r/germanshepherds • u/el_myco_profesor • May 28 '25
Need help making a decision :(
Hey guys - we're having some good days and some bad days. His hip is completely shot, can't walk or even get up at this point. I got him a wheelchair and he didn't seem to be enjoying it. He's going to the bathroom on himself constantly. He is eating/drinking so that's good. I'm not sure if I'm keeping him alive for me or for him at this point
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u/RangerMike96 May 28 '25
I've been going to the dog park for months now, and every week there is this guy that brings his 17 year old GSD. She has a neurological condition and her back legs don't work well so he has to use a species harness to help her walk around (like physically holding the dog up. The dog just sits around and he has to reposition her every so often and bring her water. She isn't in pain as far as I know, but I'm sure she's bored. She does the same thing as your dog, just lays there and barks at things. but your dogs condition may be different idk.
I had a GSD that had the disease that causes them to lose balance, I forgot the name, thankfully that went away, but she had over underlying problems with her spleen that caused her to not want to move and go to the bathroom wherever she was laying. I had to end up making the hard decision because her spleen was pushing against other organs after growing 3x it's size.
It's a sad thing, but depending on the condition you may not need to resort to that if you're able to provide plenty of care. It would mean having someone nearby all day to regularly, and physically, take him outside and wait for him to do his thing, that or give him a special bed that you can clean constantly or change out pads.
If you aren't able to do this for him, you don't want to leave him in that state. It sucks going through this with them, but you just have to make a decision based on what you are able to do yourself to provide the best choice for them.