Loss of a dog
You already know when you buy a doggie, there comes a time when you have to say goodbye to your four-legged friend. The loss of a dog is often very hard, although there is sometimes some misunderstanding about this. A doggie is not just a pet, but an important part of your family. I like to share my story.
Our bulldog
Our sweet French bulldog was just under 10 years old when she started having epileptic seizures. After a lot of medication and tests, she was found to have a brain tumor. The medication kept the seizures under control but it was sad to see her like this. She was no longer the happy dog we once knew. She could barely cross the street, walking was out of the question and she laid down to drink water. The animal was finished, we could only watch helplessly and so decided to put her to sleep.
Guilt
When you have to put your buddy to sleep, logically a sense of guilt also comes up. “Did we make the right choice?”, “Did we give her enough attention?”, … 1000 questions that haunted my mind and caused that immense guilt. Of course, I know full well that we made an informed decision and that we took good care of her and gave her lots of love, but couldn’t we have done better?
Coping with the loss of a dog
Everyone deals with the loss of a dog differently, including in our family. Some weep, others do not; some want to talk about it a lot, others do not. It’s not always easy to find each other in loss.
We chose to keep a memento in the house, this works for all of us. In this way, our dear friend will have a place of his own in the house and we can choose to be with her every moment.
That keepsake is an urn containing her ashes, a tuft of hair and a paw print. Around the urn is her collar, in my mind she still has it on.
We also kept aside a small bag with her ashes. Meanwhile, we already had this incorporated into 2 pieces of jewelry, one for the husband and one for me. Once the son is old enough to carefully care for such a jewel, we provide a cherished jewel for him as well.
“Time heals all wounds,” cliché, but it’s true. Over time, the grief lessens and you reach a point where you have accepted and processed the loss of a dog.
That’s not to say we’re never sad again or don’t have the feeling of that loss. Those feelings can always resurface for a short or long time, even now that we have a new pet. Two animals, like two people, are never alike and can never replace each other, only complement each other.
Loss of a dog was written by: Emmy