Lose our dog It is losing one more member of our family, with all that this entails. It is a difficult and traumatic situation, which is a great emotional loss for us. We are forced to start a difficult process during which we have to get used to living without the presence of one of our loved ones. Although this may seem impossible at times, we can overcome the situation.
The pain we feel after death of our dog It can be as much or stronger than the one that invades us after losing anyone around us. It is because of that the assimilation process is similar, covering practically the same phases, from denial to acceptance. We may even feel guilty. All of this is more or less complicated depending on the causes of death.
First of all, and as it happens after any traumatic event that may happen to us, we must give us time to cry and express our pain; only then can we free it. It is important to admit both to others and to ourselves that we are sad and that we are going to miss our dog. The best thing is that we vent to our family and friends, and that we never repress our feelings.
Some use some forms of expression as therapy. For example, we can write a letter to our pet as a farewell, poems, compose your photos, edit videos, etc. Everything is valid to manifest our emotions. This will not make the pain go away, but it will help us accept the new situation and cope with it.
Organize a farewell ceremony It can also benefit us in this regard. We can plan different options, guiding ourselves by what we consider most appropriate. It is a very personal decision, for which there are different alternatives. There are, for example, cemeteries for pets, which allow us to visit them whenever we want.
After all this begins the difficult phase of adopting a new routine without our dog, which is usually accompanied by a strong feeling of depression. It is normal, we have just suffered an irreparable loss and, as we know, the bond between a person and their dog is extraordinarily strong. It will help us to talk to people who are going through the same situation; On the Internet we find numerous web pages dedicated to engaging in this type of conversation with other users.
It will also help us maintain certain habits for some time, like walking through the same places and at the same times that we walked with our dog. Little by little we will be prepared to replace these routines with different ones.
We may feel an urgent need to include another dog in our life To fill our emotional void And while it is true that we should not let pain make us give up future pets, it is also true that each animal is irreplaceable, and that it is appropriate to overcome the duel before considering living with another pet. Otherwise the psychological damage may be even greater.
We should not blame ourselves for feeling pain, or even when it begins to go away. With the passage of time the negative feelings will remain in the background, being replaced by the happy memories in the company of our dog. A good consolation is to think that we have made the animal feel loved and happy by our side, that it has enjoyed a good quality of life.
If we notice that time does not heal our pain, do not hesitate to find a professional Help us. It is usual and totally logical to go to the consultation of a psychologist after the death of a pet, so we should not be ashamed. The important thing is to find the way to overcome the loss and move on.