How Long Before You Get a New Dog?

[Multislacking]

This is a rough one. I think our family dog of 12yrs is about to go to the big farm in the sky. We've lost 10 people in the last 6 months, but this is going to hit like a ton of bricks. All that repressing is probably going to come spewing out. It will hit the wife even harder.

Right, wrong, or otherwise, I've steered the wife clear of getting a second dog for the last couple of years. She looks from time to time and comments on different ones but I haven't been on board with more pets. Now I find myself wondering how long do you mourn before you say "let's go look at puppies". Part of me thinks that having a new pup around asap would help focus the attention on taking care of it, house training, etc, etc. But I hate to seem like a cold heartless bastard. And that could go either way...too soon or too slow. Him and the wife are especially close...he's by her side 24x7 (and yeah, he sleeps with us). So how long do I wait? Do I suggest looking the soonest weekend after it happens?

 

[zionoir626]

I pray I pass before Gab..but that would leave him very broken and upset till he passes and that I couldn't handle that either..been trying to find a mate for him..He's such an awesome,sweet animal..everyone loves him..

I wish I would have breed him before NOW..

Tuff choices there buddy..Gabriel is only 8 but has slowed way down these last few months..his heart is in the game but at 130lbs,his body isn't..but I do know this..He has had a great Life..
So..take some comfort in that..
Z...

 

[Bigofool]

I would look at getting a rescue they are more appreciative and do it now so they can learn from the dog you have now.

 

[Multislacking]

I would look at getting a rescue they are more appreciative and do it now so they can learn from the dog you have now.

A rescue is definitely on the table. That's actually what our current one was. Luckily he was less than 6mos old when we got him, so he really didn't have any bad habits yet. He was a HUGE factor in saving our youngest from some bad choices in her teen years. They pretty much rescued each other.

 

[Multislacking]

I pray I pass before Gab..but that would leave him very broken and upset till he passes and that I couldn't handle that either..been trying to find a mate for him..He's such an awesome,sweet animal..everyone loves him..

I wish I would have breed him before NOW..

Tuff choices there buddy..Gabriel is only 8 but has slowed way down these last few months..his heart is in the game but at 130lbs,his body isn't..but I do know this..He has had a great Life..
So..take some comfort in that..
Z...

I feel for you. That level of closeness. It's tough to describe unless you have it and know it.

 

[zionoir626]

Yeah
He was in my room in the Hospital a few yrs back..guarding the door..
Making sure it was OK with me if anyone came in....and 130lbs of Wolf-hybrid..everyone asked to come IN..

That's a pain that cuts to the Bone..
Best we can hope for is to give them a Wonderful Life..
My Prayers
Z...

 

[Milford King]

After you grieve completely.

it’s unfair to your future best friend if she/he has to live in your old ones shadow. Keep and cherish the memories but don’t replace your old dog. Just, when you’re ready, make a new best friend. You’ll know when you’re ready. It took me 3 years to replace my old dog. Mostly because my babies were real young and I wanted to time it so that they’d have a companion up until they’re about ready to fly the nest themselves so that might be longer than you’ll need to wait.

get a husky shepherd mix and then get your wife a new vacuum cleaner wink wink

 

[zionoir626]

Husky....
Once is all it takes....did that..got the"T" shirt covered in hair to prove it...

Gab sheds once a yr....no thanks

 

[reddog309]

I waited almost 5 years, This is Zoey, I got her at 10 weeks and she turns one at the end of january, they all wanted a dog and I didn't, now the dog follows me around, I walk it, I play with it and it is basically my dog.
she is half German shepard and half yellow lab, they call her a shepador...

Edit, yes she is sitting on my chair because she knows I want to sit there...

 

[reddog309]

If you get a new dog right away it cuts the grieving period to minimal, if you don't that grief last for months...

 

[E.J.D]

There's no easy or correct answer. I feel you will know when it's the correct time to get a new dog. It varies from person to person.

 

[01dragonslayer]

Losing my dog....twice....the second I had the absolute hardest decision to have to put him down....is like losing a part of my family and my life. Its so rough.....I completely lost it when my dog passed away in my arms.

My wife got very emotional as well.....he was a big part of her life too. She was pretty adamite about waiting at least 6 month prior to getting another.....we had a new puppy in less than a month....lol....

My kids.....

 

[01dragonslayer]

I waited almost 5 years, This is Zoey, I got her at 10 weeks and she turns one at the end of january, they all wanted a dog and I didn't, now the dog follows me around, I walk it, I play with it and it is basically my dog.
she is half German shepard and half yellow lab, they call her a shepador...

Edit, yes she is sitting on my chair because she knows I want to sit there...

Good lookin' pup right there.

 

[01dragonslayer]

BTW......the ties were not my idea.

 

[reddog309]

Good lookin' pup right there.

Thanks, my brother got a pup that looks just like yours on the left but with my dogs coloring all the way through...

 

[heavyiron]

7 days of mourning is a Biblical concept.

