# Is it true that dogs like to be "on their own" when they pass?



## lkellen (Dec 4, 2012)

I'm not sure if this is the right forum, but here's my question..


My first dog was an older, very abused Mini Sheltie ( the previous owners let other dogs jump, claw, bite on her, and then kicked her on the street. she had many scars underneath her fur, and the shelter found her wandering the streets.) 
When we adopted her, she stayed under our kitchen table for 2 weeks before she came close to any of us. She was the absolute sweetest dog once she opened her heart to us and saw she was in her "forever home." She was the best dog I've ever had (not starting from a puppy). We had her 6 short years until she passed. She was becoming deaf and partially blind. I was much younger and my parents told me she died in her sleep. Years later, I really found out she went to the backyard and walked into our pool (she never liked the water and always knew where the pool was, but she DID know how to swim) and drowned.

She's the only dog I've ever had pass away yet. So, I'm wondering, is it true that when a dog is ready to go, they will do it on their own, and want to be alone? 

Has anyone else had experience with this? 






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## m1953 (May 7, 2012)

I am not at all sure the answer to your question but thank you and your family for giving that little rescue a wonderful six years.


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## GsdLoverr729 (Jun 20, 2010)

I think it depends on the dog. My dad had a Samoyed when I was a baby. When he died, he walked in two circles around the chair my dad was in, laid his head on my dad's lap, and passed.


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## msvette2u (Mar 20, 2006)

When dogs feel ill they seek isolation, this is an age old instinct, designed to help keep them away from predators. 
However, I believe our pet dogs like us there, and usually they do _not_ die peacefully at home, or in their sleep.
If it's a bad illness that causes a lot of pain (like cancer), too, they should be "put to sleep" with human intervention, which, of course, requires a human to be present.

This is an excerpt from a tribute I wrote to a long-term foster we had...and tells about how, at the end, my dog lifted his head and gazed into my eyes.

Even the veterinarian was amazed, as he was loosing consciousnesses, that he became almost "hyper aware" and made that final contact with me. It was really beautiful...

_You looked once again into my eyes today as you parted the earth, when your crippled, painful body could contain you no longer, you lifted your head and looked up and gazed deep into my eyes as you left…as if to burn my image into your memory…or perhaps so I could burn yours into mine. I will never forget that last gift you gave me._


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## Shade (Feb 20, 2012)

I'm not sure, all the animals I know that have passed naturally have mostly been at night off by themselves or in their sleep. 

I've only euthanized one dog personally and after the sedative he snuggled right into my arms and then passed away. I think he was grateful for me being there with him


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## lkellen (Dec 4, 2012)

msvette2u said:


> When dogs feel ill they seek isolation, this is an age old instinct, designed to help keep them away from predators.
> However, I believe our pet dogs like us there, and usually they do _not_ die peacefully at home, or in their sleep.
> If it's a bad illness that causes a lot of pain (like cancer), too, they should be "put to sleep" with human intervention, which, of course, requires a human to be present.
> 
> ...


That is beautiful. And awesome and sad at the same time. 

What I couldn't figure out with Tinker (yes, she had a fun name, but that was what the shelter had her coming to  ) was that she wasn't sick. She did have a fatty tumor, but that was removed years before she died. She was so loved, and you could really&honestly see, she loved everyone in my family so. My dad, more than anyone, I think. Don't know what it is about him, but now all 3 of our dogs have made it a point to seek him out and sneak attack a cuddle session, which he so openly accepts (which is funny since he was the one that was most hard to agree on getting a dog!) 

She was still pretty full of life at 11/12 years old(they weren't completely sure of her age-judged by her teeth) and she never seemed in pain. Although, you could see she was getting older- anytime my mom said "I've got some bad news" I always asked "is it Tinker!?" I was not prepared for the time that she said yes. 

My mom found her, and she and my dad buried her in our backyard and placed a beautiful stone over it. I catch Buddy(our wheaten terrier mix) lounging right next to it or on it every so often. I like to think he knows there was a girl before him that was so loved! But hey, who knows what dogs think, really! 


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## Wolfgeist (Dec 4, 2010)

Some do, some don't. In the end, death is a very personal and solitary experience. All living things go about it in their own way..


