Euthanizing your dog, would you stay or go?

Oh, that's so so sad! My dog is 11 and a half and has spreading muscle atrophy so I don't know how long we have left with him. I've thought about it a lot lately and I think I definitely want to be with him if it comes to it. The thought of him dying on his own is heartbreaking so I think I definitely want to be there to stroke his head.Isn't that the worst thing about loving dogs so much, having to say goodbye to them? x

I would stay by my dogs side like he has stayed by my side for his entire life

i think that is a personal decision. i said my good byes and left the room. i just didn't want to watch him die. I agree i just had a feeling that it would be a bad memory. it was bad enough watching his health deteriorate. .

that's a hard question, but my dog is so loyal, and would never leave me, i would have to stay for her...<^><....

i didn't think i could handle it at first, but when one of my dogs died in 2004 i decided i would go with my mother. now i stay with the dogs when we have to put them down. i feel like they deserve it for being such good dogs. it is very hard though.

When I lost my Lily at the age of 13 to cancer, I stayed. It wasn't easy but I wasn't going to leave her there to be afraid. I stayed with her and was very glad I did. My Fiancee couldn't do it so I stayed with her by myself. I think it's a personal choice, but I will never leave my dogs to face that alone. They will have me with them helping them stay calm and go to the bridge knowing just how much I love them.

oh..poor you - but..you did the right thing i think. i would stay even though i would hate it....my dog is on his last legs...so we have to decide too.be strong & keep your chin up...no more suffering for your little dog...what a kind owner you are!!

Been there, done that - far too many times. Actually, I think it's better for you if you do stay, at least you know for sure what it was like for your dog, your imagination isn't running away with you. If I didn't stay, I'd always feel guilty that I'd walked away when they needed me most.

I Stayed :)No1 Includin Dogs Deserve To Die Alone :)And I Would Have Hated Myself For Not bein There For Her :)Ly :)x

i chose to stay with my dog when she was being euthanized, because she had been my faithful companion for 12 years, ever since i was 8. the least i could do was stay and say a little goodbye to her.

I am a vet tech myself, so I usually leave unless I am assisting. I know from euthanizing animals myself that it's easier on the staff if you're not there. Most vets are very professional and perfectly happy to have you stay, but it is not a pleasant thing for them either, and secretly most are hoping the owner leaves so they can focus on performing the procedure and not be distracted by how the owner is reacting.On the other hand, I do think that for some animals (especially dogs), it is comforting to have their owner there so they can leave this world relaxed and comfortable.

I will not stay with Lucas if I can't get control of my emotions. If I am TOO stressed, and TOO beat up, and TOO emotional, I will not subject him to that, it will only make EVERYTHING worse. If I'm scared, he's scared.However, I have a plan in my mind, and that involves holding it together, just for him, just long enough for him to know I'm there. It is the one little thing I need to be able to do for him after his lifetime of being there for me.Heaven help me when that moment comes. May I remember his constant strength in that time.

For me it's not about what I want...the dog who was my devoted companion and protector deserves to be held in loving arms as it takes it's last breath. I understand that for some it seems too difficult to comtemplate and I don't pass judgement on them.

I stayed with my cat while she was put to sleep. She had panceatic cancer. After that I took her home and buried her. It was probably the hardest thing I ever did. But , leaving her there would have been worse.

I chose to stay with Lola, Lola was my oldest mini daschund, she had bone cancer, rushed to the emergancy vet at 2:45 am, only to be told that I had to put her down, it was so sad, then, I held Lola in my arms and cudled her close, feeling the last breath of air we'd share together, the vet ingected her and right in the middle of her last breath, and even for about 20 minuttes, I stayed there, holding Lola, until the vet told me to go.

Definitely.Through fears, tears, sobs and depression. I went with my dad when we had to have Bruno, the family's german shephard, put down. Dad cried as if it were mom who was put to sleep...I'd always choose to be by one's side while they're ushered out.

we had to euthanize Shelby on new years' day of this year. my mom decided to have them take her back instead of us staying with her. it was horrible, thinking of her going back there by herself, and in retrospect, my mother wishes she would have gone back with her. I have 5 animals of my own and vowed to never let them pass alone. I don't want to think of them being by themselves. I know it's hard as a parent to stay with them, but I think it's much harder to know they're going back to die alone. You made the right decision, and although I won't ever criticize anyone for not staying because I understand how hard that decision is. I'm sorry for your loss, but happy for your love that you shared with your pup.

You couldn't drag me out of there. There is no way they are going to be alone with strangers when they have never abandoned me.

Not my dog, but my two cats on different occasions. I just wanted to run away, I was so distraught and crying so much, but I just could not leave them.So I stayed with them and held them and waited till the last breath. My second time, my Hoachie, just didn't want to let go, he had bad cancer and it had to happen, but he just kept hanging on. It took for ever and I was dying with him. But I had to be with him.Then when I went home afterwards, I cried for days it was horrible. But I then made a decision. To forget they were not with me anymore, and not mourn their deaths, but rather to commerate their lives and think about the good and funny things that happened, and laugh about them. That helped a lot

of course stay would you like to be informed over the telephone that you dog died peacefully if you've had the dog for a long time and you loved it of course i would stay