Loss Of My Dog

[Balto]

Hi, this is my first time ever in a support group so I'm not really sure what to do. I'd like help with coming to terms with the loss of my dog Jenna at 16 1/2 whom I lost on October 23, 2013 and then her sister Misty on February 20, 2014. I don't really have anyone to just let loose and pour out my feelings to, so it would be so nice to talk to someone here who has suffered the same type of loss. I hope to hear from someone soon. Thanks!

[mfh]

I am so sorry for your loss. Losing one fur any is tough and you have to be feeling very overwhelmed with the loss of two. You are more than welcome to pour out your feelings here. You have found a circle of wonderful, caring people who understand loss...be it a beloved person or pet. People here will respond but in the meantime do feel free to tell us about your dogs, post some pictures and tell us what happened. Again I am so very sorry. Check in here often and in time other members will post.

Mary

[enna]

I am so sorry that you have lost both of your dogs, Jenna and Misty. You have come to a site where there are many pet lovers who have also lost their precious animals. Each one of us who post here on the ‘loss of a pet’ thread talk about the emptiness we feel because a part of our family is gone.

It will take time for you to adjust to this double loss. I am sure you have many wonderful memories to share of your pets. Do you have pictures? Tell us more about Misty and Jenna.

I have found that it does not make a difference if you have had your pet for a short time or a longer time. When the pet is loved time is not a factor. I adopted my Benji and had him with me for only a year. The little guy had seizures that could not be controlled. I do not have him now and I miss him.

There are many here who will tell you stories. We consider the pets we have a part of our family.

Anne

[elainetapp]

Hi,

I am so sorry for your loss. I know what you are feeling. I loss my first dog Bran June 2012 and my third dog Charlie July 2013. I have only my little girl dog Gigi left. It has been so difficult to deal with their loss. I don't think anything or anyone can prepare you for this. I too had no one to talk to about my feelings. The pain is more than I could bare some days. To me it is no different than losing a human. My dogs were loving beautiful souls and I am sure yours were too. Most people don't see animals as living feeling beings. I had my share of people telling me that they were just dogs. They were my family, my babies and I loved them very much. I don't know if I can tell you that it gets better but it does get easier. I miss them every day but I also know that you don't have control over death and when it occurs. I know that I did not want them to suffer and sometimes it is taken out of your control. Some days you may feel angry and then you will have days of complete sadness and then a few days may sneak in with some acceptance. I believe my babies are in heaven with my dad and sister and some day I will see them again. I hold on to my memories and I really don't care what anyone thinks. I loved and still love them. People that really love you will support you. Light a candle for your baby and have a memorial. Talk about your dog and what he meant to you. I had my dogs cremated and placed in a urn. I then held a memorial in my home with my immediate family. I know it did not mean as much to them as it did to me but they attended and it does help to give you some closure and to honour their life. I hope it helps some. You are not alone.

[Radtrisha]

You found a great group of people here. We have all been through it, and know what youre going through, and know how difficult it is.

It feels great just to tell your story, to a supportive group who understands your situation. Im sure everyone here would love to know about Jenna and Misty, and see some pictures of them

[kayc]

I am so sorry you lost your dogs...one is bad enough, but two?! That just compounds your grief. The hardest loss I've ever had was my husband, but aside from that, the second hardest loss was a pet...I have lost many over the years. Some you are especially close to and it feels almost like the death of a child because we're so close to them and they're such a part of your everyday life. Dogs especially are so loving.

Some people consider getting another dog but most wait until they feel ready, some choose not to, you will know what is right for you. Someone else said they are spending time at a rescue because they aren't yet ready to adopt but feel they're getting closer.

