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Owning a dog carries certain responsibilities. Food, shelter, medical care and love need to be provided. As a loving owner you will always want to act in the best interest of your dog. There may come a point when this isn't easy to do. Faced with the prospect of having to put your dog to sleep will release a flood of emotions. An internal battle will be waged pitting your love against your judgement. Knowing it's the most compassionate thing you can do at the most appropriate time, will make the decision a little less painful.

Harley, a beautiful black lab, had been my faithful friend for ten years. Very seldom had we spent a day apart since he was six weeks old. He had a way of making even the worst day possible, seem pretty insignificant. It was hard to be anything but amused and free of anxiety while in his company. He never grew out of that goofy puppy stage. Even at ten, all one hundred and twenty pounds of him was still a puppy at heart. He never got past the stage of chasing his tail or chewing on shoes, but when my son was born he stepped up to the plate. He took it upon himself to be protector and keeper of the baby. When I put my son in his crib, Harley could always be found dutifully laying on the floor beside him. At first I tried to discourage this and would shut the door to keep him out. He made it perfectly clear that his place was in the room where the baby was. When he learned to walk, Harley was always in pursuit. Never more than half a foot away, he acted as guide and bumper pad. If my son was doing something that Harley percieved to be wrong, he would bark uncontrolably until I came to investigate. No harm would ever come to the baby on his watch. I believe this made him even more irreplaceable to me. Being a single mother, with no family within thousands of miles, it was him and I and my son against the world. I truly don't know if I could have raised my son without him. He offered me companionship, comfort, loyalty and piece of mind, when I needed it most.

I was totally shocked and caught off guard the morning I got up and he layed on the floor, unable to walk. It didn't take long to determine the problem. His back leg had mysteriously blown up to the size of an old stove pipe. He just looked at me with those beautiful brown eyes and my heart broke. With my eyes full of tears, I struggled to carry my beloved companion into the vet. An examination left the vet confident he had been bitten by a spider. We were given antibiotics, anti-inflammitories

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