How to move on from losing the best dog ever ...

[furbaby]

After losing our darling boy in may (staffy who had cancer aged 12) We were so upset and didn, t think we would get over the heart break :(
After much deciding we got our new staffy boy puppy in august , he is s darling and we both love him lots but its just not helping how I thought it would .
dh seems to love him unconditionaly but I can, t help thinking about our old boy and how much smarter and better behaved he was as a pup .
I was looking at photos of old dog yesterday and said to dh "what happened to old boys kong"
Went to let new pup in from garden and he had old boys kong in his mouth , he must have found it in the garden :)
Did make me smile .
But how do you ever get over loosing a dog , I would give anything for just some time again with our special boy ...,, I love and miss him do much .
probably don, t help myself as have only pics of old boy on my phone and tablet .
dh seems content with our new pup but for me he could never reach the standard as extra special dog :(

[VeganCow]

My dog -walking friend lost her special dog 5 years ago.
It took her 3 years after that to actually let her younger dog (now 9) in.
She was subconsciously shutting him out, and forever comparing him to her other dog. Even saying things like 'If I could send him away and have her back would do it in a second'

Each dog is an individual in its own right. Stop comparing.

Also you need to remember that you are comparing your 12 year old gentle lad with a toddler! That does not work.
Your new dog has the right to not to have to live up to old boy. How about looking at it like he was sent to you by old boy to help you recover?

[Owllady]

Gosh wordsmith, what a shock. I am so sorry x

[furbaby]

sheperdgood for you in getting another dog to enjoy your life with . It must have all been so hard .

wordsmith was so shocked by what happened to your darling dog .
your poor family :( he was still a baby .life just bloody sucks sometimes .
Good luck with new girl and hope she fills the missing bit .
helly good luck with new dog , have not heard of irish terrier before ..,, I will google :)
sheperd good for you taking on a rescue . I am sure things will work out great .
I am happy that even though we have lost our babies we can move on and are filling that dog shaped hole in our hearts .
I am having a rubbish day and for no reason at all I am missing my old boy so very much , I just need one last kiss and cuddle .
you have all helped me so much in getting oveor my darling boy but I still get that panicky feeling that I just need to be with him:(
Pisses me off so much when people slag off staffys , they would, nt if they had met our darling sensitive boy .
Thank you so much everyone for your replys , you have helped me so much :)

[ButThereAgain]

Best wishes to both of you for a very very happy future with the new dogs you are moving towards getting. I don't think it shows any lack of love/respect for the memory for the dogs you have so sadly lost.

[Wordsmith]

shepherdsdelight I am so pleased you are able to find another dog so soon. I hope we will feel the same tomorrow. Thank you and to ButThereAgain for your kind words.

[Wordsmith]

shepherdsdelight I don't think it's too soon at all. I completely understand and feel the same. We have already started looking and are travelling tomorrow to see some baby cairns who are only 10 days old. They won't be ready till mid-Jan but that will be good timing for us I think. Plus they are all girls so I don't feel we are replacing our darling boy, the pup we choose will be another much loved member of our family.

I am still finding it so difficult but it has certainly helped the children knowing that another dog will be coming into our family soon.

[shepherdsdelight]

wordsmith
Although it is less than 2 week since we lost our dog, we have already found the next dog to share our lives with. Dh particularly is finding the dog-shaped hole in his life unbearable.
We have found a rescue dog, approx 2 years old. She is very cute and has had some basic training already. Very excited that we can complete the formalities this Sunday.
I can well understand that some people may think it indecently quick to take on a new dog, but ........ we need a dog in the centre of our life!

[ButThereAgain]

I'm so sorry to hear that Wordsmith. What a horrible shock.

[hellymelly]

Yes, we have chosen the puppy, although we haven't seen her yet (we met the mother before the mating). Pup is only two weeks old, we are off to see her soon and will get her in January. She's an Irish terrier. I feel very excited now, but also still sad about my old dog. I think it will be very emotional seeing a new puppy here, but we are ready for a new friend.

[Wordsmith]

In tears here. We lost our 11 month old Cairn a couple of days ago. Came downstairs to find him lying dead in his crate. I thought he was asleep. . We had no warning, other than he was a bit sick the evening before but nothing remarkable. It was just before DH and kids were due to leave house for work/school and I was to go to a meeting. None of that happened. Our lives stood still with grief. Can't understand how and why it could happen to such a gorgeous, fun-loving, friendly, cuddly and above all young pup!

We decided not to have a post mortem - nothing would bring him back. We have had him cremated and will scatter his ashes on one of his favourite walks in the summer.

