Grieving the loss of your dog is a very emotional and personal experience. As with any form of grief, each individual will have his own experience. It is important to understand that grieving the loss of your dog is just like grieving any other loss; you need to allow yourself time to experience your emotions and time to heal.

Grief is natural, and can at times feel overwhelming. Regardless of how long you have had a dog; chances are you have formed a very close bond and grieving the loss of your dog will leave you with a painful emptiness. There are normal stages to any experience of grief, and loss of your dog is no different. You can expect to feel one or more of the following emotions during the grieving process:

Guilt

Whether your dog died from injury, illness, or simply old age, you may feel like you should have done more. You may put yourself through a serious of “What if” scenarios – What if I had taken her to the vet sooner? What if I had bought a new fence so he couldn’t get out of the yard so easily? What if I changed her diet? This is normal, but adding guilt to your grief will not help you recover from the loss of your dog any sooner. Try to put aside feelings of guilt.

Denial

With any loss, denial is a natural emotion. Some dog owners feel the need to get rid of anything related to the dog, such as beds, food, bowls, etc. For them, this can help avoid the possibility of “forgetting” the dog is gone and filling her food bowl out of habit. For others, they feel getting rid of these things is somehow disloyal to the memory of the dog, and tend to hold on to things longer.

Anger

If your dog loss was the result of an accident, you may feel angry toward those involved. Even if your sick dog received excellent care, you may feel anger toward the vet who treated him but didn’t save him. You may even find your feel anger toward God or the universe while grieving the loss of your dog.

Depression

It may be hard for you to function following the loss of your dog. You may find yourself feeling overwhelmingly sad, and disinterested in daily activities. While this is normal, you should seek professional help if you continue to feel so sad that you are powerless over you feelings and finding it difficult to function.

Acceptance

Eventually, at your own pace, you will accept the loss of your dog. This is not to say that it won’t hurt or you won’t feel sad, but you will accept the reality of the loss.

You should face the process of grieving the loss of your dog as openly and honestly as you can. Find people with whom you can discuss your feelings. Don’t feel as though you need to be strong for other family members who were also close to the dog. Grieving the loss of your dog together can be a healing process for all of you.