Dog and anyone you lost would want you guys happy. Move forward after 7 days.

 

[Arnold]

This is a rough one. I think our family dog of 12yrs is about to go to the big farm in the sky. We've lost 10 people in the last 6 months, but this is going to hit like a ton of bricks. All that repressing is probably going to come spewing out. It will hit the wife even harder.

Right, wrong, or otherwise, I've steered the wife clear of getting a second dog for the last couple of years. She looks from time to time and comments on different ones but I haven't been on board with more pets. Now I find myself wondering how long do you mourn before you say "let's go look at puppies". Part of me thinks that having a new pup around asap would help focus the attention on taking care of it, house training, etc, etc. But I hate to seem like a cold heartless bastard. And that could go either way...too soon or too slow. Him and the wife are especially close...he's by her side 24x7 (and yeah, he sleeps with us). So how long do I wait? Do I suggest looking the soonest weekend after it happens?

I hear ya, my two dogs are now 12 years old and it's hard watching them age and knowing they might not be with me too much longer.

 

[Milford King]

Make a meme outta this multi… lol


my wife fought me for almost a year and now they are inseparable. I swear if he found a way to become human I’d be sleeping under a bridge. She has him wrapped around her finger. I’ve found that male dogs are extremely loyal to female humans and female dogs are more loyal to male humans. Just an observation from growing up with my father who tried to save every dog in the kennel. Dude was an animal lover/animal collector and thought he was an animal whisperer. Haha

 

[Skinnyguy180]

This is a rough one. I think our family dog of 12yrs is about to go to the big farm in the sky. We've lost 10 people in the last 6 months, but this is going to hit like a ton of bricks. All that repressing is probably going to come spewing out. It will hit the wife even harder.

Right, wrong, or otherwise, I've steered the wife clear of getting a second dog for the last couple of years. She looks from time to time and comments on different ones but I haven't been on board with more pets. Now I find myself wondering how long do you mourn before you say "let's go look at puppies". Part of me thinks that having a new pup around asap would help focus the attention on taking care of it, house training, etc, etc. But I hate to seem like a cold heartless bastard. And that could go either way...too soon or too slow. Him and the wife are especially close...he's by her side 24x7 (and yeah, he sleeps with us). So how long do I wait? Do I suggest looking the soonest weekend after it happens?

I lost two dogs one was a 12 year old bull mastiff that I had to put down because he was just so old. 12 years is a long life for a mastiff. Other was 17 year old dauchsund that drowned in my pool. She was too old to swim. she used to paddle around the pool all the time but in her old age swimming wasnt on the table and she fell in. I have one dauchsund (16 years)left and when he dies I dont want dogs any more.

It was really hard putting the mastiff down and I dont want to have to do that again ever. I mean you sit there and hold your dog while they kill him.... or if your a coward you leave your poor dog there by himself to die alone with no family.

 

[A/CMAN]

Definitely love my dogs more than people always there for you no matter what! Just pick up our new yellow lab puppy she is 8 weeks old. Just give in to new puppy your wife will love you for it.

 

[Multislacking]

Make a meme outta this multi… lol

Done!

 

[Multislacking]

I hear ya, my two dogs are now 12 years old and it's hard watching them age and knowing they might not be with me too much longer.

That's how old ours is. He's a jack russel, so they have a pretty long lifespan and can live up to 17yrs. But this last year was a rough one for him. Liver cancer and he had his gallbladder removed. On the bright side, he never really acted sick. If it wasn't for a history of elevated liver values and investigating the cause, we would never have known. Having said that, the surgery was major for him. They had to remove a pretty good chunk of his liver and we all know how important that is. He's still seemed healthy since then, but it kind of took the wind out of his sails. We agreed at the time that if it came back we would do something else given his age and how hard the surgery has been on him. It was literally one of those "buying some more time" kind of things and we were fairly certain he would have some quality of life after the surgery. And he has. Just thought it would be a bit longer. We're still holding out hope that maybe this is just a "one off" illness and he'll bounce back. But we're being realistic too. This last year has had so much suck, we just expect the worst any more.

 

[Milford King]

Done!

you son of a beech!!


I was thinking more like the “you motherfucker” meme. His face just looks annoyed.

 

[reddog309]

Done!

Now thats fuckin funny...

 

[reddog309]

These are my last two pups, Sam and Libby, I got them both at about 10 weeks old.
They were trained to go out by themselves, no fence, just stayed on the property. On my 50th birthday, a Sunday morning I let them out back, my neighbor was walking his dog up the street so my pups ran to the front of the house and Sam the golden retriever dropped dead of a massive heart attack. Yeah happy fucking birthday. the lab went into a funk that took almost 6 months for her to come out of it. fast forward three years and I have to put the lab down, the vet says bring her in on Saturday, umm no, Saturday is my 53rd birthday which gave her an extra week of life because I scheduled her for the following week. It was painful knowing for 8 -10 days that I had to put her down but she was in bad shape and it was the right thing to do. These dogs were awesome and I am almost choked up just writing this, I can only hope that Zoey becomes as a good a dog as they were....