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## lkellen (Dec 4, 2012)

Shade said:


> I'm not sure, all the animals I know that have passed naturally have mostly been at night off by themselves or in their sleep.
> 
> I've only euthanized one dog personally and after the sedative he snuggled right into my arms and then passed away. I think he was grateful for me being there with him


That is really sweet.


I already dread the day, and my babe is only 9 months. She is my first dog that i adopted myself without parents. 
When she had parvo at 7 weeks, she screamed and cried when they shaved her leg and stuck a catheter in for the IV fluids, my god, I felt so helpless to her and was crying myself with her and wanted to leave the room. Our wonderful, wonderful vet said "it is so much easier for her fur parents to be in here with her. She would also probably love if you talked to her and held her while this was happening" I realized then that I couldn't show her how upset I was, and needed to show her how much I loved her and was there for her no matter what! She nuzzled into my neck like she always had, and still cried a little bit, but was very, very less visibly distressed. As sad as that moment was for me, I won't forget it! 


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## Magwart (Jul 8, 2012)

When our old girl died this past April, we brought her home for her final night. She stayed close to us all night, next to the bed, in the same place she always slept. We heard her breathing change around 4 AM, and my husband lay with her and held her in his arms. She nuzzled into him as he whispered to her. Each member of our family, including the canine members, thanked her for the gift of her friendship. Then she took her last breath and left us. She was surrounded by love as she left this world.


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## RebelGSD (Mar 20, 2008)

I have the opposite experience. I had two fosters die natural death. One had congestive heart failure, the other was thrown out of a car and probably developed a blood clot. They both waited for me to come home from work and passed away minutes within me stopping by to take care of them. They waited for me...


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## KatsMuse (Jun 5, 2012)

I've never heard of it but, I imagine it is possible?
I've owned several dogs and never had one go off by themselves to die.

Every dog I've ever owned took their last breath in my arms.

Kat


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## Kyleigh (Oct 16, 2012)

I've heard of it, more with wild animals, than with pets. 

With the exception of two, I've had all my pets die in my arms at the vet. 
The other two were a ferret and a cat who waited until I got home, and then died in my arms on the way to the vet. Both passings were very quick and "appeared" painless. Neither of them had "appeared" to be ill before. Very active and up and running that morning when I'd left for work.


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## Lilie (Feb 3, 2010)

I think it depends on how the dog dies. If the dog passes peacefully, it'll seek the love of it's family because that is what it has known. 

If the dog has a sudden onset of something, like a heart attack, it might wander off away from it's family due to it's confusion caused by the illness. 

I had a rescued doxie (she was used as a breeder and never left her kennel - no social skills etc.) that slept under the covers at my feet. We were sound asleep when I heard her yelp. She had crawled up to my head, yelped in my face and died, her head across my face. It was her heart. 

I had an old aussie who went out to go potty, laid down in the yard and passed. 

I had an old barn cat who crawled into the bed of my truck during the night and passed. It was as if she was worried she wouldn't be found. 

I think it is a personal thing for each animal. I think some animals take their job as a family member very seriously and will fight death, even if it's for the best. I think that is when we have to help them over the bridge.


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## msvette2u (Mar 20, 2006)

Most the dogs here have aged and gotten ill, and because we're so 'in tune' we saw symptoms and let them go @ the clinic. 
I do think people tend to wait too long, often, and prolong a dog's suffering inadvertently, and I understand this, as humans we do not want to let them go.
But a dog psychic told me a while back...and I still think of this...dogs do not fear death like we do.
They see death as a transition into the next life. 
And that's stuck with me this whole time. 
It's human nature to fear the unknown, dogs live in the moment, and don't fear the future.


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## lkellen (Dec 4, 2012)

Magwart said:


> When our old girl died this past April, we brought her home for her final night. She stayed close to us all night, next to the bed, in the same place she always slept. We heard her breathing change around 4 AM, and my husband lay with her and held her in his arms. She nuzzled into him as he whispered to her. Each member of our family, including the canine members, thanked her for the gift of her friendship. Then she took her last breath and left us. She was surrounded by love as she left this world.