Having some kind of memorial for your dog helps. I lost my granddoggy, Skye, who lived with me a great deal of his life, just a few months ago. It's been very tough. There never will be another like him and I doubt I'll ever get to be as close to my other granddoggies as I was him, simply because I don't see them on an everyday basis, although I can appreciate them for who they are. Skyedoggers is buried in my back yard, and as I look out over it, I often think about him...I have so many memories of him. I think I grieved him more than my dog Lucky, just because we were closer, there was a special soft spot in our hearts for each other. When my son would leave him with me, he never knew if it'd be for a day or months (due to his job), and sometimes he needed to express his anxiety over that, and he'd tear up papers, so grandma (me) kept a box of wadded up newspapers just for him, and whenever he felt stressed, he'd go get one and tear it up. My son said it'd be okay to bury one with him. It is those little things that we remember.

You will remember your dogs in your own way, whether you get a marker, or keep their collars and tags, or whatever you choose to do.

My heart goes out to you, I know the pain of each passing day without them. There is a hole in your heart with their names on it.

[Balto]

I am so sorry for your loss. Losing one fur any is tough and you have to be feeling very overwhelmed with the loss of two. You are more than welcome to pour out your feelings here. You have found a circle of wonderful, caring people who understand loss...be it a beloved person or pet. People here will respond but in the meantime do feel free to tell us about your dogs, post some pictures and tell us what happened. Again I am so very sorry. Check in here often and in time other members will post.

Mary

Thank you so much for replying to my post. As soon as I started reading the replies my heart just lifted and I felt right away that I was among friends and that is so important to me! I will post pictures of my darlings and would love to see any of yours too. Hope you are having a wonderful day!

[Balto]

I am so sorry for your loss. Losing one fur any is tough and you have to be feeling very overwhelmed with the loss of two. You are more than welcome to pour out your feelings here. You have found a circle of wonderful, caring people who understand loss...be it a beloved person or pet. People here will respond but in the meantime do feel free to tell us about your dogs, post some pictures and tell us what happened. Again I am so very sorry. Check in here often and in time other members will post.

Mary

You found a great group of people here. We have all been through it, and know what youre going through, and know how difficult it is.

It feels great just to tell your story, to a supportive group who understands your situation. Im sure everyone here would love to know about Jenna and Misty, and see some pictures of them

Thank you for taking notice of my story and I certainly will post pictures and look forward to talking more about my sweet babies. Have a wonderful day!

[Balto]

I am so sorry that you have lost both of your dogs, Jenna and Misty. You have come to a site where there are many pet lovers who have also lost their precious animals. Each one of us who post here on the ‘loss of a pet’ thread talk about the emptiness we feel because a part of our family is gone.

It will take time for you to adjust to this double loss. I am sure you have many wonderful memories to share of your pets. Do you have pictures? Tell us more about Misty and Jenna.

I have found that it does not make a difference if you have had your pet for a short time or a longer time. When the pet is loved time is not a factor. I adopted my Benji and had him with me for only a year. The little guy had seizures that could not be controlled. I do not have him now and I miss him.

There are many here who will tell you stories. We consider the pets we have a part of our family.

Anne

In my profile picture Jenna is on the left and Misty is on the right. There were three in the litter and my brother had her, they were all girls. My Mom's dog, a chihuahua, was the mother, altho there is a little bit of terrier in there obviously. Mom named all the dogs and took Jenna's name from the animated movie "Balto" and it just always suited her. Misty actually belonged to my Mom until she passed away in 2009 and then my Dad took care of her, but as she grew older and suffered cognitive dysfunction I brought her to my home and kept her for nearly a year and came to love her very much. So there is a connection there between both dogs and my mother which makes the loss much greater. These dogs had the sweetest temperaments of any dogs our family had ever had, they were just so gentle and loyal. I really look forward to sharing my story with you and others here and thank you so much for giving me a chance to do that. Please have a wonderful weekend and share with me your story as well. Thank you so much!

