I watched my dog Elvis die a couple weeks ago. I was in college when my mother called me and told me that he was incapable of controlling his bowels and they were going to have him put to sleep. Elvis had been declining for a while now. He could no longer run due to the arthritis in his back hips, and climbing stairs had become an arduous task for him. Elvis was a black shepard and weighed about 100 pounds so I knew he probably wouldn't live too much longer as he was already 13 and larger dogs tend to not live as long.
I've been on the internet for a while so I've seen my share of sad dog stories, and as soon as she told me that Elvis was being put to sleep one in particular popped into my head. It was a story about a boy and his golden retriever named rusty. Towards the end of the story he talked about how he brought the dog to the vet, and before he was put to sleep, the vet recommended that he go so he wouldn't have to watch him die. He left, but after he did so, he realized that he had just left his childhood friend to die in a strange place full of people he didn't know. He cried and wished he could have done things differently. After I read that story I promised myself I wouldn't let that happen. I knew what I had to do, so I made the six hour drive back up home, and spent the last few hours with him. I pet him, told him that I loved him, and fed him cheese, his favorite food.
We went to the vet, and I went in to the examining room with Elvis and my parents. She asked if I wanted to be present when the lethal dose was administered, and of course I said yes. She brought him into a separate room to give him a sedative, and brought him back in on a metal table with a sheet on it. I started petting him and told him not to be scared. I told him I was here and that I loved him. As the vet gave him the lethal dose I could feel his breathing slow and then eventually stop.
I cried. But, I know I did the right thing. I was with my friend until the very end and I did everything for him that I could.
RIP Elvis. I love you.