I have a wonderful senior dog and he’s my best friend. And I’m so scared of his aging. As he’s slowing down and I keep an eye out for medical issues I just can’t imagine how and when to make a call about his life.
I work all day away from home and live by myself, which was not the situation when I’d adopted him initially. I don’t have a community or friends or family around to help during the day if and when it comes to that. I can’t afford dog sitters especially not ones with training.
What if he could be fine with more support and money, should I give him back to animal rescue?
As others have said/implied, you should have in inkling “when it’s time”. As long as the dog is still happy, it is cruel to put them down.
We had a 12 year old with back/knee issues. He had trouble getting up on his own towards the end, but there was always someone there to help. Then one day he couldn’t stay up for more than 15 minutes. He was already on meds, and there weren’t any options without him being miserable.