There is no needle shown on screen. But there is a scene where one is definitely being used. It's just hidden behind an arm or just off-screen. You never see it, you just know by context that it is there. So it might be a scene where you find yourself bracing for something you never see.
It isnt a very sad ending because Turner gets a new dog that looks just like a puppy version of hootch, however hootch does die in the end before he gets the new puppy so kind of sad ending