[Minnie]

I absolutely second what Cowperson said about paying and doing all the stuff you can do, beforehand. We arranged for the cremation but we did not choose to keep the ashes. If you don't choose to keep the ashes, they are donated to the city of Calgary (didn't look to see where you are, MG) to be used by Parks for fertilization for the plants, which is what we chose for Jake.

Prior to going into the room with him, we arranged for a paw print casting to be done and they took a few snips of his hair for us as well. It was sent out and framed for us, with his name and pertinent dates.

My husband wouldn't come anywhere near the place, but the kids and I were in the room with Jake and I held him and the kids were petting him as the vet injected the stuff. They did take him from us at the beginning, to insert an IV and give him the relaxant before bringing him back into the room for the final procedure. It was very hard and we all cried. Our vet's office is very compassionate and we were allowed as much time in the room, with privacy, to say our goodbyes. Then we left when we were ready. I was glad to have done all the 'paperwork' prior. They also sent us a sympathy card a couple of weeks later.

It was very hard but no way in hell was anyone holding him but one of us, as he left us. We miss him all the time. And give yourself as much time to grieve as you need. I can tell you that I found it hit at weird times and I was sometimes surprised at the vehemence of it. It's been almost 4 years and at xmas, my MIL sent us a jump drive with 3 videos on it, of Jake, that she'd found on her computer - we had no idea she even had any. It was bittersweet and we all got quite teary eyed. For the longest time, I couldn't take our other dogs into that same room when we had to see our vet, which seems stupid I suppose, but they were very understanding and accommodating and we appreciated that immensely.

I'm so sorry you have to do this.