How have others dealt with watching their dogs health fail?

FIRST he has been to the vet he was diagnosed with a disease called degenerative meylopthy and he also has hip displasia. (sorry about spelling the diseases wrong) He is not in pain because the first disease makes him loose feeling in his legs. He just walked funny for a while now he is draging his foot a lot and he trips over his own rear legs. Not all the time but when he tries to play or he might fall if he is caught off gaurd. He doesn't seem to be unhappy at all but I feel so bad for him. I think I am dealing with it worse than the dog he just gets a little frustrated when he has a hard time getting up otherwise he just ignores it and keeps going. My husband is in denial maybe that is how I should be???yes he is a german shepherd we don't plan to let him get to the point where he needs a cart we have a lot of stairs and that would be really hard and for that matter he has always been afraid of staris.

its difficult i had a dog that had emphysema and the vet said medication would help and it did for a time then he got heart problems ,even though the vet said he was not suffering as animal owners you watch there health deteriorate and you feel sorry for them its a natural thing to do,i watched my dog for years deteriorate i suppose at some points in his treatment i went into denial and pretended every thing was OK but there was constant reminders he got out of breath he could not walk properly and then it just proved my dog was sick.you will handle it in your own way no two people are the same good luck

i just wanted to say that I'm sorry to hear about your dog. it cant be easy however you deal with it. take it in your own stride. no-one can tell you HOW and WHEN to deal with it. it will come naturally...Good luck

I would collect as much information on DM for your husband to read that you can. A dog can live a long time with DM. But, a dog can also go all the way down in the back. A lot of people have put these dogs in doggie wheelchairs. Eventually the dog will go down in the front as well. Swimming is a good thing for excercise for your dog. If the toeing in and dragging of his rear feet becomes too much, you might want to invest in a wheel chair for him. It is a lot harder to do this with a large breed dog over a small breed dog. Is this a German Shepherd by any chance?You are going to need to keep him as active as he can tolerate. Swimming is the easiest for a dog like this to do. Just keep an eye out for more toeing in and tripping. If he starts to develop sores on his back feet, pasterns or legs, it might be time to put him down if you are not putting him in a chair. This might not be for a while. But, the disease can come on fast or be slow as well.

I think you need to think about what's best for your dog. My dog also has severe hip dysplasia which isn't causing him many problems for now, but I know when the time comes, I'm gonna have a very tough task ahead of me! If the dog is finding it hard to move, maybe you should speak to your vet about the best course of action to take. They may be able to suggest something to help your dog.In the long run, awful as it sounds, you will have to make that life or death decision sooner or later, so don't be surprised if your vet suggests it.

I would talk to your vet to see what else could be done. I know this is hard to hear but maybe you should put him to sleep. I have had to do that before but I think it would be better for him. I think maybe I waited too long with mine and maybe he was suffering and I didn't see it or didn't want too. I would have loved to keep him with me forever.

I had a terrier mix for 17 years. During the last 3-4 years of her life she starting going blind and deaf and lost most of her teeth. It was very hard to face the fact that she wouldn't make it Much longer, so I started pulling away form her. I didn't spend much time with her and stayed at arms length. I guess I thought it would make it easier that way when she did pass. I even went out a got a new puppy and devoted my time to him. I guess I was trying to fill the void I knew was coming. Then one day she disappeared. She had gotten out of the yard and wondered off. My family and I looked for weeks and never found her. Everyone keeps telling me she ran off to die so I wouldn't have to see it. I think she got angry and left. Either way I felt horrible. My advise to you is no matter how bad it gets, never pull away. It only makes you hurt worse at the end.

I offer you my compassion and I can appreciate your concern. I have a 14 y.o. shih tzu going through the same.All I can say is take good care of your dog medically, emotionally and love him, love him and love him.Denial is normal but can be dangerous as when the time may come for euthanasia someone has to have their head on right as I know I would never allow my baby to live in pain without any cure or treatment.