what did I do wrong???

[saylor4]

I had the job of baby-sitting my neighbors 4 horses and 2 golden retrievers for the weekend. everything went well or so I thought. the day they left they had fed their dogs and I was to feed them sat. night and theyd be back on sunday to feed them. pretty easy huh? NOT! let me go back a little. they have 4 dogs. 2 of them are 12 yrs old and have been together since they were 6 wks old. my neighbors were  taking 1 of the 12 yr olds back to their home town where they are moving back to soon to have put down and buried there because of health issues.  while they were gone I was supposed to feed the animals.  k, now we're up to speed. when I fed the dogs sat. nite,every1 was happy and jumpin around.the next mornin every1 was fine again. later I checked on their horses around 3:00 and the dogs were barkin. no big deal right? well when they get home around 7:30 their 12 yr old is dead. he looks like he just laid down and gave up. I looked at his stool and it was good. they are in a pen so he didnt get into anything.my neighbors even measured out his food so I didnt feed him too much. I feel AWFUL!!!!!!! I dont know how to appologize enough.and I dont understand WHY!!!  could he have been bit by a snake or did he know there was something wrong with his best friend and then not only miss him but since his masters were gone- that he lost them too. can a dogs heart give with grief? he was old but they said he was pretty healthy. what do I do now?

[saylor4]

thank you so much for making me feel better. I just hope my neighbors would never believe that I would do anything to hurt an animal. I love animals , thats why I foster abused horses. thank you again

[ginger899]

Firstly, it doesn;t sound like you did anything wrong. So don't beat yourself up about this. Death is a strange thing. My grandparents on my father's side died within 24 hours of each other. He had been taken into hospital, and died unexpectedly even though he was sick. My grandmother did not know he had died. Yet next morning she passed away from a stroke! It was mysterious, almost as if she sensed it.

It could be something like the "twin" thing, when there is a bond so strong (yes, even between dogs) that it has profound effects like this especially as they were both getting old. 12 is a good age for that breed of dog.

You feel responsible because they were "in your care" for those few hours. Yet I know it was not your fault.

[penswriter]

my in laws dog did that. they left for work in the morning and she was completely fine. jumping around (as much as an arthiritc 13 year old shepherd can) and happy. they get home from work 8 1/2 hours later and she was laying in her bed...dead. they had an autopsy done on her to see if she maybe ate something but turns out she just had a stroke and passed away. sometimes those things just happen.

[have 2 kids]

It doesn't sound like you were at fault.  It's not uncommon for dogs to die around that age.  He could have had a stroke, heart attack, etc.  The owners could have an autopsy done to find out for sure.