21/06/2025
There’s a feeling of tragic timelessness when you lose a dog. All you feel, and all you know, is loss. Your heart, home and adventures seem so incomplete, and it feels like there’s something missing. Something that connects you to unconditional love; the pitter-patter of paws, the “good morning” licks, the “give me food, cuddles and walks” nudges, the routine created around your faithful companion, and of course, the knowingness that your dog will always love you.
When Willow met a sudden fate two years ago, my heart broke in an instant. I had just arrived to my holiday destination with my partner and Branwen, and I got the text from my mum who she’d been living with. A type of paralysis that was likely inevitable was triggered by a small, simple accident. I can’t describe how important Willow was, and still is, to me. All I can put into words is that she was love incarnate. She can never be replaced, and while there is an emptiness in our lives, her soul will always intertwine with every thought, feeling and memory of her. The anniversary of her passing is only days away.
Grieving the loss of a dog is sometimes dismissed by people who aren’t fortunate to share that soul connection. They’re not just a dog; they are every shade (and breed) of beautiful. The light that shines from a dog is like a bridge to the most divine, unconditional love. They don’t care about what we do, how we look, what we’ve achieved or when we have bad days. Their love pierces through every layer that we hide behind.
It's important that as painful as it is, we should allow ourselves the time to grieve. There is no right or wrong way to do that. We can cry, scream, experience numbness, and even hold gratitude that our dogs are no longer in pain.
We hold memorials for humans, and we can do that for dogs too. Printing photos of our dogs, lighting candles, framing a poem about them – whatever keeps their memory alive in our environment is appreciated, but remember that if you don’t want to do any of that, that your dog will always live on in your heart and in your love for them.
We don’t stop loving the deceased, and they don’t stop loving us. They are engrained in our soul. When they’re physically with us, and when they’re not, the interconnectedness between humans and dogs is immortal.
When grieving a dog, or any other pet, we experience the physical signs that also follow the loss of humans in our soul circles:
- Feeling drained and fatigued
- Insomnia
- Oversleeping (attempting to avoid the grieving process)
- Loss of appetite, or on the opposite end, emotional eating
- Headaches
- Weaker immune system and more susceptible to illness
- Disassociation
Remember to take whatever rest you can get, take walks when you start to get your energy back, and eat well. It’s really easy to fall into a new routine that is essentially not actually having a routine. Try your best to not let that become your new normal.
Willow walks with me every single day. The pitter-patter of her paws doesn’t leave a mark, but I feel her with me. She is the reason I started this business; she is the life force of Willow’s Walks and Dog Services. She lives on in every dog that I have the joy of working with, and she imparts patience, kindness, compassion and acceptance on every human that I work with.
I don’t know what you believe in, but I’ll tell you this – I believe in love, and the love we have for our dogs infuses the spaces that they parted from.
Please - never hesitate to send me a message if you want someone to speak to. I'm here to listen and to help you keep the love and memory of your dogs alive, while you step into the grieving process.
You’re welcome to post photos of your dogs who have crossed over the rainbow bridge.
❤️🐾
