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Posted: 9/17/2008 7:01:40 AM EST
[#1]
My vet was out to the house a little over 2 weeks ago. Ignoring the fact my only gun isn't even in this state, I wouldn't have been able to do it myself. As it is I feel completely guilty about holding him while the vet gave him the shot and he died in my arms. |
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Posted: 9/17/2008 7:13:06 AM EST
[#2]
Last year I put down our Irish Setter. He could no longer stand up or walk under his own power. It seams to me he knew it was his time. I took him to the vet, had him put down painlessly, brought him home, and buried him in the pasture. This felt right too me. |
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Posted: 9/17/2008 7:37:06 AM EST
[#3]
+1 I've put down every dog that we've owned over the years when they needed it, usually with a .45 or .357 mag. Take them out to the desert with their favorite ball, a last meal, play while the sun comes up and say goodbye and do the deed when they aren't looking, quick and painless. Just the way I was raised - that a man takes care of his own dog when time comes. Not like I enjoy it or I'm killing a dog in the prime of it's life, it's old and suffering, I'm bringing an end to the pain. I have no regrets, though I have shed a few tears afterwards, but that was because of losing my friend - not because I shot it. |
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Posted: 9/17/2008 7:48:56 AM EST
[#4]
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Posted: 9/17/2008 7:53:10 AM EST
[#5]
Friend of mine made a mess of it. He tried drugging his GSD with sleeping pills and then using a hammer to brain him. It didn't work. I had previously offered to loan him a gun for the task and he finally took me up on it after giving up on the hammer.
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Posted: 9/17/2008 7:55:39 AM EST
[#6]
Just ask the vet to push the plunger. Then you've done it and it still is cleaner. |
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Posted: 9/17/2008 7:59:36 AM EST
[#7]
Wow. I saw this thread early before I went to bed and knew I didn't want to open it then, even now I am not so sure. In case I missed any replies, is it just age or are there other physical conditions (sight, organ failure, etc,)? There are vitamins for bone/joint therapy that help, all over the counter stuff but really work. Got a BIL that used to have to lift his dog into the back of his SUV and since giving the vitamins the dog is jumping in. 9yr old Lab.
Aside from that, I couldn't do it. I found mine that went off to die when I was a teenager, had it from a puppy and I was a child. I couldn't even go with my Dad to bury her. I had a hard time watching I AM LEGEND because of that scene, even though it was a little easier knowing there was a disease involved. I have another BIL that had to do it for the family pet. Sight, hearing, health, all going down hill. He was an avid hunter so he knew where to do it and as easy as possible. No one else in the family could do it. He doesn't talk much about it to this day. It's different when it's your friend. Call a vet, and a good friend. |
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Posted: 9/17/2008 7:59:39 AM EST
[#8]
My dog is such a part of our family it would be like shooting a kid.
GL with that man. 
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Posted: 9/17/2008 8:15:13 AM EST
[#9]
I would say handle it yourself. A coworker had a old dog that needed to put down. I offered to pick the dog up when no one was home so he wouldn't have to know when it happened. It wasn't my dog so I had no attachment to it. He never gave me the ok and ended up taking it to the vet. Said it was the worst thing he had ever done. The dog knew something was up.
Now if you do it yourself. Make sure with you being in the city can you discharge a gun and not have the neighbors call in a gun shot. Now to the dog. Having to put down a family pet is hard. If you don't think you can do it get some help from someone you can trust. Some animall lovers feel this is worse than killing a person. Dig a hole first. Spoil the old dog with whatever you want. Walk hiim over with a lead and remover the collar. A .22 will work, I've put many down with it. Barrel to the top of the head. Pull trigger and they fall over into the hole. As some suggested put something in the hole to get its attention. I had one move and it wasn't a clean kill like I want. Since then if I use a .22 its 3 shots as fast as possible. You said you had a 9mm, use it. It guarantees that it will be a one shot deal and no suffering from the dog. But depending on the attachment to the dog this will be a hrad thing to do. You have to look at it as just a dog and no a long time friend. Thats why a good friend may be better at it than you. |
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Posted: 9/17/2008 8:19:51 AM EST
[#10]
Had to put down my Doberman years ago due to a stroke and we chose to have the vet handle it. I would much rather have the final memory of petting/holding my dog as he drifts off to sleep rather then putting a round through his head. Killing your buddy would be tough to live with, mercy killing or not.
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Posted: 9/17/2008 8:23:31 AM EST
[#11]
Cops.
They'll do it for free, they'll do it fast. Hell, they'll do it without even asking. 
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Posted: 9/17/2008 8:27:45 AM EST
[#12]
Be there with the dog, let the vet put him down. Or check with a vet that is close and see if a house call is affordable.
