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| - Tobee was a black lab/sheltie mix who had been our family pup for about 11 years. We adopted him when he was 5 or 6- fully trained (if a little rowdy) and sweet as could be. We had discussed around christmans time of last year that he was generally not able to maintain a normal life, even for a doggo of his age, and maybe his time had come. We did our best to mentally prepare ourselves for it.
Cut to yesterday: My mom called the humane society to ask about their euthanasia services. From the moment she began the phone call the folks there were understanding and sympathetic. We get to the humane society and I cry the entire way there- this dog has been my life since I was 13 after all. The plan is for me to stay in the car with baby while mom goes in to do paperwork. She comes out immediately after entering and tells me to bring him in, as they'll be giving us a private room while we fill out paperwork and say our goodbyes.
We walk in and Richie (I believe is his name?) shows us to a small room in the facility, gives mom the paperwork, and leaves us. He comes in a few more times for various things (collects paperwork amd payment, explains the procedure, etc). Though I can only imagine what it must have been like to have to interact with a large dog who won't stop panting (he had a hard time breathing) and two grown human women who are crying profusely above/around said dog, Richie manages to keep his cool and stay professional. Most of all, his presence was composed and calming and I never once felt rushed or like I was in the way.
Finally, it's time. We're asked of we need more time with baby. We decide we don't. Richie says "When you're ready, please wait in the lobby. I'll be out shortly with your paw print" (they do a clay paw print for only $25 and you bet your booty I got one to remember my baby by). He tells us we can take the collar off now and gently wrangles our black bear of a dog so he doesn't follow us out of the room. Instead of going to the lobby, my mom and I, still absolutely bawling, walk out to the parking lot for some fresh air and to a cigarette. We stand for a few minutes near our car and try to collect ourselves. Richie walks outside with our paw print, hands it to us in the parking lot, and apologizes once more for our loss. I cry all the way home.
Ultimately, it was a terrible day.
That being said, the staff at the humane socitey were incredibly understanding and so sweet to us. The price was reasonable and the extra $25 we spent on the clay paw print was worth it. They even captured Tobee's weird long nail (it grew sideways so it wasn't filed down by day to day activites like most other pet's nails are) which seems like a small detail but was worth everything to me. We opted for communial cremation, after which the ashes are spread in a field which I think is a nice touch. If you're looking in to end of life services for your pet, I very much recommend this establishment. It's going to be difficult but I'm confident in saying that they will do what they can to make the process go smoothly.
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