My precious Pet was my fifteen year old black lab that I had to have put to sleep this year. He had Cushings Disease, arthritis, etc. I loved that dog so much. We had him since he was five weeks old.

I am sorry to hear about your dog. 15 seems like a great life for a lab. We have three labs, black, chocolate and yellow. I would love to hear a story about your dog if you feel up to it. Lab lovers always love chatting with other lab lovers : )

I loved that dog so much. The vet was amazed at his health up until the last year of his life. When he was twelve he told us he had the heart of a six year old. He was so darn lovable. And very playful. He loved to fetch a ball. He would bring it back and throw it so we could catch it and throw it again. He never tired of doing that. He would sit and give paws. He knew the difference between right and left. We always had cats with him; and, he would let those cats lay with him and even give him a bath now and then. He actually lived beyond what labs usually do; so, we were placed in that respect. It was just terribly hard to see him deteriorate. We finally had to make the decision to have him put to sleep when he could barely walk anymore. It was time to end his suffering. My son and I were with him until the end. We were just thankful that he wasn't suffering anymore. We had him created and my son has a small monument for him in his office. We feel he is still with us.

I would love to hear some stories regarding your pets also.

Thats very sad about your Lab. I understand how devastating it is to loose a
member of your family like that. Over the years, we have lost quite a few
pets, most of them living very long lives, and some leaving us very unexpectedly and tragically- but no matter what their end, it was never
very easy to endure.
We have teo 14 yr old sister cats, who are still very active and healthy, thank goodness. We also have a 12 yr old Lhasa Apso mix Casey who is also very spunky and healthy. Then there is the Lhasa Apso, Tessa who is only 2 yrs old, who presently thinks she is the Queen bee of the furry ones.
They are all different and all very special.
I hope you can get through the loss and look back on all the happy memories your Lab broough to you and yours.

My precious pet is a black lab, Arc, she is a year old!!

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Thanks Kristina (Sissy_Mommy) ^


www.flickr.com/jadenlarson/

Sorry about your pet. I know how it can be. I lost one myself. My daughter let my Golden Retriever out of the house just as I was leaving for work. The dog was not supposed to be out without a leash. I was looking back as I turned around the car and never saw her. She thought she was going for a ride I guess and jumped for the door as my wheel caught her and spun her under the wheel running over her stomach. She bled out inside and before her last breath vomited blood all over me.I was so torn up I got into a deep depression like I had run over my own child. I have not worked a day since. I am on disability now and I now have 3 Golden Retrievers. Heaven help me if something happens to them. For their own safety I have a fenced-in backyard now and a pet door that allows them outside when they want without fear or being run over by any car.

I have a question I hope someone may be able to answer. My oldest Golden is 9. Ranger. We just got him as a rescue since he had many homes and lots of abuse. I had a trust issue on both sides. He tended to bite and bit the other 2 dogs and me. However, he has seemed to mellow out. His biting was mostly due to his not trusting anyone or any dog. He is very loving now but I know little about his medical history.

A week ago I found him in the hallway unresponsive. He had voided urine and feces where he lay so I assumed he was dying. His mouth was clamped shut. By the time I got him up (he weight's 100 pounds) he was taking a few steps. He went into the vets acting cheerful and wagging his tail. Vet did no blood work. He said he thought it was an epileptic seizure. His only advice was to watch him. Monitor if he has any more, how long they last and such stuff. More tests can be done later if it repeats itself. I know something is wrong. Maybe bad wrong. The only thing I forgot to tell the vet was this dog drinks a ton of water. Several times more than the other dogs. I wonder if he could be diabetic? I thought if he was perhaps he may not have recovered so quickly without intervention. Any ideas?

Thanks a lot. CC

You should really check with your vet regarding that; but, I think excessive drinking could also be a result of seizures in pets.

I am really sorry to hear your pet has problems. I really love animals. I am equally sorry to hear about your dog that passed away. That had to be devastating.

that sounds like seizure activity to me as well.

drinking lots of water is a symptom of diabetes, but if the dog was having a low sugar problem at that point, he would not have come out of it without some intervention.

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Thanks for the advice. I watch him close and so far no more seizures but he still drinks tons of water. Far more than the other dogs.

I got him as a rescue. He had a lot of homes and never treated well. When I first got him I would approach him and he would drop flat to the ground and cower like he was expecting to be hit. It was so sad. Last lady that had him put him in a paddock with a small pony. She said he used to play rough with the pony. He had a broken canine tooth I had the vet look at. Vet said he could not pull it without breaking his jaw. If it was any other tooth but that one. I thought it was giving him pain but vet said because of the unevenness of his teeth and his front worn down to the gum ( symptom of chewing on something hard like rocks) he would eat funny. Pulling his canine was a last resort.

A friend stopped by and noticed he always carried something in his mouth. My other male sometimes does because he wants to play but Ranger does it all the time. He thought it may be a symptom of his seizures and that Ranger was aware he had a problem. I don't know.

He weighed just over 80 pounds when I got him. Average weight but he was quite muscular and very powerful. Probably from playing with that pony. I even wondered if the pony had kicked him in the head and that may be his source of seizures and the cause of the broken canine. The lady did not even know he had a broken tooth. He is now a tad over 100 pounds but does not look fat. Just muscular and husky. I'll explain the weight gain.