When our golden retriever was getting near her time to go, my dad took her to the vet. We're gun people but shooting her was not an option. He petted her as the vet gave her the shots. She picked up her paw, laid it on my dad's hand and went to sleep. The least a good friend deserves is a pine box. Build one. |
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Posted: 9/17/2008 8:41:18 AM EST
[#13]
DONT DO IT!!! you will regret it. a friend of mine did this years ago and if fucks with him still. the humane thing to do is to take it to the vet. sorry about your dog.
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Posted: 9/17/2008 8:47:13 AM EST
[#14]
BIG MISTAKE.
Listen I don't know if you've ever been hunting, but if you have you should know that even a head shot doesn't always kill instantly and sometimes there can be movement from the body from nerve impluses still being sent out that can be very disturbing if you're looking at your family pet. It's messy, it's not at all pretty or pleasant, and frankly it will make your family always view in a negative light however slight for the rest of their lives like it or not. It's not very expensive to have a vet do it. Gather up some pop cans, loose change, and borrow money from Grandma if you're that poor to do it. |
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Posted: 9/17/2008 8:48:16 AM EST
[#15]
I'm sorry, but last time I took a dog of mine to the pound to be put to sleep it was so scared it pissed and shit everywhere. It was scared out of its mind, I would rather not go through that again. Especially since my dog is an English bulldog, they are very skittish and wary of strangers. If you even yell at them the wrong way they get a sad look on there face and will sit in the corner for hours. If I catch my old dog pissing on the floor I just look at her and she gets this insanely mopey look on her face and will every so slowly walk towards the back door with her head hung low. They are very sensitive to everything. |
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Posted: 9/17/2008 8:50:29 AM EST
[#16]
I will most likely find a vet that does house calls. What do people do with the body when they do this? I live in suburbia, it likely would not be a good idea to bury a 60pd dog my backyard. |
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Posted: 9/17/2008 8:51:47 AM EST
[#17]
Why not? |
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Posted: 9/17/2008 8:59:14 AM EST
[#18]
My yard is not very big, and I have another dog that likes to dig. How deep of a hole does one need to dig? † |
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Posted: 9/17/2008 8:59:54 AM EST
[#19]
The vet will do this for a nominal fee or at least mine does. Check around.
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Posted: 9/17/2008 9:01:18 AM EST
[#20]
3 or 4 should be good.
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Posted: 9/17/2008 9:04:48 AM EST
[#21]
Another vote for the vet. That is the most humane way to do it. I've put pets down myself and I've taken them to the vet. I prefer the vet deal. I don't like blowing holes in "family" members...
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Posted: 9/17/2008 9:08:26 AM EST
[#22]
I had my vet come to my home and put my rottie Buddha down in our back yard.
I didn't want my boys last experience to be a fearful one, in an unfamiliar anxiety producing place such as a vets office. He was at home, with the people he was crazy about....at ease and comfortable. He was sitting in the grass, I was rubbing his head and the ve did what he needed to do. It was over without any issues...other than my own. It doesn't get any better. |
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Posted: 9/17/2008 9:08:55 AM EST
[#23]
Your quote gives your username a different twist...
Eta: for spelling |
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Posted: 9/17/2008 9:09:33 AM EST
[#24]
What a fucking moron your friend is...what a complete idiot. Someone should "brain" him for being such a complete dumb ass. The price the dog had to pay for having a fuckin' retard of an owner....unreal. Good thing I wasn't around for that stunt, or your friend would be the one a mess was made of. |
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Posted: 9/17/2008 9:13:08 AM EST
[#25]
This is what I will do with my dog when his time comes. Unless for whatever reason shooting him is the only option. |
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Posted: 9/17/2008 9:14:19 AM EST
[#26]
same here my dog had gotten out adn somebody shot him right thru the chest.. he managed to get home but was already bleeding out.. we took him to the vet to try and save him but it was too late i opted in my emotional state to have the vet do it there .. i regret it bc it was on that damn steel table the only good part was i was holding his head and the last thing he saw was my face damn now im crying |
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Posted: 9/17/2008 9:17:34 AM EST
[#27]
Also, let's not forget that filling your garage up with a poisonous gas is a bad idea for anything in your home you might not want to kill - including yourself. Cardboard box with a ventillation sleeve to the exhaust and do it in the driveway would be a much better idea if you wanted to go the CO route. Even still, modern vehicles put out very little carbon monoxide. You're really looking at oxygen displacement rather than poisoning. If that's the case, you need to leave them in the environment for at least 15 minutes to ensure death, longer is better. I'd think the quicker timeline of a bullet is much, much easier. And as for suffocation being 'humane.' On the one hand, yeah, they just "go to sleep" - if by "go to sleep" you mean "pass out" and by "pass out" you mean suffer oxygen depravation and brain damage. It's a little better than drowning them, but it's not far off. I vote to use the gun. |
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Posted: 9/17/2008 10:46:02 AM EST
[#28]
I just had to do this last week with my beloved 10 year old alaskan malamute "Bear". Let the vet come out a perhaps sedate the dog first. Then the real shot. Don't try to do this yourself..it could go badly. This is a terrible thing to do even with help..don't make the memories any worse than necessary. I felt my buddy deserved to be laid to rest intact in his natural majestic beauty ...not with half his head gone etc. Do it right for him and yourself. He fell asleep in my arms and slumped into me and was gone. I feel for ya...I wept for days.
