HGG Community Forums

Virtual hugs. I just passed the 3 year anniversary from having to say goodbye to my 18 year old pug due to heart failure. =((

If you have the time, energy and ability to visit or volunteer at a shelter, I absolutely second Humboldt's suggestion. If not, I hope your new home will schedule days where dogs can come visit!

You did the right thing for the one you put down. My family waited too long on one and it was hell to watch. I actually wasn't upset when we finally put it down because its quality of life had degraded so badly.

And thank you all so much for your understanding and for sharing. It means a lot to me

It's always so hard to lose a pet. Sending many cyber hugs your way. It's been years since we've owned a dog, but losing each one of the three we had when my daughter was younger certainly wasn't easy.

Since then, my daughter has concentrated on various rodent pets--gerbils, an occasional hamster, and guinea pigs. There has been a steady stream of guinea pigs living in a 15 gallon aquarium in our dining room for years and years. Their lives are much shorter than a dog's, of course, and we have missed each one when it scurried over the rainbow bridge. The most recent one died just this last week. It seems as if she must have been about 6 years old, though I couldn't swear to it. We'd had her longer than any of the others. I find it hard to walk out the door without thinking that I need to pick some grass or dandelion leaves for Chrysanthemum, and I miss hearing her squeak for a treat while I'm putting lettuce on my husband's lunch sandwich.

I expect my daughter will soon be looking for another one, but she's in the midst of the second 12 day straight marathons at work as the lab she works for has a series of tests that requires lab work on weekends periodically. The aquarium will remain empty for a while yet, I think.