 

[Multislacking]

you son of a beech!!


I was thinking more like the “you motherfucker” meme. His face just looks annoyed.

Definitely looks annoyed. I had a couple of ideas, but that one struck me as the funniest. But you know my sense of humor...

Now thats fuckin funny...

Thanks. Apparently my wife is right...I can make *anything* about sex.

 

[CoachCabo]

Over the last three years we put down 3 of our 4. We waited until it was absolutely time. Our Italian Greyound female at 16, our Border Collie at 16, our Jack Russell at 20. All of them when they just seemed tired and less happy to be alive…with some health issues.

Two weeks ago our remaining Italian Greyhound had fluid in his lungs. He has had an enlarged heart for some time. We gave him some lasix which cleared it up. Then he started getting the shits and stopped eating with kidney failure right behind. I was looking at him last week and figured I would take him in for the big goodbye. Tuesday night I fed him some shredded beef and the next morning…back to his old self. Blood test showed his kidneys are good again.
He’s 18 1/2 and still a happy dog…again. Blind, half deaf, but very happy.

We are looking at the possibility of getting more dogS but the heartbreak from the other three is still pretty rough and when this guy goes we will be wrecked. We keep saying “no more dogs”.

I saw an interesting meme though. It had pics of old dogs and it said “You say no more dogs when I die but please honor my life by adopting another old dog and give him the last few years a wonderful life you gave me.”

 

[Multislacking]

Over the last three years we put down 3 of our 4. We waited until it was absolutely time. Our Italian Greyound female at 16, our Border Collie at 16, our Jack Russell at 20. All of them when they just seemed tired and less happy to be alive…with some health issues.

Two weeks ago our remaining Italian Greyhound had fluid in his lungs. He has had an enlarged heart for some time. We gave him some lasix which cleared it up. Then he started getting the shits and stopped eating with kidney failure right behind. I was looking at him last week and figured I would take him in for the big goodbye. Tuesday night I fed him some shredded beef and the next morning…back to his old self. Blood test showed his kidneys are good again.
He’s 18 1/2 and still a happy dog…again. Blind, half deaf, but very happy.

We are looking at the possibility of getting more dogS but the heartbreak from the other three is still pretty rough and when this guy goes we will be wrecked. We keep saying “no more dogs”.

I saw an interesting meme though. It had pics of old dogs and it said “You say no more dogs when I die but please honor my life by adopting another old dog and give him the last few years a wonderful life you gave me.”

It's rough. I grew up in a farm environment, so putting animals down was a pretty common occurrence. I won't say it desensitized me, but it made you more aware of the animal's condition and able to judge when it was truly "time". So it's a little bit easier when you can look at it with perspective and not pure emotion. Having said that, there is something about dogs that sets them apart from all others. They are true companions and part of the family. I haven't let myself get close to any animals in a LONG time and this one is going to fuck me up. All of us really. The wife has already said she doesn't care how sick he gets, as long as he isn't in pain and misery, she will carry him from room to room, outside to go to the bathroom, etc, etc. He could literally poop on her pillow and she would forgive him (when you know the dog is loved more than you are).

Vet appt is today, and I'm sure there will be tests. He gave us some hope last night though. The doc prescribed an "emergency" half a pain pill for him yesterday. He had barely moved all day, couldn't make it down a single step into our living room, etc, etc. It wasn't obvious what was bothering him, he was just "down"....which is never a good sign with an animal. But...I gave him half of the half pain pill (so a fourth) in a smidge of peanut butter, which he could barely eat. Within an hour he was running through the living room...complete night and day difference. Up and down the step into the living room like it was nothing. And then he ate his supper like normal. So unless he was high off the meds, it seems he was definitely in that much pain. We gave him the rest of the pill before bed, and he still seemed pretty chipper this morning. So we'll see what the vet says today. *fingers crossed*

 

[AR-15]

Damn Multi I’m sorry I just saw this thread. Man that’s a tough question for sure. Probably no right answer but I can tell you this. Our last dog was getting old (12)and her hips were just trash. It killed me to watch her struggle. Anyway we got a pound puppy a few weeks before we had scheduled to put her down. That was 3 years ago and she’s still here with us. The new puppy somehow gave her a new outlook on life. Still struggling with the hips but not near as bad and she actually plays right along with the new one. Good luck Multi. I mean that.

 

[Multislacking]

Good news. Doc seems to share our optimism. She thinks it is probably a muscle/skeleton issue (probably his back) and has prescribed a couple weeks of pain meds and see how he is then. I guess this shadow of death hanging over our house for the last 6 months just has us immediately assuming the worst. Not that dogs don't get crippling hip issues, etc. I get that. But I have to say it's a sigh of relief that his cancer didn't appear to be back, etc.

Apparently jumping on the couch for your 17th nap of the day is pretty rough.