How to Cope After the Death of Your Dog

Are you having difficulty with the loss of your loved and cherished friend? Are you experiencing emotions of sadness and grief? It can be really difficult to accept, grasp and process the passing of an animal friend from the physical form to the spirit form. This physical separation can leave you with a huge gap of unexplained emotions and grief that can be devastating.

Some people choose to make the donation in the animal's memory to soften their impact on their dog's death. Grieve is a natural reaction as we are so close to our dog and they are so special that they become our human-companion. When the bond is created, the sense of loss can be a big deal. Some people might just say "It is just a dog." Support and encouragement are always needed when such death occurs.

There are several stages we might go through due to the sudden death of our dog such as denial. The next stage will be bargaining. People tend to still hope that their dog might recover with statements using IF. "If Max recovers, I will never skip his regular walk." We might feel angry at one point but eventually, it turns into guilt. Again we might tend to blame it on someone by saying "You never cared about Max. You never love him. He's gone, you are happy now?"

Now we reach the stage of true sadness and grief. The dog is gone and we are left with emptiness. Again, support from family and friend is most important but sadly it is very difficult to find as people without pets will not tend to understand. You could seek a professional counselor or your pet's vet which is helpful as well.

Share your feelings with your counselor, cry and talk it out. Sometimes physical and meditation do help as the body areas are the most affected part when you are sad and stressful. Crying and letting it go is always a good way to release pain. You might also want to find a group or a person who can share this death on a long-term basis.

Write your own journal, burst everything out, and do not just stay at home. Get friends to come over or visit them, laughter is also another good medicine to keep you away from thinking about the death too much. Some people try to keep themselves busy but remember, you have to go through this stage but if you keep avoiding the death it will not help.

Since your loss is important, remember to give support to others who experience the same loss as well. When you are ready, you need a new resolution. Visit your family or friends who have dogs and play with them. Learn to accept other dogs and one day you might just be ready to find a new companion.

If you have a problem such as your other pet mourn on your loss as well, they may show symptoms like searching for the missing one, refusing to eat, staying in bed and so on; a pet in mourning needs extra care and attention as well.