Making Peace With Death

Not everyone can provide hospice care for a terminally ill dog, but proponents say a natural death may be kinder than euthanasia.

One great and inescapable sorrow awaits all of us who share our lives with dogs: Sooner or later we shall have to face the decline and death of our beloved companions. Painful though it is to contemplate this loss, ask yourself the following question: If it were within your power to provide it, what sort of death would you wish for your dog? Chances are, you would wish him the same death as you would wish yourself: to die when he is ready, peacefully in his sleep, at home, in bed, surrounded by loved ones.