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Posted: 9/17/2008 10:56:49 AM EST
[#29]
Agreed. I've done it. Was fairly quick, but not pretty. I used a .22 Magnum |
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Posted: 9/17/2008 11:03:50 AM EST
[#30]
Not to hijack the thread, but here is a story about a botched putting an animal down method. A guy where I worked for my first job had a family and their dog was old and not doing well. He was also insanely cheap. He decided the best way to put down the dog was to put a large cable tie around its neck and let it suffocate to death. Well, as soon as the cable tie was around the dog's neck he was up and more moving more than he had in awhile. The guy went to his shed and got a shovel and started beating the dog in the head. The dog is spasming, choking, and trying to run away. He finally killed the dog with the shovel to head method, only to look up and see ALL of his kids staring at him through the living room picture window. They saw their dad try to choke to death, and when that did not work, beat to death the family dog.  Back to the thread, for the poster who said carbon monoxide poisoning is not that bad, you are wrong. The animal will suffer if put to death that way. |
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Posted: 9/17/2008 1:10:58 PM EST
[#31]
Yeah - my dad put down our old dog. He was sick.. had skin cancer we think. Poor guy would some times howl in pain. Took him to a field and let him run around one last time.
I remember saying something about our old dog and I said "I always imagined you took him out to a field and shot him yourself." He said that he did. He never liked vets and that would just stress him out more. |
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Posted: 9/17/2008 1:37:44 PM EST
[#32]
Good for you. Best option by far is a house call from a vet. No matter where you live you should be able to find someone to do this. Option 2, do it yourself, if for some bizarre reason you can't get a vet out. I would never take a pet to the vet for this. They all hate the vet's office in the best of times, to say nothing about something like this. |
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Posted: 9/17/2008 1:44:23 PM EST
[#33]
I cant read thru these threads like these anymore.......for Christ's sake, braining a dog with a hammer?? What in Gods name are some people thinking??
If you can stomach it, a 22 mag to the back,base of the head ,centered ,pointed twords the eyes is quick and clean. I had to do it to my old GF's kids beagle puppy and it was probably the hardest thing Ive ever had to do. Take it to the vets..........save yourself the heartache OP .......sorry for your |
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Posted: 9/17/2008 1:53:19 PM EST
[#34]
as a thought... some human skulls have repelled .22 caliber. not sure how the density compares to you bull dog... but...
and I like the vet-to-home senario> i can see A LOT of bad things happening to both the pet (physically) and you (emotionally) if you try to put it down "painlessly" at home with a bullet |
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Posted: 9/17/2008 2:13:17 PM EST
[#35]
I had to put one of my dogs down 2 years ago. You will be OK. The image will stay in your head though.
I used a GLOCK 21.
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Posted: 9/17/2008 2:13:51 PM EST
[#36]
What an awful thing to have to do...I have yet to have to put down a dog but I'm afriad the time is not far off
I personally would not opt to do it myself...I think the dog will suffer less the way the vet does it...I'm not a very good shot and I know under the circumstances I would be nervous and maybe be crying....I wouldn't want to wound him. I have shot deer with much more powerful weapons than a .22 and in extremely vital areas but it is still never instant death..... Best of luck to you whatever you choose.
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Posted: 9/17/2008 3:03:46 PM EST
[#37]
Had my Lab-Pit mix 15 years and had to put her down two months ago. Wife and kids did not want a vet to do it. Put her to sleep with some meds and one .22 to the back of the head did it. As hard as it was I am glad I did it and kept it in the family. The last thing she seen before going to sleep was all of us around her and she was at peace.
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Posted: 9/17/2008 3:05:51 PM EST
[#38]
Give him a wonderful last meal, take him out someplace nice, lie down in a field next to him, stroke him, say soothing things to him, and when his eyes close, stick the muzzle of a .22 into his ear and pull the trigger. Don't fuck it up. |
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Posted: 9/17/2008 3:11:45 PM EST
[#39]
Your vet will be able to handle this much better than you will. Don't do this to yourself.
