I have been reading through your replies over and over and I am so stuck. Despite the prednisone - Moby is declining. His back legs are so weak - that he cannot get up the interior stairs in my new house - so he has to sleep downstairs. (I have tried putting harness on and getting him up there - but he fell twice - so it is safer downstairs. As a result - I do not always hear him if he needs to go to the bathroom - so he has been pooping in the house almost 4-5 times a week. (He can still get up and down the few steps into the back yard where he is supposed to go to the bathroom.) Lately, though - he is struggling horribly to get up - so I will lift him up and plant him so he can walk around - but he can't stand long - and just collapses onto the ground wherever I am. The last time I took him to the dog park - it was just too much. He loved it - but even though it was not a long walk - it was hell getting him back in the car - even though I have steps for him. I am small - and not strong enough to dead-lift a 72 pound dog. I take him on short walks around the block - but he is so slow - and I worry that even that is too much. Last night I heard him struggling to get up and collapsing on the flooer and I ran downstairs and lifted him and brought him to his bed. I could not sleep all night and have been obsessing over this for months now. There is some life to him - so do I wait until he cannot make the stairs at all? I just keep thinking that if I needed help getting up - would I want someone to "put me down?" And then I read some of your responses - where you say it is better to do it a day early than a day to late. If that is the case - then this is the time. I am sorry - I know I am venting -- and that some of this is redundant. I guess I just need some support right now. I did have to make this decision for my cat - but it was so clear and obvious with her - and Moby is my first dog and I have a very very special relationship with him. Thank you all for listening.