What's The Most Difficult Thing You've Had To Do?

[huntergreen]

telling my father there was nothing more we can do, and then watch him slip away.

[julie87]

The hardest thing I ever had to do was live without a dad while i watched everyone else have a father... he left us when I was 6 months old my mother gave him an ultimatum he was abusive, alcoholic and a gambler... I waited for him he promised he would visit, he lived an hour away from us. I would hear the dog barking I would run to the window to look for him. My mother remarried when I was 10 years old, he is very mean and difficult and we don't get along, living with them was absolute **** and I just wanted to die. The only reason i got through it is my faith in God, He gave me strength.. I'm happily married to amazing man now thank God


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[CainGSD]

The most difficult dog thing I have been through was looking at the MRI films and seeing a cancer that was pressing on my Cain's spinal cord. When we went for the MRI, every indicator was pointing to a disc issue. Scary and bad but fixable. To suddenly realize that this was something really really bad and my boy wasn't going to get to come home was devastating and took my to my knees. I am usually a strong, composed person and good at dealing with a crisis with facts. I hit the floor crying and begging for it not to be so. I so selfishly wanted to wake him from the general anesthesia to see him one more time but chose instead to let him slip painlessly and peacefully to what I hope is a better place.

Cain von Hena-C a once in a lifetime friend, keeper of secrets, incredible teacher. He is gone now 3 years and still makes me cry, smile and laugh with all the memories. Loved my Cain bug.

[TrickyShepherd]

Dog related...

Saying goodbye to my golden retriever, Peaches.

I got her for Christmas in 1997. I begged for YEARS for a dog.... always to be let down. I finally got "my" dog and she was everything to me. I took care of her, I trained her, everywhere I went... she was there. She got me through grade school and college.... the firsts of everything. She was there for me during my parents divorce and when I lost two close friends in high school due to suicide. She also got me through my aunts struggle with cancer, and when she passed away shortly after.

Peaches fell ill for the first time in her life and a week later passed away at almost 14 years old. I was faced with the "look" we all, as pet owners, dread and made that decision to let her free from all the pain.

This was one of the hardest decisions I've ever had to make, the hardest signature I've ever had to write, and definitely the hardest things, dog related, that I've had to go through. I miss her every day and it's been a few years.... I still cry when I talk or think about her, I still dream about her, and the pain of losing her is still going on. Life hasn't been the same since. No dog will ever come close to her in my heart...

[3dognite]

Dog related...has to be dealing with the thought of losing my current GSD Rebel. He's not even 10 yet, he's my "heart dog" I think I've heard others describe and I have laid awake nights similar to when my 5 year old daughter had mono, worrying about his weight loss, his facial paralysis and wondering what I'm going to do when I have to make that decision.

On another note, I had the sweetest cat once who some jack-ass hit with a car (there were plenty of teenagers who literally aimed for cats on our street) who somehow dragged herself home with about a 1 inch separation in her spine...she had no front claws by the time she got home, just bleeding. The time it took for me to load her into the car and get her to the vet to be euthanized was heart-wrenchingly agonizing for me.

[dgray]

I watched my mom die from cancer when I was 19. (3 years ago) She was only 50, and had been sick for almost a year. It was a horrible time in my life. I had just started college, and instead of enjoying college, I had the weight of the world on my shoulders. Watching such a strong, independent woman become so weak was horrible. I watched her take her last breath, but that wasn't even the worse of it. It was the fact she'd never get to enjoy all her hard work (she had retired a month before she died) and the fact she was aware of it. She was so sad and felt the world had been unfair to her.

I miss and think about her everyday. She was such a genuine and lovely person.




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[asja]

Originally Posted by dgray

I watched my mom die from cancer when I was 19. (3 years ago) She was only 50, and had been sick for almost a year. It was a horrible time in my life. I had just started college, and instead of enjoying college, I had the weight of the world on my shoulders. Watching such a strong, independent woman become so weak was horrible. I watched her take her last breath, but that wasn't even the worse of it. It was the fact she'd never get to enjoy all her hard work (she had retired a month before she died) and the fact she was aware of it. She was so sad and felt the world had been unfair to her.

I miss and think about her everyday. She was such a genuine and lovely person.




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How sad for you to have lost your mother so young. I'm sorry.

[Anubis_Star]

Hardest thing I've ever had to do is make the choice to euthanize my 3.5 yr old healthy german shepherd for aggression issues. A choice that I still doubt in ways. The next morning, when I woke up, I have never felt that much pain before in my life.

[LoveEcho]

Hardest thing I've ever had to do dog-related was give back a rescue husky who had attacked me (11 stitches). I didn't want to, but it was in the contract and they made me. The rescue was...less than reputable, it turns out. Lots of lessons learned there. He died about two months after that because of heart worm (I had spent a ton of money on treatments for him for the month that I had him, I was heartbroken to hear it).

Non dog-related, was leaving my husband. We separated due to his drinking and I'd had divorce papers drawn up. There was a silver lining; it was the wake-up call he needed to go to rehab and we are now back together and renewing our vows in a few months. But while it was happening, it was excruciating, especially after all we'd been through together (deployments, the very quick loss of his mother due to an aggressive lung cancer, etc).

[asja]

Originally Posted by Anubis_Star

Hardest thing I've ever had to do is make the choice to euthanize my 3.5 yr old healthy german shepherd for aggression issues. A choice that I still doubt in ways. The next morning, when I woke up, I have never felt that much pain before in my life.

I know how you feel, really I do. We had a rescue German Shepherd that was a fear biter, and he bit one too many people. Animal control made us euthanize him or he would be labeled a "Dangerous Dog". I was also six months pregnant at the time, and I just couldn't deal with the legal aspects of keeping a Dangerous Dog, and I also then couldn't trust him with my child. We both held him as he died. It still eats me up that we did that to him. My husband refuses to get another rescue. After he died, our dog Bonni kept looking for him for weeks.