Good-Bye My Dear Atlas

[JamieNicole]

On Sunday sept 9/12 my 5 month old German Shepard/Golden Retreiver puppy Atlas was hit and killed instantly infront of my house.

i am very upset over this happening as i cannot stop blaming my self for factors leading up to his short end.

it was the morning and i had let him and my 10 year old black lab out for there morning romp, and this morning instead of watching them like i do i went and did a few things around the house, when i heard my older dog barking and seen a man walking down my drive way... when i went out to stop Cerebus from barking the man had asked me if i had 2 dogs. and that he had just hit one... my heart went threw the ground... My poor baby, i should have had him tied or been out watching him as he was super loyal and intellegent

he had snuck across the road and was on his way back home when he jumped out of the ditch and got hit dead center by a VW car. he died pretty much instantly (Thank you Lord). the Car had suffered 2000$ worth of damage from hitting my boy.

i feel horrible about this happening even tho he was only with us a short 3 months he was a beautiful and smart dog. this happened early in the morning so my 2 year old was not awake thankfully.

we had a cremation service for Atlas, and my heart is still very broken.

i have considered contacting an animal comunnicator, just to put my mind to ease. i feel like a failure as a pet owner and my neglagence led to atlas death. and i can never get him back.

i feel very alone in this and would like some support so i found this site.

i feel that Atlas was put here to teach me a VERY valuable lesson, he was my daughter Joellas protector in the short time he was here and i belive that it was a very hard lesson i had to learn that i need to be more careful in watching my daughter around our property.

Rest Peacefully My Beautiful Boy. you will be missed every day Im So So Sorry <3

[kayc]

I am sorry for your loss, and the short life your Atlas got. Usually I know what to say but right now I am at a loss for words, that surely must have been such a shock. I'm glad your daughter didn't witness it. I know we aren't always perfect in our judgment and as humans, we make mistakes, but it's really hard when the result is so costly. My heart goes out to you, it could have been any one of us. (((hugs)))

Kay

[MartyT]

Jamie, dear, I'm so sorry to learn of the tragic accident that took the life of your beloved Atlas, and my heart goes out to you. I can only imagine the guilt and pain you're feeling now ~ but please remember that you are a human being, and human beings make mistakes. Sometimes the mistakes we make have tragic consequences, and we are left to live with them, find a way to forgive ourselves, and learn whatever lessons we can from them. By telling your story here, and by acknowledging to yourself and the rest of us what happened and how you feel about it, you are well on your way to learning from this experience, and you're helping others to learn from your mistake, too.

I hope you'll take the time to listen a recording of an interview I did some time ago with Tracy Ann (see attached mp3 file, below), and read this article, Loss and the Burden of Guilt. See also an article by Dana Durrance entitled A Dangerous Villain: Guilt. All of these contain suggestions for working through guilt . . .

 

Attached File(s)

• tracyann_excerpt.mp3 (8.25MB)
  Number of downloads: 3

[JamieNicole]

Thank you so much for the kind words!... its hard to accept that i am only human and that i do make mistakes (and i make more then my fair share)... i must move on as i have another dog and 2 horses to love and take care of... i have settled my self down to coping with Atlas's death, i will remember and blow him kisses daily.

Those attachments really helped! i feel much better about my decision to go to town counsil and getting the speed limit in my town reduced from 60 to 40 ... there are too many little loved ones for people to be going so fast through a small hamlit!

Guilt is a nasty creature that makes you very sick indeed ...

[kayc]

We have a major highway running through our town and the speed limit through town is reduced to 35. People have adjusted, and the ones who don't, well they earn our city a great deal of $! I agree, people need to slow down and look out for pets and people.