The Toughest Franklin Friday: Helping Our Boy Cross Over

It was the day that every dog parent dreads. On May 8, 2020, we said goodbye to our 16
year old Dachshund, Franklin, to help him move on out of pain. Pet parents know that it is gut-wrenching.

HIS DECLINE - We've watched his decline over the last 5 months when he started struggling to walk. Then the moaning and discomfort followed. By March, he couldn't get out of bed so we would carry him outside in the morning. If we held him up by his tail he could walk only 10-20 feet. Sometimes he'd find brief strength to get up.
  We recognized he wasn't himself when he wouldn't stay outside in the sun (which he loved). We knew he had dementia. He also stopped playing with toys in March and started moaning on and off throughout the day (and night).
     He was on 2 pain meds and tranquilizers at night just to sleep and he only slept about 3 hours at a time, waking up to pee and then drink a lot of water (we tested for kidney failure and for Cushings disease and they were negative)

Daddies Tom and Rob with Franklin 5-8-20

Franklin had back surgery in 2015 and recovered, but his walk was always wobbly. His recent decline started less than 2 months ago when he couldn't walk around the block anymore. In early April, we took him to the vet and found out another disc slipped on his back so he couldn't stand up on his own. He was too old for surgery again. We noticed his back became arched, hunched.

Tom and Franklin 5-8-20

   In the last month after carrying him outside, we held up his back end by the root of his tail and he would walk 10 feet and fall over. Sometimes he peed on himself. Sometimes he pooped on himself. He lost all motivation to do anything other than eat. He was very unhappy. He wasn't chasing squirrels anymore or playing with toys.. He didn't try to find us in the house and just wanted to sit in isolation in his bed in the kitchen. He was distancing himself.

MAKING A DECISION - We talked with the vet, we recognized all of these things and we talked about what was best for Franklin. We didn't want to face it. These decisions are based in unselfish love.
Tom was the strong one. He thought it was the best thing to do, and the vet agreed. I kept making excuses, and recognized I was being selfish. We spoke with the vet on Monday evening, May 4th and she agreed it was time, so we made the appointment for yesterday, Friday, May 8th.

Franklin and Dolly - best friends 5-8-20

FRANKLIN'S PUPPYHOOD -Tom adopted Franklin in early May 2004 (a year before we met) in South Carolina. He picked Franklin out of a litter because Franklin was sitting by himself away from his littermates. Franklin was the one rock for Tom during his move back to Maryland and the many challenges Tom met - while keeping Franklin in the forefront. When Tom and Franklin met me and Dolly in December 2005, we all got along. Franklin and Dolly bonded immediately and they were always together.

COMING HOME AFTER THE VET - Franklin passed peacefully after getting the sedative. We looked him in the eye the entire time. Tom held his paw, I stroked Franklin's forehead. We told him we love him. When we returned home, his sister and brothers knew what happened. When we came in the door (in our distraught emotional state), his sister Dolly brought us a toy for the first time in about a year. Tyler and Dash wouldn't stop sniffing us. They knew, they recognized his decline over the last couple of months, too.

L to R: Dash, Franklin, Tyler, Dolly on a walk, 2-17-20 

There is nothing like the love of a dog, and although he's outlived most in his breed (he's a dachshund), it's the most difficult act of love we can ever make.
It's been since 2013 that we last had to do this (for our 16 year old, Sprite), and it doesn't get any easier.

THE EMPTINESS HURTS - The physical loss of our boy has been traumatic for us. We have the memories... but his bed is empty. We've had to say goodbye to a best friend and a child. We will be hugging our other kids a lot. I know we will hear him bark and moan from the other side now that he's with Buzz and Sprite, Ed and my mom and dad.

Franklin on 5-4-20 

I'll write more about Franklin in later blogs, to keep his memory alive.