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Posted: 9/17/2008 3:12:59 PM EST
[#40]
OP, check your IMs
You reallllyyy don't want to kill a dog that is old, but otherwise in good health. It'll fuck with you for a while, as opposed to letting your friend slip away in the night. |
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Posted: 9/17/2008 3:30:50 PM EST
[#41]
Why did I open this thread?
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Posted: 9/17/2008 3:31:13 PM EST
[#42]
To the OP: Before long, I'll be facing the same situation. I've been thinking about the eventuality for some time.
Our plan is a vet house call. My boy has known the vet longer than he has known us, and he is supremely comfortable with "Doctor Tom". Tom will come to our place, start an IV, and I may push the plunger. Due to the thought of the other dog/coyotes/etc. digging him up, we will most likely have Dr. Tom take him to be cremated - and pay extra to make certain we get only Bear's ashes. Burying the urn shallow with a small monument doesn't prevent us from moving without the boy, and may allow for the two of us to be buyied together eventually. |
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Posted: 9/17/2008 4:50:16 PM EST
[#43]
Wow after reading some of the replies I really don't know how any of you guys could put your dogs down by shooting them...not meant as a flame...I just couldn't do it without hurting and feeling so terrible. My little buddy is laying here next to me on the couch and it makes me feel bad just thinking about having to do it someday.
Sorry about your best friend...but I would have the vet do it...it would be too much for me.
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Posted: 9/17/2008 4:50:40 PM EST
[#44]
Ok I've done both vet and up close and personal. Personally I prefer doing it myself, just felt better in the end. If you chose to go this route, and have never before diy. I will give you some pointers and advice.
I recommend that you use a gun suitable for the job. I would not recommend a shotgun for anything smaller than a buffalo. This is your friend, you will have this image in your head. I used a 9mm on a 95lb American pitbull terrier, it got the job done without disfigurement. Dig the hole first (important) hardest hole you will ever dig. After the hole is dug, take your bud for a walk make sure he is happy ect.... Sit him down facing the hole, or as others have stated put his favorite meal in the hole. Now as for the act, contact shot at the base of the skull from the rear traveling down and forward, you do not just want to sever the spine but also destroy the cerebellum, your bud will be lights out before the bullet exits, not feeling a thing. There will be blood, more than I expected, even tho I know that the heart will still beat for a few seconds( heart tissue generates its own electrical pulse). It bothered me enough to shoot twice more to the torso to destroy the pump the image will be in your head, that sucks.Do not screw this up it will haunt you! |
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Posted: 9/17/2008 4:56:28 PM EST
[#45]
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Posted: 9/17/2008 4:59:16 PM EST
[#46]
Have a vet come to your home. Yes you can find one to do it. I did it for my German Sheperd when she became to weak with cancer.
No way I could have done that to her myself. |
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Posted: 9/17/2008 6:30:56 PM EST
[#47]
Only you know if you can handle it or not.
When it was time to put down our little buddy, my wife gave him some sedatives in some peanut butter and held him till he went to sleep. I took him out in the woods on the mountain near our cabin where he liked to play. I dug a grave. He was wrapped in his favorite blanket and I laid him in the hole. He was sleeping soundly. I placed the pistol against the base of his skull and fired a single round. He stopped breathing and went limp. I sat there and cried a bit with my hand on his body. I'm sure he didn't suffer. After a while I filled in the grave. He was a good dog. I went back where my wife was and she saw I was teared up. She had been crying also. It's never easy but you must take responsibility for the hard things as well as the easy things. What ever you decide to do, I wish you well. May your friend go easy into the light.  Hessian-1
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Posted: 9/17/2008 6:37:09 PM EST
[#48]
DO NOT DO IT YOURSELF. I worked for a vets office for over a year. When I say don't do it yourself I mean it. Do you really want the last image of your dog to be the bloody remains of its skull littering your backyard. You also cannot discharge a gun within city limits. The best option is to pay extra for the vet to come to your house. They use a drug called Euthansol that basically gives them an overdose of anesthesia. They literally just go to sleep. It is very peaceful and the only way to go except under dire circumstances. With a bullet you are likely to miss and just further add to your pooches misery. AGAIN, PAY TO HAVE THE VET COME TO YOUR HOUSE.
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Posted: 9/17/2008 6:44:41 PM EST
[#49]
USE ENOUGH GUN> !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
DO NOT LET an animal suffer. He LOVES YOU> DO HIM A FAVOR AND GET THE VET TO HELP> |
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Posted: 9/17/2008 6:45:33 PM EST
[#50]
You'll be labeled a nutjob here, for trying to do it yourself.
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