...i stabbed her in the heart with a very long needle and then helped the girl vet inject in a couple of syringes of barbiturate. (it had been decided that the procedure would be done at home as it would be cruel to move my dog, sick as she was.)

this was after an hour and a half of trying to find a usable vein on a very dehydrated, very old dog. we had one once, but it blew out almost immediately.

after her vein blew and she had a syringe worth of barbiturates floating around in her (mostly IM), i exasperatedly offered to shoot my dog in the back of the skull with a .22 long-rifle. fortunately the vet decided to go to the heart with a long horse needle (she was an equine vet).

when i hit the heart, blood spurted up as though the needle were an oil derrick striking an untapped field. we attached the syringe and were thus able to inject the heart-stopping poison into my old friend.

poor dog emptied her bladder.

then i buried her.

she was a wonderfully loyal and gentle and loving dog.