Thanks for the encouragement guys, just had to whine a little and let off some steam. :P
As far as SSD, the problem is that I don't meet the requirements:
1. A person under age 65 who worked long enough to be covered under Social Security and then had to stop working due to a disability.
2. A person who has had a disability since childhood (before age 22) and is a dependent of a deceased parent, a parent with a disability, or a retired parent who worked long enough to be covered under Social Security.
3. A widow or widower age 50-60 with a disability, if the deceased spouse worked long enough to be covered under Social Security.

I don't meet the 1st requirement because most of my life I worked on my parent's farm and never reported it as wages, even though it was daily, heavy labour, because then I would have to pay taxes on it. I have also worked some other labour jobs for people I new, but also was paid under the table. I only ever worked one job where I reported my income, and it was over the summer, and is not enough to get me covered under SS. Bad choices I made on the basis of bad advice when I was young are now coming back to haunt me. It also means that I cannot list any of the jobs I have held on my resume or job applications.

As far as killing my dog, I would never do that. I have had that dog since he was a small puppy. When I first got him, he was near dead from starvation and was covered in fleas. I took care of him and paid the bills for him then, and I am not about to let him die now. He may never recover, but then again I have two cats who were hit by vehicles and severely disabled, but I let the vets do what they could for them and they now have quite happy lives. I don't see a drop in performance as a good reason to put an animal down. Probably because I do not have animals for their performance. Every animal I have ever owned is one that I have rescued (or the offspring of one I have rescued), and the only reason I got them in the first place is to stop them from dying or worse.