[MariJo7]

It is a hard decision, I know . We had to do it twice. Once, the poor dog was hit by a car. His back was badly broken. We asked the vet what he would do if it were his own dog, and he told he would definitely put him down. An operation might have helped him but that was not sure. And it would be painful and very difficult, and with an unsure outcome he considered the kindest thing to send him to the dog's heaven. So that's what we did.. It was terrible, because the decision had to be made quicly. There was hardly any time to think it over.
The second time our dog had cancer. The vet advised to let her live as long as she seemed to have any pleasure in life and she was not in pain. So that's what we did. Operation was not adviseable, that would only make the cancer spread more quickly. She lived a few years after the diagnose. When we saw that she was starting to suffer, we let the vet put her to sleep.

I believe it is important to see, that the animal is not suffering. Animals are not humans. A human understands that sickens hurts, and they understand operations and medications cause stress and pain. And a very sick and suffering human can still value those little things that life still has to offer. But a dog that is not able to move without pain, ot not at all, can not understand why.
And a suffering human, who believes in God, can still pray. And a suffering unbeliever can still repent. But a suffering animal does not need to repent for it has done nothing wrong.

"There is a door in Heaven for us. Not a gate - that would not work - but a door. Jesus has made that door for us. Otherwise we would never go to Heaven", said my DD2 once when she was a little 3yo. She thought for a while, and continued: "There is also a gate in Heaven. And in this gate, there is a little window. And through this little window all the good dogs, the good cats and the good rabbits and all the other good animals go to Heaven. They will have no sharp fingernails no more".

Try to evaluate if your dog still has any pleasure in living on this earth. But when the suffering outweights the pleasure, it is the right and kind thing to let him go through this special window my 3yo DD believed was there for all the good animals.