[yorkietalkjilly]

I'm so sorry you lost your little baby and know what the deep grief of losing a beloved family member of a beloved dog is like. Don't worry if those who have never loved a dog like family don't understand or that you are crushed and hurting and depressed and hopeless and lost. It's what the person or pet you've lost meant to you in your life that matters and not the species of that loved one. Some women lose their minds when they lose their husbands, never are the same again and lose their love of life itself; while others seem to accept it and go on, seemingly unfazed outwardly and seem eager to move on in life. There is no accounting for how one feels or shows grief or how much the departed meant personally to them. All that matters is you should allow yourself to hurt and cry all you need to in order to work through the grieving process normally.

There are websites and support groups of grieving pet owners like you who have lost their dogs as the grief can be so profound, help is needed to cope. So if someone doesn't understand your grief, very many others do. The death of a beloved pet is one listed as one of life's major stressors, just as divorce, death of a family member or losing a job and income or a major illness/injury. The uninformed don't know that so just ignore them and get yourself through this however you need to.

In time, our grieving does seem to ease or we adjust better or something because we begin to stop the very painful hurting and reliving the episode around the death and think more and more of all the wonderful times we had with our little one. That's when you know you are beginning to heal and eventually, we all heal to some extent or the other.

You don't ever get over the loss of a loved dog - you just learn how to cope with it and look forward again with the passing of time. No doubt, after a while, if you've known the great love and relationship of a very special pet, you'll want to experience all of that again but feel guilty for wanting another dog. Don't. Your little one would want more than anything for you to give another little dog like her a good life and to be happy - you know she would. Dogs are so generous and loyal to us they would hate for us to live without other dogs and not know that doggie love again. I hope in time when you are healed and ready to love again, you will be able to love like that again and find another very special little friend to share your life with.

R.I.P., Isabella.