How to know when it's time

[Keely2009]

I am sure this question has been asked many times before but it it always harder when you are the one facing it. It is hard to say how old my lab mix is but she's definitely in the senior category. She is maybe 10-13 years old. In the last year I have seen a lot of changes in her....slowing down, harder time climbing stairs, not as excited etc. I have also noticed that she lays differently, her hips laying wider on the floor then they used to which I always assumed meant her hips were going. She never showed any signs of pain, just more age & being uncomfortable from time to time & not being able to jump up anymore so I've never done x-rays.

Today she was inside not doing any activity, just laying on the floor getting a tummy scratch & when she got up she started limping. I assumed she may have pulled a muscle or something from stretching the wrong way but then a few minutes later she fell down a flight of stairs head first with her hips spreading all the way flat out.

She doesn't seem to be in a lot of pain but I also don't want to push it until she is in pain and her quality of life is not as good and then I could of ended it before she went through this. Another thing to consider is that I am 38 weeks pregnant right now and in the coming months my time will be spent less with her and more with the new baby. We also have another dog & 2 cats so my hands will be full and I am just trying to figure out when you know & when to draw the line so I can put it in my head what to look for and will know when it comes.

So anyone that has been through this before....how did you know when it was time in a situation like this so that you don't wait too long?