[Discussion] Do you think that dogs know when they’re getting close to the end of their lives?

@ralphmalph Thank you. I have a shelf in my family room dedicated to the memory of my dogs now gone. And one of pictures of my present dogs, Spotty and Swirl. Somehow it helps, as if the past and present were one.
 
@revincentiii I believe they do know. I had a Great Dane named Marley when I was growing up, and she came down with lymphoma when she was eight years old. Eight is a pretty old age for Danes so we decided not to treat and to wait until her time came naturally. She never really presented with any symptoms, just sleepier than usual but she still acted like her goofy self. One normal night I was getting ready to lay down, and she followed me into my room and climbed in bed with me. Something she never did the entire eight years we had her. The next morning she was so weak she couldn’t even raise her head up. I think she knew it would be her last night on Earth and she wanted to spend it with her human. It was definitely her way of saying goodbye. It’s been nearly ten years and I still think of her almost daily.
 
@revincentiii Yes, but I don't think you should read too much into this behaviour. It may be something else, maybe it's warmer on the carpet even if it's less comfortable.

My dog slept a lot right in front of my door risking that I'd accidentally hit him with the door when I wake up years before he passed. My best guess was that in colder weather it was a warmer place, and otherwise he just wanted to be closer to me. I let him sleep in my room a lot, sometimes he just left in the middle of the night to go back to his original dog bed, or lay in front of my door, sometimes he didn't sleep there for days, sometimes he pulled his little blanket from one part of my room to the other.

I guess he just found what was perfect for the part of the night and if he felt too cold/hot, or wanted a change, he looked for another place.

His behaviour definitely changed in his last few days though, he was sick before, but I realised his condition was rapidly deteriorating, took off a few days from work and we literally spent his last days in bed, just snuggling up to each other, listening to his favourite music and eating his favourite foods. On his last day when he looked at me I kind of felt like he knew and accepted what was coming, he just stared into my eyes for a few long minutes. I think he wanted to say goodbye then.

We had to put him down because he was suffering and in a lot of pain, and the vet said that he would have been gone in a few days if we'd waited, only with more pain and suffering.

Maybe there is no scientific proof, but I talked to a lot of people who had to say goodbye to their pets (either if they died naturally or had to be put down), and everybody said the same thing about "the look", when they looked into their eyes on the last days and just knew it's time.

Maybe it's not 100% conscious, but I do believe they feel when they are near, like humans do.

Edit: added a few commas to a long sentence, grammar.
 
@eliaharr 100% got “the look” from my guy before he passed away. I wasn’t sure wether it was time and a friend told him he would let me know and he absolutely did, with “the looks” i got from him.
 
@revincentiii My dog slept in our bedroom for the first time in ages the night before we had to put him down. We found out a tumour burst so I'm not sure if he came upstairs because he knew he was dying or because he wasn't feeling well and wanted comfort.

I got up and pet him in the middle of the night and that's a comforting memory for me.
 
@revincentiii Border Collie here. He's edging on 14 years. Things I've noticed:
- He has trouble jumping onto our bed now but refuses any steps we've set out for him. He will bark until we move them out of the way.
- Took him to a beach and we could tell he was exhausted. But he wouldn't leave. We had to drag him away. He threw up at least twice and then slept for two days.
- I have a Jeep which means the tail end is pretty high. He has only recently not growled at me when I lift him up to put him in the back.

Conclusion: he knows he is old but refuses to accept it.
 
@barbosabluesman No, because I never really have to pick him up as an adult dog except maybe at the vet's office where he has never complained. But when he began having trouble hoping up into the back of my jeep, I'd try to lift him. He'd growl and flail a little which made him hard to hold and then finally, he'd make these snorting sounds once I had gotten him up. The noises were more so that of him being disgruntled at the fact that he needed my help.

But now we compromise; he gets his front paws up on the back and I sort of just boost up his back legs. He seems to be okay with this.
 
@revincentiii They sure do.
My sweet boy would always want to cuddle, he liked to fall asleep with his head on my chest and gently snore. He was my everything, I have a chronic illness that was untreated, and he would always stay with me when I was sick and nuzzle up against me into my arms when I would cry.

The week before he died we knew he wasn't well. Instead of putting his head on my chest and falling asleep he just laid down on top of me and stared at me looking very worried. I had finally started present foe my years long illness a couple months ago, and after I got better it was like he just got more exhausted. I kept patting him and smiling and telling him I loved him. Carried him all around the house. I think he was waiting for me to be ok again.

Once he saw I was ok he finally left my side. He died a couple days later in his sleep.
 
@revincentiii I think the general belief is that wild dogs hide when they are in pain or suffering, because they are aware they can't run or defend themselves from predators. Our dogs though are domesticated and therefore their behavior is very much determined how they were taught and treated in life.
Some dogs certainly learn that their human can relieve pain and are comforting, and therefore will seek them out when in need of protection.
It also could be temperature or joint pain. Try moving your dogs bedding to the upstairs and see if they sleep in it or choose the hard floor even if the bed is available in the new place they sleep.
 
@revincentiii My last dog had a pretty huge tumor on her liver and didn't give us a hint of a symptom until she only had a week left. We went to the vet pretty quickly when she started acting weird - not eating all her food, being a little more needy than normal, minor enough symptoms that the vet thought at first it was just an upset stomach... then she collapsed on the stairs later that day and we went back in for an ultrasound.

I was glad we got a week to spoil her and love her. It was devastating.

Behavior changes are worth checking out.
 
@revincentiii I recently lost my 13 year old dog Baxter to congestive heart failure. During his last few days he didn’t have much energy and had problems getting around. He painted pretty heavily and largely kept to himself. But his last day was different. He was breathing very hard and my wife and I were getting ready to take him to the vet to put him to sleep. I was sitting on the couch with my son watching TV and he decided to come stand in the room with us. His heavy breathing worried me so I started texting my wife that she needs to come back so we can take him to the vet together. As I am doing that Baxter walks over to us and jumps on the couch which he hasn’t been able to do in weeks. He then walked over and sat between my son and I. We started to pet him as he planted harder but the more we pet him he started to breath lighter and lighter. At some point I noticed and looked down at him. He had used his last bit of energy to come sit between us so he could get pet as he died.

So yes, I think dogs know when they are going to go.
 

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