465 Posts: 3,508 Member
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    Corny but she may like it.



    RainbowBridge.com

    Just this side of heaven is a place called Rainbow Bridge.
    When an animal dies that has been especially close to someone here, that pet goes to Rainbow Bridge. There are meadows and hills for all of our special friends so they can run and play together. There is plenty of food, water and sunshine, and our friends are warm and comfortable.

    All the animals who had been ill and old are restored to health and vigor. Those who were hurt or maimed are made whole and strong again, just as we remember them in our dreams of days and times gone by. The animals are happy and content, except for one small thing; they each miss someone very special to them, who had to be left behind.
    They all run and play together, but the day comes when one suddenly stops and looks into the distance. His bright eyes are intent. His eager body quivers. Suddenly he begins to run from the group, flying over the green grass, his legs carrying him faster and faster.

    You have been spotted, and when you and your special friend finally meet, you cling together in joyous reunion, never to be parted again. The happy kisses rain upon your face; your hands again caress the beloved head, and you look once more into the trusting eyes of your pet, so long gone from your life but never absent from your heart.

    Then you cross Rainbow Bridge together....

    Author unknown...
  • WillPillageYourVillageForFood
    WillPillageYourVillageForFood Posts: 777 Member
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    When my best friends dog died, I had the police sketch artist where I worked do a drawing of her dog. Needless to say it was very detailed.
  • jlwbeans0823
    jlwbeans0823 Posts: 178 Member
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    Oh man, this makes me feel sad. I put my cat Maddie down in June and now my other cat Big Red is dying of cancer. It's never easy. Sometimes just listening is better than trying to come up with something nice to say. Before Maddie passed I bought a stepping stone kit at Hobby Lobby and made a cast of her little paws. It turned out really good and I keep it inside because I don't want the elements to destroy it. My vet also sent me flowers. I'm starting to tear up a little!
  • digitalbill
    digitalbill Posts: 1,410 Member
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    We had to put down our Shepard mutt several months back.
    We had him for 14 years and he really was the best dog in the world.
    He was a rescue dog.
    A few days before he was put to sleep, we came home and he had peed all over himself because he could not get up.
    I picked him up and took him outside.
    He could not get up and he was in a lot of pain.
    I went back inside and got my Magnum.
    My wife begged me to wait. Kevlar finally got up and walked back in the house.
    We gave him a bath and asprin.
    We talked about it and decided the must humane thing to do would be to take the pain away.
    My wife called me at 11:30 in the morning and told me it was done.
    That is the first time I cried in a VERY long time.

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