5 Things to Know About Losing Your Dog l Advice on Mourning l Man's Best Friend l Coping With The Loss of Your Dog l Pet Mourning l How to Cope With the Death of a Pet l Coping With Death

Is euthanasia the right thing to do?

We all pray that we never have to come face-to-face with the decision to euthanize a pet, but it's one that you should be prepared to consider should that day come. No one knows our dogs better than we do, so it's important to be observerant of changes in their behavior, appetite, energy level, or signs of pain. Your veterinarian can help you understand their physical condition, so keep them attune to what is going on. These faithful creatures have a tendency to mask and hide their pain and the suffering process could take hours, days, even weeks and it usually gets progressively worse over time. While euthanasia is an extremely difficult decision, it's one that can provide your loyal companion a peaceful, pain-free way to leave this earth.

You will experience a variety of emotions

Sadness likely won't be the only emotion you will feel after the passing of your dog. It's important to be prepared to navigate these thoughts and feelings appropriately, as many of them will only enhance the pain and are not helpful to the grieving process. Those can include the following feelings: 1. Guilt: You might begin to question if you could have done something different or better. 2. Denial: You might ignore important signs and behaviors because you aren't ready to face their loss. 3. Depression: There is no easy way to get through the grieving process, but each day, it will get a little better. Depression can interfere with the healing process.

Take time to remember

An unexpected feeling you might have when you lose your dog is one that you will actually want to embrace. All of the joyful, happy memories of them will flood back to you. This would be a perfect time to begin putting together a memory book with all your favorite pictures and stories of your beloved friend. Other wonderful ways to memorialize your pet: plant a tree in their memory, make a garden memorial stone, have a paw print made, commission an artist to paint their portrait or make a gemstone out of their ashes. The process is quite cathartic and will help you focus on all the positive memories. It's just proof that while they may not actually be physically present, they will always, always be with you.