Dealing with Putting Down Pets

[TotallyTropical]

Hi all,
Just had to put my 13 year old husky/border collie mix down last night with my family. Cried myself to sleep. It’s my first time ever putting down a pet (other than fish) and it’s been really hard on me. Any tips for keeping my head up and staying positive? I know I’ve got to keep busy, and I’ll be very busy with work over the next month and a half, but it might be painful for me since I work at a pet store that encourages people to bring their dogs in. I’ve also attached some of the last photos I got of her before she got put down; this was 2 days before her appointment, at the store I work at! She had a good time there but went downhill that night.

 

[fluttermoth]

Aww, what a sweet dog she was, I'm so sorry for your loss.

I won't lie to you, it is going to painful. You're right that you need to keep busy, but you must give yourself time to grieve as well; it's okay to cry, even after a few weeks. Remember that other pet owners will understand, so it's okay to talk about it.

I can promise you that it gets better. It never stops hurting completely, but the worst of the pain does pass and get easier to deal with as time goes on.

 

[Colin_T]

sorry for your loss
She looks like a nice dog and after having them in the family for so long, it's like losing a child.

Your life is going to be hell over the next 6-12 months, possibly longer. However, you have work and family and possibly friends and they can all help you through this. It gets a bit easier after time but not much, and it can take a very long time to get over losing them.

Talk to your friends and family about it as much as possible.
Try to find things to do, and it's not going to be easy in a petshop so I don't envy you there.
Scream, cry, rant, rave, yell, hug your other dog if you have one. Hug partner if you need to.

Look at pictures and videos of your dog when you had happy moments, eg: playing at the park with her doggy friends, dressed in costumes during holiday events, etc.

Some people get another dog and shower affection on them. That can help but grieve first and when you and the family feel ready for another dog, then get one. But don't just go out and get one straight away because it doesn't normally help.

Keep exercising. Everyone has heard of someone's grandparents dying from a broken heart. One grandparent dies and a few months later the other dies from a broken heart. That is a medical condition. People become depressed after losing a friend or family member and they stop exercising and don't go out. Over the next month or so their heart becomes weaker due to lack of exercise. Then one night they go to bed and their heart stops.

The exercise keeps the heart working properly and produces serotonin that helps fight depression.

Eat regularly and have a varied diet, socialise, exercise and try to move on in order to help reduce the chance of developing depression.

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I can give you a list of things not to do but they are somewhat depressing and possibly not suitable for a forum. But if you don't do the above, you could end up going down the road I went when my dogs died and that is not good for anyone.

 

[TotallyTropical]

You're right that you need to keep busy, but you must give yourself time to grieve as well; it's okay to cry, even after a few weeks.

Thank you so much. I’m sure I’ll be doing plenty of crying, haha.

Talk to your friends and family about it as much as possible.
Try to find things to do, and it's not going to be easy in a petshop so I don't envy you there.
Scream, cry, rant, rave, yell, hug your other dog if you have one. Hug partner if you need to.

I’m already pretty vocal about this, so I’m kind of glad to hear that taking about it will help! I’m probably going to talk about it quite a lot to my friends, as my family is a bit fragile when it comes to this subject now.

Keep exercising.

The store I work at is pretty small, so I kind of have every role along with my coworkers. Having to do everything around the store = a lot of exercise, so I think I should be covered there!

 

[DoubleDutch]

So sorry for you. Aweful to loose a "piece" of unconditional love like that.

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[FishGuest5123]

I placed a pic of my dog up with my family photos. That way I could memorialize him and also give him a kiss as I passed by. After a couple of months I did get another pup but completely differeny from my first so I wouldn’t compare them. I still miss my Ernie but I have Ellie snuggled up next to me as I write this. I wish you the best. Rest and allow yourself to grieve. Things will get better.