When do you call it a day?

Long post, sorry!

My sister's 12 year old retriever was diagnosed with CDRM a few months ago.

She just called me in tears as a man in the local pub said to her today that he has seen her walking Sam on the green in the village and said he thinks she is cruel to keep him alive

The upsides are that he walks really well (but VERY slowly and a little oddly - his back legs are quite wide apart and he lifts his feet quite high), loves his 3 ambles a day down to the village green for a roll in the grass, eats fine, deaf as a post, a really happy boy who loves a fuss and a cuddle.

The downsides are that he sometimes staggers a bit when he gets up (not all the time), occasionally he drags his feet (he has special boots to wear on those days), he has 'knuckled over' a couple of times and he has messed himself twice in the last month (sorry to be so graphic but it was just a nugget (as my sis calls it!) and they are rock solid so he didn't even notice it (hasn't wee'd himself yet).

My view is that until he can't get up by himself and starts to mess himself to the point of being distressed about it, it can't be the right time yet, surely? My sis doesn't think so either, but I think she is worried what other people are thinking?

Sorry for the long post, I'm just trying to reassure her that she is doing fine by him, she knows her dog, not the man in the pub! She knows I would speak my mind, and I am all for not keeping a dog alive if it's quality of life is not good. But it is quite early stages and he is just a happy old dog. You would be able to tell if he wasn't, I'm sure.

Here is the boy Sam (or Sammy Schmoo, as we call him, or Moo for short )


I love this boy
Does anyone have any experience of CDRM?
Do the symptoms above sound like it hasn't progressed to a bad stage yet?

Aww Bless him.....He's gorgeous

Sorry I don't have any experience of CDRM..........

I can't explain it, your sister will just know when the time comes......Sam will let her know when he's had enough x

Hi,

Personally I do't have experience of CRDM but I know a lot of people who do, particulaly those with GSDs and other large breeds.

From what I've been told and from what I've seem of others' dogs with it, I'd say Sam has a fair amount of life in him yet. If he's reasonably happy in himself, not in pain, not distressed in any way and has only messed a littel bit and dragged his feet a few times, I certainly wouldn't call it a day yet.

Having said that, it must be one fo the hardest conditions to manage I wojld ahve thought and must be so difficult to know when the time is right to make that decision.

What I do know for sure is that when the time is right for Sam, your sister will know. It could be the way he walks one day, or can't get up etc. Or it may just be a "look" that Sam give to your Sister that says "I've had enough now Mom."

Laura xx

Thanks for the replies - I'm sure too that she will be able to tell.
At the moment though he is the same happy waggy boy he has always been, just a bit older and slower.
He just loves his walks - he is never forced to go - and my sister just wanders along behind him until he decides he wants to head home.
The saddest thing is seeing him try to run

oh he is gorgeous

i agree, i think he will let her know when the time is right. i dont know anything about CDRM but it sounds like he is still enjoying life and gaining something from it. other people looking in can so easily judge, when they know nothing so she should just ignore the horrible man in the pub. i cant believe someone would actually say that to her. i think the fact that sam can still walk, and enjoys his walks shows that he is coping ok and that it isnt his time.

Aster suffered her last year or 2. While she was still a working dog guide, I had told her partner that there would always be a spot for Aster in our home as long as she was enjoying life. I am old enough that I joke that I can still do anything I ever could, I just hurt longer afterwards. Yes, I hurt at times.

After Aster turned 15, she developed a huge tumor. She lost interest in eating and her walk. She had nothing left to enjoy. It was time. A month before was too soon. That summer, she couldn't walk a mile to the pond for a swim. I used a ramp to get her in and out of my truck to drive to the pond.

Bottom line, is he still enjoying things?

bless him and you and your sister I know how soul destroying making these decisions can be
Lou is right IMO too, Sam will let her know.
My girl Saffie had cancer aged 6, she came to me put her head on my lap and her eyes told me all I needed to know, she had enough and although the time was not right for me to let her go, I know deep in my heart the time was right for her. I owed her that much

Think she'll know when the time comes they find a way to tell us, as long as he's relatively happy, eating and enjoying his walks I don't think the times right.
What a stunning dog by the way and aren't people cruel you have to live with an animal to assess its quality of life x x

Now that Aster's replacement, Samson, has retired and come to live with us, the same rule will apply to him.

Does he really need to go on walks ? it is my pet hate to see old dogs struggling on walks. Cant he just pooch around in the garden or get driven to a park /field & pooch around whilst the owner sits down?

He may seem to enjoy it, but is it just habit? is it doing him any good? & 3 times a day??

I dont think for one minute its his time yet, but i wouldnt walk him like hes having now.

Cant she drive him to the green?