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Quality of Life Scale

The HHHHHMM Scale  was created by Dr. Alice Villalobos to help owners decide when it is time to put a dog down. How do you know when to put your dog down-I am by nature a give me data or give me death kinda gal and the decision to put a dog down does not come easily or lightly in my household. I find Dr. Villalobos scale a straight forward and empirical way to help make a good decision for my family member. She assesses the critical issues to quality of life. The scale addresses the following list.
  • Hurt
  • Hunger
  • Hydration
  • Hygiene
  • Happiness
  • Mobility
  • More Good Days Than Bad
The name of the scale is HHHHHMM after the seven areas of assessment. Her scale helps bring reason to a very emotional decision. I also admit that my family has a tendency to wait too long (as do many other families). There is no easy way to lose a beloved pet but a numbers based approach may help to give owners the confidence to not second guess or delay the decision when the time comes. Our dogs love us unconditionally-we owe them a good quality of life.
 
 
“My goal is to someday be the person my dog thinks I am." -unknown