All Dogs Go to Heaven

Marvin, the Martian dog, last photo.....

M and I made the difficult decision this weekend to euthanize Marvin.  His health and quality of life had seriously deteriorated the past year and especially the past couple of months.  (One of kids stepped on him yesterday afternoon and I think he was hurting more than usual.)  Even with the best preparation and good intentions, putting a dog down is one of the most difficult things I've ever had to do and we've done it quite a few times.  I was up with him for a good part of the night hoping that we wouldn't have to go.....  He could barely eat last night, wasn't taking water, couldn't get up by himself or stay sitting for any length of time.  The moaning and strange sounding barking did me in.  I made M go this morning instead of waiting until this afternoon because I couldn't bear to think of him languishing in the state he was in alone all day.

Marvin was 17 years old this summer.

He was a really great dog!

M and I got him in 1994 just a few months before we got married.  We saw him at the pet store and couldn't resist.  For a pet store dog, he came really cheap.  We only paid $99 for him.  He was a bit older and the store must have been trying to unload him.  I think it may have been because of his coloring?  He was a Blue Merle Longhaired Dachshund.

He loved to ride in the car.  He loved to be outside.  He loved to snuggle.  His love of jumping and getting around caused back problems when he was three or four years old.  We opted for his back surgery after he became paralyzed unexpectedly one day.  There was a chance that he wouldn't walk again, but he did!

The vet visit was fairly traumatic as usual.  He hadn't had regular care for years and it was decided that we would take him to the emergency animal hospital around the corner from our house so we didn't have to wait for an appointment.  (We didn't want to go to Denver Dumb again because you can't be with your dog and can only go in to say goodbye after the procdure is done.)  There was some confusion as to whether or not we wanted an evaluation first so we waited unnecessarily for awhile before M checked on things.  The vet made things a little easier.  I got to hold him during the procedure which was important.  The vet put him into a deep sleep and then gave him the drug to stop his heart.

I didn't want to give him up and could have held him forever.

Thank you.....