My youngest male (Tazz) is quite active. I think he can set some sort of record for high jumps from a standstill. I sometimes spray water in the air with a hose and he jumps almost as high as my house to catch it! He is quite skinny. I can feel every bone in his back! I had the vet examine him and worm him even though he showed no worms a couple of times. To try and get him to gain I keep dry food down in my house all the time. I wash the steel bowls every time they get empty. I added a semi-moist dog food in the morning and they all get it. I feel bad giving it to Tazz and not the others. In evenings I split up a can of sliced meat and gravy (usually lamb and chicken can cause allergy problems) so they all get some of that. He gained just a few pounds but no more and the others kept getting fatter. I noticed I had to sit near his food bowl and constantly tell him to eat. If I walk away he will walk away. He looks up to me every bite and I tell him to eat. He will wag his tail and resume eating. He won't eat otherwise.

Well they all get dog treats like chicken strips, snausages, T-Bonz and so forth every brushing, bath or for good behavior but only a couple times a day. I sneak Tazz a couple extra to try and get him to gain weight. Tazz is just 3 years old. Sparkle is 6 and Ranger is 9. Well......once in the morning (unless I run out temporarily) I give each dog a peanut butter cookie. Really the only sweets I give them. They get exercise since they go outside through the pet door into the fenced in backyard and it is a good size. They play and chase each other and play tug-of-war. I have watched Ranger make his own fun by shaking a toy and throwing it up in the air to catch it. Guess he has been by himself a lot and did this to amuse himself.

If no problems after Christmas they will all go to the vet for check-ups and I will ask a lot more questions about Ranger. I wondered what a normal blood sugar was for a dog? Anyone know? I have a couple of those blood testing kits. Since he has no fingers I don't know where to get the blood or even if it will read right for a dog. If he has a sugar problem I do not think it could be bad and I agree if the seizure was sugar related he would not have come around without intervention. I worry as he ages they may become a problem (if he has any more). I sleep in a king size bed and though not all the dogs will stay on the bed all night (Sparkle sometimes does. She thinks she is human) sometimes I have all 3 on the bed at once. They look for petting and then will find a place and lay down. The males get hot though and get off to find a cool spot near the bed and Ranger will sometimes go into the bathroom and lay on that floor. It is harder though but I guess in his past he is used to it. He has those patches on his front elbows that are a sign of sleeping on hard surfaces most of his life.

I only know I will try and make what time my dogs have left on this world as pleasant as possible even if it means spoiling them a bit.

Even my 4 year old granddaughter now is unafraid of even the active Tazz and will hug them. I took a few pictures of that recently. It was so cute.

Ranger I still worry about and will not leave him alone with her for a second. He had a tendency to not trust and bite when we first got him but for the last few months he is loving and Lauren seems to love him. He will nuzzle her and let her hug him but if he has any sort of seizure problems I do not know if it is wise to let my guard down. I am afraid he will forget where he is and hurt her if nothing but a small nip. Someone once told me he acted sometimes like his eyes were blank like nobody home. Even my son said his eyes looked scary. I thought it was his age as he is getting a hound dog look to them and they sag just a bit on the bottom. He acts like a normal dog otherwise. I wish they could talk and tell me what is wrong. I have seen dogs in pain and unless it was really bad it was hard to detect. I've been around the other two since puppies so I think I could tell if anything was off even a little bit but with Ranger I don't know. We just got him in May.

Well, I went to one site to download pictures that is supposed to be able to post them in forums but have not gotten it to work yet. Maybe I need to try another one. Sparkle had one of her pictures posted in First For Women mag and they paid me $50 for it. I am just learning how to use the digital camera so hoping for some exciting stuff soon.

On a different subject I decorated my entire yard this year like at Christmastime for Halloween. Usually I only put a few things on my porch. I just lit it all up last night with a few more items coming soon and had a couple of cars stop and one got out and walked around with their kids looking at all the stuff. I live on a main road outside of town with a 4 lane busy highway. Hoping to do a good yard sale this weekend since the fair is in town.


Thanks to all for their interest and comments. Only people that really love their dogs can understand why we love them so much. At a store recently I was with my adult daughter looking for a costume for the granddaughter. The clerk asked if I had a picture of her. I looked in my purse and pulled out several of the dogs but I could not find one of her. My daughter acted shocked and said it was awful I carried pictures of the dogs but not one of the grand child. Then I asked my daughter if she had one of her and she did not so I did not feel as bad. Money for them is tight and they take very few pictures of her. I put one of her in her ladybug costume last year in the Halloween costume contest. Probably not good enough to win but cute anyway. This year I bought her a butterfly costume. Got it at Halloween Express and even got bigger wings and make-up with glitter so it should be cool. I'll take pictures of that on Halloween. I forgot about shoes. Not sure what sort to get that would be ok for outdoor walking and still go with the costume. Her dad works at the hospital. Maybe those slip on paper shoes over her sneakers? Ideas?

The dogs aren't fond of dressing up and will try and get off anything I put on them so if I dress them up I have to be quick with thew camera.

Gotta go. Whew! Aren't you glad. And I am the silent type except online. LOL! CC

I have three precious cats.. and i love them all to death... ... this is not one of them but this is too adorable i wanted to share it.... this is something my cat would do.. http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x21...admill_animals

I'm sorry to hear about the loss of your lab.We've had several pets my whole life,and the hardest part is losing them.They are such a huge part of the family. You have to morn for them just like other family members. Then after a while, you have to get another one! It sure helps bring laughter back to the house after losing a pet. You can never replace a lost pet, but you can give another pet a great and loving home. Good luck!