Our dog is sick. For the first time ever, I'm faced with a dog that hasn't had a sudden decline, but is just slowly fading away.

He's not eating much, he's having pain when he lays down and gets up, and he's not super-enthusiastic about going for walks. He stumbles over his own feet, walks into things, and pants all the time.

To someone who doesn't see him every day, he would probably seem "fine", especially for an older dog.

But we're getting to "fine" by feeding him a handful of pills every day (which are harder and harder to get him to take), and giving him subcutaneous fluids several times a week.

I think this is going to be his last week. We certainly COULD keep him alive longer with more-aggressive measures, but to what end? He's had 16 years of a great dog's life, including 13 of those with us.

If we wait long enough, there will clearly be some point where looking back, THAT was the day we should have had him put to sleep, before he started suffering more.

He deserves better than that. He should have one really good week, then go out on a high note. So that's what we have planned. He's going to go to his favorite places, eat whatever the hell he wants, and then die happy. Euthanasia means "a good death", more or less, and that's what we'll give him.