Did my girl come back to say goodbye?

[GenerousGardener]

Last week we had to do the kindest thing for my old girl. She was thirteen and had been suffering with fits for a while that the vet tried to control.

We stayed with her for her last moments and both me and DH cried buckets (I still am). It’s just dreadful indoors without her.

Last night I was asleep in bed and I felt my shoulders being nudged (she did this at night to wake me up to let her out). I turned over and she was there but fuzzy and had like small shooting stars around her. I said to her ‘baby are you alright? I’m so worried about you’. Then in my head she said ‘mummy mummy I’m ok, I’m ok’ and she was gone. I sat up, I smelled my hand where d stroked her, it smelled of her.

I felt calm, laid down and went back to sleep. When I woke the smell had gone. Did I dream? Did she come back? Is my mind playing tricks on me? Grief is such a powerful emotion.

I seem to have got something in my eye too...

I always think how do we know what is real and not real anyway? Real and not real isn't as straightforward as people think. Everything we perceive is ultimately just a pattern of impulses on our cerebral cortex. We could all be in the Matrix for all we know!

Whether it was a dream or not it was beautiful and significant.

@REP22 youve had a tough time. I hope you are ok now. Whether I dreamt it, or whether it was real. It comforts me still. Hope you found some comfort too.

Oh my gosh OP - how lovely she came back in some form and how sad she had to go 😢

I remember someone on MN said that when they die they take a piece of you with them, and leave a little piece of themselves behind - that struck me as a lovely way to think about grief and loss.

@GenerousGardener thank you, you're very kind. Since that last time I have been very robustly healthy - almost embarrassingly so when the whole world turned to sh~t with Covid just after. I'm very lucky.

I am so glad you have found comfort and strength. What a wonderful life you gave your lovely dog. She was very, very lucky to have had you to love her. They leave pawprints on our hearts. It's so cruel that their lives are so short, compared to our own, but they enrich our lives and make us better people for having known and loved them. x

When my 17 year old dog died I was totally devastated. A few months later I had a similar experience to you. I still feel sad but also comforted that I know he is ok.

I agree - I too had extremely vivid dreams about a beloved pet ( and even now dream of a horse who was a soulmate many years ago)
It would be wonderful if there was an afterlife though.

I'm crying. I hope so much that one day I'll see all my dearly departed furries again.

I do believe my old dog and son’s old dog sent us current girl.
I never thought it would be possible to love another dog in the same way- which put me off getting another.

But I have one who is equally lovely but in a different way
I still do dream of old dogs.

It would be wonderful to be greeted by beloved pets and humans when we too die.

A lovely neighbour lost both her dogs to a breed problem ( heart disease) very young ( 8 yrs) and she had them cremated and she is now buried with their ashes.

I like to think they are all together in a spiritual way somewhere.

@GenerousGardener , I'm glad you found comfort in it ❤️
This is the first thread I've read on here since losing my boy in February of this year. I've only recently been able to look at his photos.
Just before my dog was pts, he'd started having accidents ( on the carpeted stairs). Dh and I were talking about him the other day when I said I could sometimes still smell him. Dh responded, That'll be the carpets !
It made me laugh, which back in February was not something I thought I'd ever do again.
( ps Pet Bereavement and Blue Cross services have helped me immensely if you feel the need to talk to someone).

@GenerousGardener A friend was visiting a bloke he knew and said “ I like your cat!”( who was lying on laundry pile )
The chap said “we don’t have a cat now, ours was pts”
The description of laundry pile cat was matching the description of the one PTS.

An hallucination?
The cat appeared solid but no sign of one in the house, so not a stray entering through a door.

I had to say goodbye to my beautiful dog last year, I held him and told him I was sorry and how much I loved him, I asked him to wait for me and I'd see him again one day. I have felt him nudge my leg like he used too, I've felt him on walks with my new DDog but I haven't seen him. I k ow he's at peace now as I don't feel him as often. I'm sorry for your loss OP they are such a massive part of our lives and so loved, I hope it was your DDog and I'm glad it bought you peace

So sorry for your loss OP 🐾🐾🐾🐾 I definitely believe that death is not the end. Our beautiful doggy used to sometimes wee on the garage carpet (dead posh we were!) & a few weeks after he was pts, I saw fresh spots on the carpet. I still see one of our bunnies in the garden occasionally - just a flash of white but it’s such a comfort.

I’ve lost two dogs myself and in both instances they have both come back to let me know that they are okay, and I think it was also to comfort me. They are the type of “dreams” that I still think of and remember to this day.
So sorry for your loss, it does get better with time.

It's been 21 years since my beloved Barney died at home. It broke my heart. He used to lie in a particular spot in our hallway, where the hot water pipes ran underneath so it was nice and warm. He could also watch me from there as I prepared food in the kitchen and maybe a tasty morcel would come his way. Just occasionally when I'm in the kitchen I catch a glimpse of him in that same spot. It's only brief but I'm sure it's real.

OP, please check out Danielle Mackinnon on YouTube.
She has brought me an awful lot of comfort since my own beautiful dog passed away very recently 🐾 ♥️

@Justleaveitblankthen Thanks, I will have a look later. So sorry for your loss too. X

I do feel that this happens sometimes. It can be very comforting when it does.

My old labrador had to be put to sleep back in November 2019. He was 15 and had been the most loyal friend I ever had.

For several weeks afterwards I would hear him trotting around the house on our laminate flooring and rattling the dog food bin as only he ever did. We still had our cocker spaniel at that time so still had the food bin out but every time I heard the rattle spaniel was asleep in her basket, so definitely not her. It has to have been my labrador although I never saw him (I almost wish I had).

It made me think that he hadn't really left us. He hadn't gone far.

I don't hear him anymore but sometimes I kind of feel him. Loved that dog sooo much. I still have his photo as the background/wallpaper on the main apps screen of my phone, so I actually do see him every day really.

Not a pet,but my dear friend (I met her at a single parent group-she ran it)

I won't tell her story in full as its not my story to tell,but from birth she was neglected and as an adult,forced away from her children by her brutal ex husband

She was amazing-my friend,support and mum all rolled into one-my dc adored her

She never judged me but she was wise,loving and gentle

Bastard cancer came for her in the end and she died

The day of her funeral,I was waiting for my narc mother to pick me up and take me (my friend had her measure and my mother knew it) and was chatting on the phone to my arsehole ex

While holding the phone to my ear,I stood up,opened the fridge door and grabbed a diet coke

As I shut the door,there was my friend

She was stood smiling that gentle,soft,non judging smile that I knew so well

I screamed in shock,dropping my phone and drink

She faded away-i know she came back to tell me she was OK,I'd be OK and not to grieve her-i miss her so much

Love you nina

@Ladyofthetramp how amazing and comforting. She watches over you still.

The day after our cat Yoyo died, I was taking my dog for a walk in the local park and on the way there, a white feather floated down in front of me. I still have it inside my phone case, hidden behind my phone