Life with an Elderly Dog

Our Sasha is an old girl who came to us via our son Chris who got her from a lady who could not keep her who got her from someone else and the list goes on.  As far as we know, we are either her 5th or 6th owner.  From what we understand and can see by her behavior, she was abused pretty badly at some point in her life and has the emotional and physical scars to prove it.  Sasha has been with us for about 4 years now and according to her previous owner, this would make her about 10 or 11 years old.  That is old for a purebred White German Shepard. 

Sasha is showing her age and has come to a point in her life where she is having major digestive issues.  We have taken her to the vet and were told that she most likely has a digestive disorder that even to test for runs in the hundreds of dollars and then she would have to be on a special diet and possibly meds.  Most people just put their dogs down when they hear this because it is so expensive to do all of this.  Our vet told us to just treat her as if she does have the disease and we changed her diet to one of those expensive grain free high quality dog foods.  That worked for a bit but then she got bad again and her body would not tolerate it.  We thought we were going to lose her and I switched her to a diet of cooked chicken, homemade chicken broth, brown and white rice and pumpkin along with multivitamins for senior dogs, digestive enzymes and glucoensure to help balance out her blood sugar levels.  She has 3 meals a day, just like we do, to keep food in her system so that she gets her nutritional needs met.  She has started to gain some weight back.  A few days ago she ate a pencil, a pen and some crayons...this is a new bad behavior for her.  It really threw her system into a tizzy and we are now dealing with that.  Poor girl is not feeling well.  Any little thing that she eats can throw her system off, let alone the above.  Her eyesight is also not the best anymore and I find her bumping into me more often.

We know her time with us is limited and each day is a blessing.  She has been the most loving dog and companion to us and brings us such great joy.  She has more personality than most of our previous dogs and is smart too.  Most days she is still energetic for at least part of the day and loves to play, go for walks and cuddle with us, but she is slowing down.  My husband and I have discussed it and as long as she is happy, not in pain and has many more good days than bad, we will keep her with us but we know the day is approaching where we will have to make the decision to say goodbye to our beloved old girl...I dread that day.  I have had to say goodbye to other fur babies and it breaks my heart but I know she will be the hardest one to let go.  I love this old girl and when she is gone it will leave a huge whole in our lives and hearts.