I have a fourteen year old male sheltie. He has arthritis and can't walk to far. He can't hear well and has catarachs.

I don't want him to suffer, but I don't know when is it time to let go. He always has this weird smell even right after washing him.

Please advise

That is the toughest decision most dog owners ever face. Four years ago, Aster turned 10, retired as a dog guide, and returned to live with us. I knew I would have to face that decision sooner or later. I decided the rule would be whether she was still enjoying life. Four years and many vet bills later, she has arthritis, cataracts, hearing loss, fatty tumors, etc. Our friends that have her mother put her to sleep last year. She had a great time yesterday when we went to the river. Later today, she will bouncing and begging for a walk. So it is not her time yet. After all, I hurt too, but am not ready to call Dr. Kevorkian now that he is out of jail. He hasn't even worked on himself yet.

Have you asked the vet about the smell? It may be something that could be cured. Do you have him on a prescription pain killer? Base your decision on his quality of life.

Not an expert here, just a dog owner.

My wife's dog was similar... 14+ years, bad hips, losing eyesight, poor healing. I was ready to put the dog down last fall, thinking that there was no way the dog would last the cold winter. Her litmus test was that he seemed slower, less energetic, but not in chronic pain. He might not walk far, or sometimes limped, but he didn't seen distressed.

What I told her was... ok... its her dog... the only concern was that when it was time to put the dog down it might not be pretty... meaning the dog might break a bone, fall down stairs, have an accident in the middle of the night at 2am and be alone and suffering until help came. She understood this and we waited it out.

The dog made it through the winter much better than id ever thought possible. I was absolutely wrong about the winter knocking the life out of him. The downside was that we did have to put the dog down, on easter morning... we think he had a partial stroke and he did suffer some for the two hours it took to calm him and take him to the emergency clinic before putting him down. Mostly he was freaked out because hed lost control over one side of his body.

In retrospect, I'm not sure we did anything wrong. Strokes happen, and while his arthritis wasn't getting better, it didn't get worse. Outside of needing to lift him a few times up the back steps, building him a ramp, and his having a few tumble moments, he sure didn't seem to be in distress and he was still loving.

I think its right when you sense its right mentally, or when the animal is clearly suffering. If you think his spirit is gone, that he's barely existing, its time. If you think that he's holding on just fine, even with an imperfect body, then I don't think its wrong to wait. Again, the longer you wait the more you simply need to be ready for a bad, bad moment at the end in case that happens.

To prepare, we talked to the emergency weekend clinic ahead of time and wed also talked about cremation services... good to know the costs up front and easier to deal with it in the moment.

Just a personal note... I was worried about having to rely on people other than our normal vet. The emergency care clinic people were top notch, caring, and thoughtful. They did an excellent job.

Attoosasytc Regarding her weird smell, My dog had a terrible odor about her, it was worse when she went into the sun and came back in, turns out she had a fungal infection on her skin. The vet prescribed a oral med. And it healed up and has never returned.