RebelGSD said:


> I have the opposite experience. I had two fosters die natural death. One had congestive heart failure, the other was thrown out of a car and probably developed a blood clot. They both waited for me to come home from work and passed away minutes within me stopping by to take care of them. They waited for me...





KatsMuse said:


> I've never heard of it but, I imagine it is possible?
> I've owned several dogs and never had one go off by themselves to die.
> 
> Every dog I've ever owned took their last breath in my arms.
> ...





Kyleigh said:


> I've heard of it, more with wild animals, than with pets.
> 
> With the exception of two, I've had all my pets die in my arms at the vet.
> The other two were a ferret and a cat who waited until I got home, and then died in my arms on the way to the vet. Both passings were very quick and "appeared" painless. Neither of them had "appeared" to be ill before. Very active and up and running that morning when I'd left for work.





Lilie said:


> I think it depends on how the dog dies. If the dog passes peacefully, it'll seek the love of it's family because that is what it has known.
> 
> If the dog has a sudden onset of something, like a heart attack, it might wander off away from it's family due to it's confusion caused by the illness.
> 
> ...





msvette2u said:


> Most the dogs here have aged and gotten ill, and because we're so 'in tune' we saw symptoms and let them go @ the clinic.
> I do think people tend to wait too long, often, and prolong a dog's suffering inadvertently, and I understand this, as humans we do not want to let them go.
> But a dog psychic told me a while back...and I still think of this...dogs do not fear death like we do.
> They see death as a transition into the next life.
> ...



Those are sweet stories. I hope when the time comes, Remy can pass peacefully, and know she was loved very much! Thankfully, we've got a LOONNNGG life ahead of us 


Tinker is the only dog I've had that has died. So, I was just curious to see if what happened to her was "normal."


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## readaboutdogs (Jul 8, 2001)

We had a little poodle when I was growing up that she had died in the nite under my moms bed, that's where she slept most of the time so maybe not really going off by herself.


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## wolfy dog (Aug 1, 2012)

This is the story from a dog I knew from my teens. He was a farm dog where I had boarded my horse. The farm was located next to a highway. The dog never, ever in his whole life came close to the road. At 15 years old he got sick, wandered onto the road and was killed by a car. I don't know why he did that; it always has been a mystery.


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## Daisy (Jan 4, 2009)

A cat did that. My cats never go outside. The first cat I owned as an adult somehow got out of the house and we never saw her again. She was old and declining. To this day, I think she snuck out to die. 

With the dogs, one (old) died at home during the night, stretched out between my husband and I. Another, I put to sleep. He got sick suddenly and the vet couldn't fix him, and he had been basically unresponsive for 2 says, but when I went to the vet to be with him as they put him to sleep, he raised his his head to me. He was at least 10, which the vet said was ancient for a collie.


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## LoveSea (Aug 21, 2011)

our dog got sick so fast. easter weekend we were all saying how young our 10& 1/2 year old dog was & that week he got sick out of nowhere. cancer of the spleen & nothing we could do. we were devastated. out of nowhere. we did not know when he would go. we agreed we would not let him suffer though. a few weeks later in the middle of the night he had an awful night. he ran around falling & bumping into things, terrified. he could hardly walk. we stayed up with him comforting him all night. we knew then that he had to be put down. my kids were completely devastated. the next day he was just ready to go. not himself. no tail wag, which for him was unusual. 

since he loved us so much & was especially close to our kids, we made the choice to all be with him when he went. at one point in the vet, when they were getting him ready with the IV, i had the kids leave the room, because that part was hard. well, rocky sprung back into life as if nothing was wrong - he needed those kids in his sight. he tried to open the door with his nose. i was tempted to take him home right then - he seemed all right. but the truth was, he was suffering & would have had a worst night if we did not make that choice. the kids came back in & we surrounded him with love & petting as the vet administered the medicine to put him down. i cannot explain the sadness we felt as we watched him slowly lay his head down and take his last breath. we all cried, but had to be there. i do know that he would not have wanted to be alone without all of us surrounding him. i will never forget that & it still brings me to tears thinking about it. my kids were 10 & 13 at the time. i gave them the choice whether to be there or not. they were very sad but wanted to be there. he was a kids dog & it meant a lot to him to have them there.


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