Corinna

Theresa, Thank you for your email response. Our dog, Peaches, was a grey and white Shih Tzu. She was 14 years old, but until her heart failure last week, was in very good health. I understand why it's hard for you to have any physical reminders (pictures etc.) of Odyssey. I think you just have to do what works for you at this time. For some people it helps to have pictures around. For other people it's too painful. There are some items from my grandmother that I haven't been able to sort through yet because it's too upsetting. She died two years ago and she was one of my favorite people in the whole world. Corinna

Marty, Thank you for your kind words - and for helping organize this web site. It has been a godsend over the past few days. My husband and I went to church yesterday to light a candle for little Peaches. After the service, my husband went up to the priest and, his voice cracking, asked him if dogs went to heaven. The priest kind of laughed nervously - I think he thought maybe it was a joke. Then when he realized my husband was serious, he said he didn't know if pets went to heaven. That was kind of a blow. My mother went to the Episcopal church where we also sometimes go - and she told the minister that we'd just lost a pet. She said we were wondering if pets went to heaven. He told her we will definitely see Peaches in heaven again, which made me feel a lot better. He also told my mother that he recently lost his own dog and that he'd be happy to talk to us - so we may do that. Even though we still have our other dog, Sasha, the house feels so empty without little Peaches. Corinna

Theresa, I'm so sorry to hear about the loss of your beloved Odyssey. We lost our little dog, Peaches, last week as well. So far, I've found it's best to talk to people who are animal lovers and pet owners. People who've never owned pets really can't understand. I would definitely mention your tears to the eye doctor - or maybe reschedule the appointment for next week. I've been crying for five days and my eyes are a mess. My eyelids are actually dry and chapped from wiping my eyes with tissues so much. I wish I had more wisdom to offer you, but like you, I'm in the early stages of grief. I will say that it's gotten a tiny bit better each day. It's still very painful, but I am able to function somewhat now. It helped me to find this website and also to read a couple of books about pet loss. I bought one called "How to ROAR: Pet Loss Grief Recovery" and another called "Animals and the Afterlife." They helped a little bit. Also, maybe your vet knows of a pet loss support group in your area. I noticed that the woman who runs this website - Marty - has an online pet loss group as well. You and Odyssey are in my prayers. Corinna

I'm grateful to have found this website. My husband and I lost one of our little dogs on Wednesday, October 10th. She was a beautiful and gentle little grey and white Shih Tzu called Peaches. Although she was 14 years old, she had recently had a check-up and had no major health problems. She seemed to be in very good health for her age. Unfortunately, she had massive heart failure on Wednesday night - very unexpectedly. My husband and I are devastated. I feel worse than I did when my beloved grandparents died. It has been 4 days and I feel like I don't care about anything anymore. I'm 4 months pregnant and I suddenly don't care about the pregnancy or my job or anything. I think I may need to get professional counseling, because I'm having a hard time functioning. We rescued little Peaches from a shelter 2 years ago, so we only had her in our lives for 2 years. But she was such a sweet, happy little dog. She was blind from cataracts, and she needed a lot of care, but I think that just made us closer to her. We still have another little Shih Tzu, Sasha, who is 6 going on 7. I am trying to cuddle with Sasha, but I feel very numb. I keep going on the Internet, trying to find out whether dogs are in Heaven or in some kind of afterlife. We actually spoke to an animal communicator a couple of nights ago, who said Peaches was okay and feels better now than she did when she was on earth (she wasn't sick exactly but she had a lot of minor ailments, like allergies and skin problems - and of course she was blind too). I wish I had more faith that I will see her again. Corinna