[Balto]

Hi,

I am so sorry for your loss. I know what you are feeling. I loss my first dog Bran June 2012 and my third dog Charlie July 2013. I have only my little girl dog Gigi left. It has been so difficult to deal with their loss. I don't think anything or anyone can prepare you for this. I too had no one to talk to about my feelings. The pain is more than I could bare some days. To me it is no different than losing a human. My dogs were loving beautiful souls and I am sure yours were too. Most people don't see animals as living feeling beings. I had my share of people telling me that they were just dogs. They were my family, my babies and I loved them very much. I don't know if I can tell you that it gets better but it does get easier. I miss them every day but I also know that you don't have control over death and when it occurs. I know that I did not want them to suffer and sometimes it is taken out of your control. Some days you may feel angry and then you will have days of complete sadness and then a few days may sneak in with some acceptance. I believe my babies are in heaven with my dad and sister and some day I will see them again. I hold on to my memories and I really don't care what anyone thinks. I loved and still love them. People that really love you will support you. Light a candle for your baby and have a memorial. Talk about your dog and what he meant to you. I had my dogs cremated and placed in a urn. I then held a memorial in my home with my immediate family. I know it did not mean as much to them as it did to me but they attended and it does help to give you some closure and to honour their life. I hope it helps some. You are not alone.

I am so grateful to you for answering my post and giving me an outlet for my feelings. Sometimes grief is so deep that it's actually difficult to share face to face and doing it anonymously is the only way. I don't know what the future holds for me as far as another dog but I do know I'm nowhere near ready. I still do alot of crying, especially at bedtime, I swear I can still feel their weight against me!, and I don't want another dog right now, I still just want MY dog. So until I can get past that I guess I will have to get used to sleeping alone. I have hundreds of pictures but will not torture anyone by sharing all of them (haha), but I will share some from time to time. I hope that whatever loss you are recovering from will get better for you too. Please share anything you'd like with me. It does help to know you're not alone.

[Balto]

I tried to reply to each post but I'm not sure they posted correctly, but if I missed you please don't feel that it was intentional. I loved reading each post from you and for the first time in over five months I feel a little sense of relief that maybe this burden of grief will not be mine alone anymore. Thank you ALL so much for your kind words and comments and if I can be of help to you I hope you'll let me. You're truly kind and caring people.

p.s. I don't see an option for posting pictures. Can someone tell me how it's done on this site?

[MartyT]

p.s. I don't see an option for posting pictures. Can someone tell me how it's done on this site?

If you go to the very bottom of our main page, you'll see a link entitled "Help." (It's very tiny; you'll have to look hard for it )

Click on that link. You'll than see a long list of Help Topics.

Scroll down the page until you come to Posting and click on that.

In the drop-down list that appears, scroll down to Attachments. Follow those instructions and you should be able to attach your photos.

Hoping this helps!

♥

[kayc]

Click on "more reply options" and you'll see a link for attaching pictures.

[Balto]

Thank you all for your suggestions. I really do want to share some photos because of course my dog was beautiful! To me, she was and I knew every expression on her little face.

Also, does anyone know if there are regular live discussions on here and if so, what time? I'm on e.s.t. time. I love to write and post because I can say anything I want, but I also think it would be good to be in a real-time conversation too. I'd appreciate any help. Thanks! Balto

[mfh]

Dear Balto,

Looking forward to pictures!! I am sorry there is no real time discussion on this site. It is post only.

Peace

Mary

[Balto]

If these pictures show up, most of them are of my Jenna. The one where I'm wearing a purple shirt was her last day with me, taken after going to the vet. The little dog with the upright ears is Brandi, mother of both my dogs. Misty, and I only included two pictures, was the last dog I lost. She had cognitive dysfunction which kinda made her like a dog with Ahlzeimer's but she was the sweetest thing even before that. I had to keep track of her at all times cos she would get into a spot she couldn't get out of and then I'd have to rescue her! I miss my babies!

[kayc]

She is beautiful! And the others too. My granddoggy, Skye, was a little "different" too, but the sweetest dog I've ever met. I'm sure you do miss them, they are our furry friends forever!

[Balto]

Thank you, KayC, I guess we all feel the same about our dogs, don't we? I've taken thousands of pictures of Jenna and when my Mom was still here I would always take a new batch up to show her and I'd say "No wonder I think Jenna is beautiful......she is!" and Mom would laugh. But I'm sure not everyone saw the appeal!

