Dean, call your local Humane Society or County Shelter. They might be able to help with the diagnosis and/or treatment if needed.

Worse case, call your vet and explain what's happening. Tell them you can't afford a visit, or that you will bring the dog in, but will have to make payments.

That's tough, Dean. Recently I've been thinking about how I will be going through my dogs 'old-age' in a few years. Not looking forward to it, all things considered.

Yes. Sucks.

I hope you and your dog have enjoyed each others company.

Dean,

It's so hard when dogs are in pain.

If you can afford it, go to your pharmacy or grocery store and buy generic glucosamine/chondroitin supplements. Given him a human-level dose daily for a week and then 1/2 of that for several weeks afterwards. If the pain is due to hip dysplasia or other degeneration of joints or spinal disks, this will help some within a few days and will improve his overall condition within two weeks. A lower maintenance dosage is then a good thing to keep up daily.

From your description, though, I wonder if he doesn't have some temporary but acute problem - a nerve pinched in his spine, a muscle spasm from a twisted muscle or strained ligament etc. Keep him very very quiet for a few days - if you have a crate, keep him in it 24/7 except to relieve himself for at least 3-5 days, allowing him a little more exercise gradually afterwards. It takes two weeks or so of total crate rest to begin healing a small stress fracture in a leg or hip or a sprained joint. Even x-rays don't always show stress fractures well so the expense might not pay off, but the crate rest won't hurt and will probably help a great deal.

Best of luck with your friend .....

I am really, really sorry to hear that, Dean.

Dean,

Just two other suggestions ....

If your dog is refusing food or eating very lightly, chances are he may be very seriously ill (cancer etc.) In that case quality of his life becomes a real consideration. I once spent a large-for-me amount of money to keep a seriously ill dog alive ... in the end, what I mainly accomplished was to extend her suffering. My own rule of thumb is that I will now do what I can to take care of older dogs, but not beyond the point where they are not benefiting.

On the other hand, if your boy is eating more or less normally, then injury is more likely the cause of his distress. Hip dysplasia hurts, but mainly when the dog is up and moving or trying to get up -- if he is suddenly jerking in pain and crying, that would not be my first guess as to the reason.

I'll be thinking about you both today ... best of luck with him. And if it is time for him to slip away, providing a gentle death with his people nearby is an act of love and mercy.

Reading this poem by Kipling made me feel a little better after I had to put my own dog to sleep. It's never an easy decision (and would you really want it to be?)
A man of very reactionary sentiments, Kipling. According to Orwell, the last True Conservative. And yet...sometimes he can express a sentiment so well.

http://www.online-literature.com/kipling/914/

I put my late father's dog to sleep 10 years to the day after my father died. Pure heartbreak, again.

What Brian said. You may be able to get some help.

Very sorry to hear this.

i commiserate. My kitty Sam just died from complications of that femoral branch nerve compression. She was 11. It was heartbreaking.

Dean and Rosemary,

I'm very sorry to hear about your friend's and your suffering. Rimadyl (an anti-inflammatory) and condroiten injections gave my dog a lot of relief and bought us at least a year with him that we never would have had. He had displasia and spondylosis (at least). Of course, you have to have the courage to do what's right for your friend when the time comes. Good luck.

If you have Deep heat or Gold Bond you can put that on your dogs hips *IF* that is what you think the problem is.
I have a Rotweiler myself, and I know that it can be rough.
I hope everything comes out ok, I'm sure your dog knows your not doing it too him/her. Keep the faith and love and do what you have too.

All of us pet lovers know what your going through.

"Funeral For A Friend".

Sorry to hear it, Luv.

I posted this in the other thread, but again: imom.org They provide people with grants to help pay for vet bills. Another thing to consider is that many vet offices will work out a payment plan - they understand how hard it can be to pay. Don't expect discounts, but ask about a payment plan.

I don't know that a humane society will be able or willing to help out with vet bills unless you surrender the dog to them. My shelter would not be able to help other than to offer referrals - not because we are cold, but because we've got a lot of dogs and cats of our own who need extensive medical care plus the extraordinary cost of housing thousands of homeless animals every year.

Dean and Rosemary,

At the Vet's office,have them check his blood work for "acute pancreatitis".
Recent phenomenon in dog population.

Very sorry to hear that. I just recently had to put my 12 year lab down. He just couldn't control his bowels anymore.

It sucked worse as the last couple of weeks it seemed all I did was yell at him.

I'm getting emotional just typing this.

In the end, it was the best thing for him.

Good luck. This will not be an easy thing - no matter what the outcome.

Dean,
So sorry about you dear canine friend. About 11 months ago (On the day the Iraq war began), our darling Maximilian Happy Heart suffered his second stroke, and had to be euthanized. Max was a miniauture long-haired dachshund, and he was 6 days past his nineteenth birthday. We had all been through a lot together in that time. His first stroke had come two years earlier, and we nursed him back to about 80%. He became really high-maintenance after that, but there was never any doubt that, as long as he was not in pain and ate well, we would stay with him whatever it took. We just knew that the time had not yet come. The morning of his second stroke, I had planned a trip out of town, but something made me call it off. I thank God that I was not away when his time came. His "mommy" and I shed a lot of tears as we drove him to the vet's office, and the vet cried along with us. But we all knew that it was time, this time.

I don't know why I'm going on like this, other than to say that, like so many others, we know how painful this is, and our hearts go out to you. I wish I could do more to comfort you. Your dog knew that you loved him, and he loved you back, no matter what.

Four years ago and almost overnight our ten year old Basenji-Mix couldn't move her hind legs. She sadly sat looking back from side to side.

2 or 3 chondroitin injections limbered her up. The doctor ordered Glucosamine 500mg/Chondroitin 400mg times 2 in the morning and one at night. Taken on a spoon with peanut butter along with a thyroid pill she was already on.. Buy it without a prescription. Missy is almost 14 now and was just bouncing in the snow like a pup.

In a forum I write in I said she has more understanding of language than some liberals causing some of them to get excited, accusing me of thinking my dog more intellectual than the libs there. Thus proving my point about understanding what is actually said. She is now my "Intellectual Dog."