My dog was running around and plowed broadside into an old, arthritic dog. The old dog was euthanized. I saw the dogs with their heads together earlier, could it be that the dogs were communicating about my dog helping the old one out of her misery? Is there such a thing as assisted suicide in dogs?

Ed and Cindy,

Having just read your Dumb & Dumber Q&As I can see that you are not particularly tolerant of stupid questions, but I hope you will treat this seriously since it was a very upsetting event.

I have a 5 year old Amer. Staffordshire Terrier (almost 80 pounds) that is very loving and gentle and we were spending a weekend at my daughter's in-laws cabin where several families and their dogs were present. In addition to my dog there were two Maltese and a Black Lab. All of them get along fine and there were no problems. During the second day of our stay my dog started racing back and forth in the yard at top speed and plowed broadside into the 12 1/2 year old, arthritic, tumor-ridden Black Lab. The dog yelped and came into the cabin where she lay down and refused any food or water. The next day she would drink a little water, but wouldn't go outside without coaxing and assistance and still refused any food. It was the holiday weekend and no vets were available near where we were staying, but the Lab's owner was finally able to contact her vet back in town who said it was unlikely that the Lab had sustained internal injuries and to just keep an eye on her.

The day after we all came back to town I called the owner to see if their dog was any better but she was not, and they had decided it was best to have her put to sleep since even before the incident she was not in very good health and after being hit she had messed and peed in her bed, apparently not being able to get to the door to ask to go out. It was devastating to me that my dog was responsible for the injury to the Lab and I felt even worse when I learned she was to be put to sleep.

Now the question which may end up with this going into your Dumb & Dumber category - Could there have been any intention involved in my dog running into theirs? I saw the two dogs with their heads together earlier. Do they communicate intelligently enough that the Lab may have been saying "Help me out of my misery?" Is there such a thing as "assisted suicide" among dogs? I noticed that the Lab did not make any attempt to move out of the way when my dog was running.

Please let me know if you have ever encountered any dog behavior that might explain what was going on. Or possibly it was just a stupid dog accident. Maybe I'm just grasping at straws, hoping to find some answer to help me feel not so responsible for the loss of their dog.

Thanks so much.