Comments on: How Long Do Labrador Retrievers Live – Human and Dog Years?

By: Diane

Diane — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 01:33:38 +0000

Wehad to have our almost 13 year old yellow lab put down on Valentine’s Day. Lily was my most precious beautiful girl, and the pain of her not being here is unbearable. She was totally my shadow, followed me to the bathroom, kitchen, where ever i went. Unless you’ve had the love of a devoted dog, it’s hard for people to understand the grief. It has been 24 days since we lost her and it feels like I haven’t kissed that beautiful face for months. By the same token I am still barely getting through the days. Labs are truly the most wonderful dogs in the world. Life will not be the same without my precious girl. I miss you so much lily.

By: Mischa

Mischa — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 16:54:14 +0000

We just lost our beloved yellow lab Tyke. He was 2 weeks shy of 14. He was our baby before we had babies and he will be in our hearts forever. Cherish everyday that you have with your labs and give them extra kisses from us. He was hurting with arthritis and in the last month was barely eating. He always weight 80 pounds which was a perfect weight for him. Thankfully he went naturally and we did not have to put him down because that was a decision that was to hard for us to make. Though we would have if we saw to much suffering from him. We knew when it was time for him and I told him it was alright to go. The next morning he was gone. I’ve been crying all weekend and my heart is heavy but I have so many wonderful memories with him and the family. – M

By: Audrey

Audrey — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 16:22:48 +0000

To Sandy (March 7) and Kay (March 8), My prayers are with you and your beautiful labs. Please, I ask that you ask for further blood tests for you labs and get a second opinion. My beloved Lucy, who passed on January 26, was at the hands of a vet who was border incompetent. When I moved her to a crictical care hospital, only then I found out what the vet who was trained in India failed to do. It could not hurt to get a second opinon. –Audrey

By: Kay

Kay — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 04:36:18 +0000

Our Lucy is 13 yrs and 5 months. She has been having lots of hip discomfort and we have her on an anti-inflammatory medicine for that. Sometimes she has a hard time getting into a position to lie down. She’s also been a diabetic for about 5 years. My husband follows her outside and collects her first morning urine every day and hasn’t missed even one day doing that. She has to have two shots every day and eat special food. All this has made us love her even more. She’s always been so sweet, so energetic, and so incredibly smart. We are agonizing as the days go by and we know we have less and less time with her. Tonight, her legs went out from under her quite hard. It’s very painful to watch. She has cataracts and runs into things if we don’t stop her in time. Her physical life is deteriorating, but her quality of life is still good. She knows we love her. We pet her and talk to her continually. We’ll not put her down unless her pain becomes unbearable or she is no longer able to respond to us. We will love and cherish her every second until then. When the time comes, we’re keeping her ashes with us. We’ve decided we can’t stand the idea of putting her under the ground. We’re hoping her ashes will get buried with one of us someday. She belongs with the family for eternity.

By: Sandy

Sandy — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 18:01:32 +0000

I’ve been reading your stories and I’m sitting here crying. My best friend Robby was diagnosed with Degenerative Myelopathy. He is a 10.5 year old lab. The vet tells me there is no cure for this disease. It is similar to multiple sclerosis in humans. He’s my first dog I have ever owned. The vet said this disease is common in German Shepherds. I did some research on the internet and found sometimes it can affect Labs. It’s very hard to see him struggle to walk. He drags his back leg and stumbles. I’m told there is no cure. So I’m trying to keep him as comfortable as possible. From what I’ve read, the disease gets progressively worse. We still go for short walks as they say exercise is good. I did everything I could to keep Robby healthy and strong. I also have a Chocolate Lab Lola. She’s confused because she’s not sure what’s going on and they both look at me crying all the time. I’ve never been through the experience of losing a pet. I’m so lost right now. About 10 years ago, I lost my fiance to cancer. So I can only imagine how hard this is going to be. I keep praying to stay strong and enjoy having Robby here for what time he has left. Thanks for listening.

By: Lee Ann

Lee Ann — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 18:24:41 +0000

We have two beautiful yellow labs. They are 13.5 and 11.5 years old and have been absolutely the best companions you can imagine. Gracie now has many fatty tumors on her body, some of which are quite large, but none of them is impeding on any organ or her ability to walk/run. We had several taken off a few years ago, but the surgery seemed to be harder on her than the tumors, so our vet agrees that we should just let her be. She has always been a docile dog, but she is healthy, other than needing thyroid meds.

Maggie is the younger of the two and she is probably heavier than she should be, but even the vet agrees that 1.5 cups of dry food a day should not cause her to be overweight, so we are checking her thyroid for the second time.

My children love these animals and I cannot imagine life without them, but it occurs to me that Gracie is now beating the odds and Maggie will be soon. Can you brace yourself to lose a family member? I think not. And, who knows, maybe we will have two of those long-lived blessings. I’m grateful for every day with them.