We are going away at Christmas to the seaside and were so looking forward to him running up and down the beach. We thought about not going, but have decided against it. It is a place we as a family love, but we had not taken him there yet, so hopefully our thoughts will be happy ones and we won't be haunted by memories of him running on that beach, or playing catch on that hill, or whatever.

What is helping is that we have decided as a family we want another dog. He was our first dog and we have a huge dog-shaped hole in our lives. We are going to see some pups this weekend who won't be ready until January - same breed but girls not boys. We will never forget our little lad but I need to fill that hole. I think in a month or two we may be ready to welcome a new pup into our lives.

Big hugs to everyone who has been through this loss. I have lost cats before but have never felt like this.

[furbaby]

minkersmum your so right about the friends bit , some you get on better with and have that special connection and others you like but not quite in the same way .... just the same with dogs , some you connect with better .
sorry we made you cry :)

owllady I am sorry to hear that you lost your sister and at such a young age :(
Yes I sure she would be having a giggle at being compared to a dog ,
but as you say they are always there much more than friends and relatives and need you as much as you need them .

Rowgtfc72 tomorrow or week wednesday ? That must be so tough if even if the time is right :(
I will be thinking of you .
I think its tougher in some ways for us than them .
Having to make the decision that its the right time and lifting the phone to vets is just so heartbreaking .
They just trust us to do the right thing by them .
((((Hugs))))

We know that we haven't got our 16 old girl for long :(
She has had a couple of health problems and we thought this is the beginning of the end but she has bounced back and is ok at moment .
She has lots her marbles and gets lost in the house often but the puppy has taught her new trick of begging for food . She never had much interest in our food before pup .
who said you can't teach an old dog new tricks :)

[Rowgtfc72]

Have made an appt to have the old jack Russell pts next wed. He's sixteen and on his way out and would be cruel to let him suffer. I'll still have fat jack who's eleven but she's not old jack and never will be he's a dog in a million,but then so is she in her own way.

[Owllady]

my sister would laugh at my post and me comparing her with a dog :o because she loved dogs too (my Mum inherited hers after her death)

[Owllady]

The truth of it is, you do not 'get over' it, you learn to live with it, that same you would with a human. I lost my sister when she was 21 and I was 24, and I cannot compare that pain to that, but also I did not find it easy to get over the death of my dogs either (and don't) and I remember when i had counselling part of it was I felt so sad that I had lost my sister because I loved her so much and she loved me and really it's the same with dogs. I understand that people who haven't got dogs wont 'get that' but they spend every day with you and quite a lot of the time are better companions than your human friends and relatives and they love you unconditionally

and they are reason to get up every day
a reason to get out and about
a reason to talk to other people
a reason to be more empathetic and sympathetic
but above all they give you so much for you what you might feel is so little in return, a walk, a feed a love, a warm basket/crate
and of course you feel sad that your companion has gone because you you used to do this and that and in my last dogs case, you were the only dog brave enough to not be bothered by dora the rottweiler (who was as soft as shit:)) and loads of other small and big things that are 'just' your old dog

but your new dog just has a different personality and you will love them in a different way and appreciate their ways but it's okay to feel sad (and I felt guilty but there is no need to feel guilty for loving another dog!):)

[minkersmum]

Had to stop reading as couldn't see from the bloody tears ..... argh... you lot!!

Think this feeling is so common. I liken it to friends. Some you enjoy your time with and you wouldn't be without but a rare few, maybe even just once in a lifetime you find a true soulmate. A connection that just can't be put into words.

I have had dogs my whole life. I have loved them all dearly. I currently have a rescue labradoodle who i love more than i could have ever imagined but I still hold a special place in my heart for my old girl who i rescued when i was a student. She only passed away last year. Just something about her made her so special to me, and me to her.

[furbaby]

I am so happy that you have lots of support sheperd more than welcome to pm me if you need any extra support .
it is just so bloody hard though , I feel so bad for you as your darling dog went early :(
At least our boy was 12 , mind you knowing it was his time and helping him pass to the other side was so dam hard .
we lost our boy in may and I don, t cry all the time now when I think about him but I do miss him so dreadfully .
I think now that I may own and love many dogs but there will always be specical place in my heart for the worlds best staffy x

[shepherdsdelight]

furbaby crown jewel and everyone else - thanks for your lovely thoughts and messages. I seem to be coping ok - maybe that is thanks to all the lovely support I have had. Anyone who has had a much loved pet pass away knows that sense of loss, and the massive hole that is left in your life when they go. People have been so kind and understanding and I have found that very comforting. thank you again MNers for your kindness.

[ormirian]

It will take time. Dad lost his JR over 2 years ago now and he still tears up at times. I have seen his attitude to our new dog which we got about 6 months after JR died, change from dubious standoffishness, to affection. Dogs do that to you.