[kayc]

She has beautiful eyes! That's what would get me about Skye too, his eyes. Here's a picture of him...

[Balto]

Thank you KayC, so does your Skye. Was he a husky? He was absolutely gorgeous! One day I was in Pet Smart and I could hear this dog "talking" long before I met them and she was a husky, named Maiya after the character in "Eight Below" with Paul Walker. If you've never seen it it's so worth watching, I love it! They have such distinctive voices and are so comical sometimes. There's a bunch of videos on YouTube of a husky named Mishka and if you type in your search "Are you stupid, Mishka?" you'll see the funniest video ever! They come so close to actually talking! Anyway, Skye certainly was a beauty and I'm sorry for your loss too. I can't believe that on April 23 it will be six months since Jenna passed away. If it's going to get better I wish it would hurry up. Hope you are having a good week. Talk later!

[kayc]

Yes he was a Siberian Husky. My son got another one after Skye died plus they have a half Husky/half White German Shepherd. I have a 1/2 Husky, 1/2 Golden Retriever named Arlie. I love Huskies! They are very tonal and I love "Husky talk!" I've watched lots of videos on them, shared a lot on FB. My son's new dog is very gorgeous and loving and goofy, not unlike my dog in personality. Skye was "simple" so to speak, the sweetest dog I ever met, his eyes always got to his grandma. We were very, very close. Here's our dogs...

Arlie:Mozzy:Bruno:Skye:

Skye died 09/01/2013, rest in peace sweet Skye.

[Balto]

Oh, my Skye was incredibly beautiful!! The other dogs are too and I love white shepherds. Dogs show you their heart in their eyes and I guess that's why we fall so madly in love with them. They don't hide anything. I'm truly sorry for your loss, I know how much you must miss him.

[kayc]

Thank you for you kind thoughts. It's been several months but it never goes away. He was and always will be my special granddoggy. He lived with me a lot so he was like my own.

I hope it gets better for you with time. I've lost some precious dogs before, you never forget them.

[Balto]

Mary, I just had to let you know that I went back and read some of your posts when Skye was failing in health and his passing, and I am sitting here crying because I know exactly how hard it was for you. I almost felt like I knew him and I can just see him smiling. They are such gentle creatures, full of love and forgiveness and the desire to please us, how can one not love them? Yesterday it was six months since I lost my Jenna and I cried most of the day. She's buried in my front yard beneath a mimosa tree that will give her shade when it's hot. I placed a wind chime in the branches, because I love the sound and it's comforting to me. I also had her a little stone made and placed it at the head of her grave. I'm attaching a picture of it. It's real granite and I wish I could have afforded to get a bigger one with her picture on it, but this will do. How I do miss her, tho, as I know you miss Skye. Hopefully, we can both find comfort on this site and share our stories together. Thank you for all your posts and sympathy. I hope you have a good day!

[mfh]

Mary, I just had to let you know that I went back and read some of your posts when Skye was failing in health and his passing, and I am sitting here crying because I know exactly how hard it was for you. I almost felt like I knew him and I can just see him smiling. They are such gentle creatures, full of love and forgiveness and the desire to please us, how can one not love them? Yesterday it was six months since I lost my Jenna and I cried most of the day. She's buried in my front yard beneath a mimosa tree that will give her shade when it's hot. I placed a wind chime in the branches, because I love the sound and it's comforting to me. I also had her a little stone made and placed it at the head of her grave. I'm attaching a picture of it. It's real granite and I wish I could have afforded to get a bigger one with her picture on it, but this will do. How I do miss her, tho, as I know you miss Skye. Hopefully, we can both find comfort on this site and share our stories together. Thank you for all your posts and sympathy. I hope you have a good day!IMG_1117.JPG

Dear Balto, Your marker for Jenna's grave is lovely and with the added chimes you will always know when gentle breezes move around her.

You addressed your message to Mary and I think you meant to type Kay as Skye was Kay's grand dog. I know she will see the lovely message you left her.

Peace,

Mary