For Researcher:

I just got home from doing what you had to do a while back:...She was a regal princess, a great pyrenese, 14 years old....She lived 4 years longer than the usual lifespan of that breed....She was the perfect dog who required little training, it just came naturally to her...She had the common ailment that happens to large dogs, arthritis and debilitating hip wear....It became time to do this because keeping her alive was not humane....Still tough...I shed tears for the last two weeks knowing it was time, just like I am doing now

Mike, loosing a dog is maybe one of the worse things that could ever happen to us. We get tied at the hips with our furry four legged friends because no matter what, they are always there for us through thick and thin. Having just lost my girl three months ago and my boy at 14 years getting on in age with cataracts and almost half deaf, well, I can honestly say that I understand exactly what you are feeling.

My eyes fill every time I see this video, but it gives some comfort.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H17edn_RZoY

I am not even going to watch it, brah....My wife has just shut down for the day, and I am trying to stop thinking about it, but it ain't working....Ninja was a special dog that only happens once in a person lifetime...I have a mixed breed male that is going strong, and if he lives until this spring, he'll be 16...He is half doberman/lab mix and the most destructive SOB that i have ever seen, but at one time he was one hell of a watchdog....but, he has cataracts and can't hear to well and is not much of a watchdog any more....we have a schnauzer that stays inside but he is worthless unless it comes to food, and he sleeps a lot....i am pretty sure that he is a registered democrat....My raccoon died this summer at age 12 and I only have a flying squirrel....I was a wildlife rehabber for years and have all kinds of stories to tell....my wife and i put a cast on a chipmunks broken leg one time...ever been bit by a chipmunk?....most painful bite that i ever endured and I have been bit by everything.....I have a cat that is almost 20 years old and he looks it,too, but he eats 2-3 cans of food each and every day....I have one cat that stays out in the little house where my wife does her canning....she has feline leukemia and has to be kept separate from the others and she is gorgeous,solid white with blue eyes....we have a total of 7 cats that all came from the woods...they were feral cats....experts will tell you that wild cats can't be tamed, but I did it with all of these, just takes a while and lots of patience....Funny thing is, they seem to actually appreciate us and I am not making that up....Our kids and grandkids live so far away, and we have had so many friends die that we are pretty much all alone now and these animals were/are our family, I guess....I had never had to have an animal euthanized before and it sure as hell ain't easy to do, but it would have been so wrong to make her suffer

.  Yes it is very hard. I  know this pain is very great because, yes ,they are our children and love us unconditionally. God bless you Mike , Mrs N  and Researcher too.