When my cat died of cancer 5 years ago we bought an adorable little kitten after a few months and although I could see she was lovely I almost resented the fact that this silly little ball of fluff was attempting to replace my elegant, dignified old Jenny. But I ended up loving her just as much ( we lost her too after a year )

[mistlethrush]

I suppose what I meant to say was that you'll never manage to 'replace' that extra special dog - and getting a dog 'to replace' them is not fair on that new dog - and possibly yourselves and your memory of the old dog. However, there's absolutely nothing wrong with sharing your lives with a different dog - and in time, that different dog may well turn out to be special too - but almost certainly in a different way from Dear Dog 1.

(And in the early days of mistlehound I did wonder if we'd done the right thing - after clearing up yet another 'heap' or puddle - or when down the garden with my coat over my dressing gown at 4am in December to try to make sure that she did whatever she needed to do outside rather than inside, and on the walks where she bounced and bounced and we didn't know whether she'd ever have enough recall to be let off the lead. This was so different from mistledog who was so easy after her first couple of years... But it has all worked out in the end)

[EvenBetter]

Nice to hear others in the same boat as me.
Our Best Dog Ever died in September aged 14 and we've had a wee pound puppy for 5 weeks now. I love her, and am protective of her but she's not her . I still miss our old lady and would do anything to have her back in our arms. But I can't. And this is our life now, without her.
I feel guilty for getting this puppy, our lady would have hated her, and us, for betraying her.

Someone sent me this link, it's a 'will' of a dog from the 20s and is funny and sweet. Basically saying 'get another dog. It'll honour my memory, but obviously he will never be as handsome or wonderful as me, but its not his fault'

here

[Crownjewel]

OP the feathers and rosemary bush are lovely your best pal lives on x

[furbaby]

mistlethrush I am happy she has found a place in your hearts , and good for ds to grow up with mistledog 2 .
Dogs are so important in a childs life .

[furbaby]

Thats so nice crown that your mum has found another special dog :)
Even nicer that they pat darling dog 1,s ashes in recognition to the great dog he was .
I do hope he has a special life with your mum .
when I am out walking with new pup and find a feather (which is every walk) I always bring it home and place it on the rosemary plant in a pot by front door that my dd brought in memory of my old boy .
we do look like a pair of muppets new pup and I dressing a rosemary plant in feathers but hey ...

[mistlethrush]

we lost mistledog to osteosarcoma last October - she also went downhill so quickly... DS is 8 now - 7 then - and has never known life without a dog around. Mistledog was so good with him (and he was taught how to be good around dogs by her too). We didn't want a big gap because of that - and we found a new dog that we picked up 2 weeks later. She was also a rescue with a bit of a problematic background - but very keen to please people. we didn't choose her to be a replacement for mistledog - she couldn't be that and it wasn't fair to expect her to be. However, a year later, she occupies her own space in our lives and our hearts, another special dog in her own right.

[Crownjewel]

OP, I'm so sorry to read your post.

Shepherd, I hate to think what you're going through right now, the same happened to my gorgeous Jimmy many years ago and I still shed a tear to think about it now. I can't say anything that will make it any better, but please be assured that I'm thinking of you.

OP, my mum's collie x (my childhood best pal) sadly passed away with cancer a few years ago. He had an amazing life, filled with laughter, long walks, and cuddles. He had also seen my mum through two marital splits, two kids leaving home, deaths of several other (human) family members, and remained her constant loyal buddy throughout.

A few weeks after he passed, my mum saw a notice on a newsletter from the rescue centre from where she'd re-homed him 12 years earlier, advertising a new home wanted for a (different breed, different age, different temperament) boy with the same name. She saw it as an omen (if you believe in that sort of thing). It was Grand National day and there was also a horse running with the same name as Dog1 and Dog2.

Fate was watching her, we went to visit the centre that day, and Dog2 came home with us (both of us were in floods of tears all the time we were there). You couldn't imagine a more different dog to Dog1, but Dog2 has certainly made his mark on her home and brought her much happiness. He wasn't a replacement for Dog1, but instead he filled a different place in her heart and is just as loving and loyal (although more daft and totally different personality-wise) as Dog1.

Like a PP mentioned, Dog1's ashes still live on a shelf in the living room, and it's still the done thing for all family members to say hello to Dog1 and pat the box as we walk in!

We also sponsored a kennel at the rescue centre in memory of Dog1 - it costs a couple of pounds a month, and we were able to choose the wording for a plaque in his memory on the wall next to the kennel. This really helped my mum make the transition, as she felt that Dog1s memory was able to live on by way of a good cause.

HTH and thinking of you x