Pondering When to Say Goodbye

So, I have this old dog named Harley. He is an 80 pound American Bulldog. I’ve had him since he was just over a year old, and this year he turns eleven. If you look up his breed, it says they have a life expectancy of between ten and twelve years. So I guess he qualifies as a senior dog.

We found Harley in an ad on Craigslist. I was sort of looking for a canine companion for my other dog, a French Mastiff named Ruby, who was still a puppy at the time so we went to meet him to see if he and Ruby would get along, and it went great so we brought him home. At first the people said he was a super sweet dog and the only reason they were giving him up was they already had another dog and they decided that it was too difficult to care for 2 dogs. Later they admitted that he was just too rambunctious for them, and that he had a hard time coping with being cooped up in a small apartment in the city and he was destroying their house because of it. He is a super social boy and doesn’t like being left alone, and I also discovered that it even states in his vet records that he doesn’t tolerate crating.

Well, Harley fit right in at my house. My room mate at the time also had a couple of dogs, so there was almost always at least one human and other dogs here for him to play with. We went on walks pretty much daily, and a few times a month we would go hiking in the mountains. Hiking was their favorite because we went on trails where they could run off leash.

Harley has always been a really boisterous dog, and very vocal. If something was going on he has to be in the middle of it. If people are talking, he likes to contribute to the conversation. If another dog (or cat) is getting attention, he better get some too. Often time he was a downright pain in the butt, but for the most part I wouldn’t have him any other way.

A couple years ago, he started to slow down. He couldn’t hike quite as far, and I would sometimes have to help him over obstacles. He started having a hard time getting into the car and couldn’t even get up on the bed at night (yes, my dogs sleep in my bed, lol). I actually took the bed off the frame and put it directly on the floor so that he can get up there easier.

I took him to the vet, and was told it was likely a problem with his knees, although they couldn’t find anything when they took x-rays. They said they could do a surgery that “might help”, but it would cost thousands of dollars, which I didn’t have access to, and he would pretty much have to be crated for perhaps up to six months for recovery. Knowing him as I do, I’m pretty sure he wouldn’t be able to deal with that recovery process very well. Plus, by that time he was already considered an “older dog”. So, I opted to shift our lifestyle a bit and just help him be as comfortable and happy as possible. We don’t go hiking anymore, but we do go for rides in the car, and he likes that. He still likes to wrestle a bit on the floor, he just can’t run around like he once did, and he gets worn out rather quickly. And he really likes to just snuggle on the couch while we watch stuff on TV.

This new, more chill lifestyle has been working out for him pretty well for a while now. But, over the last couple months he seems to be slowing down even more. Last month I had to build a ramp on the back porch so he can go out to potty because he was having a hard time with the steps and more recently, even though there is a doggy door, I have to help him out and back in.

And I’ve noticed the brown spot on his face is all of a sudden turning white, and he seems to have a sad look in his eyes all the time now.

Sadly, it appears that I may soon have to say goodbye to one of the best friends I’ve ever had.