I'm so, so sorry for your loss. I hope you are at peace with what happened - it could happen to any of us. Please feel better soon.

Re Bentley
 

I've spent the last four days now (hard to believe it's been four days since he died) writing and rewriting my long e-mail. It's so long I think it's a eulogy. But doing that has helped me come to grips with what happened a little better.
It's like crying and crying (something I rarely do in life) until you are exhausted from it and you know you have now accepted the truth.
I spent most of yesterday putting photos with captions on them on a MySpace page. Just to have them out there in tthe world. Amazing how the internet has changed people, isn't it?
And just a while ago I posted the long story (about the same as the oone I posted here on YT) as a blog on MySpace. Not that anyone will read it...but for my own peace of mind.
I have a MySpace page only because my kkids do and I keep in touch with some young friends that way....and I can out the photos of what's happening in their lives.
Right now I feel it would be wrong to get another dog. And everyone seems to recommend it. And I am so aware of how much joy and comfort he brought to me. I was surprised by that when I decided to get a dog as well. I've had dogs in my life..but never a time where it was just me and the dog living alone. l think that was good for me and I'll probably need that again. Maybe when the weather turns warmer. I'm in wisconsin and it's a cold place now.
I'd want to be so careful to try to get a dog that was much like him. I wish the owner who sold Bentley to me would mate her Lily (his mother) to the same sire. That would be so nice. I think though, that she was planning to have Lily spayed after that liter. It was her only liter. Also...I think it would be hard to tell her I'd like another of Lily's dogs when I'd have to tell her what happened to Bentley.
Thank you all again for your heartfelt words. It means so muuch to me.

Some people get a new yorkie soon and some don't....it is really a personal decision. When you decide you are ready...you'll know.

When my first passed away...I got another very shortly after. She helped heal the ache, kept me occupied and made me laugh.

You mention wanting one "just" like your Bentley. Well Ramsey was definitely NOT just like my Trace...in alot of ways. That being said....Reese who I got a year after Ramsey....is ALOT like Trace. I think the difference really was in the sex.

I am so sorry for your loss. RIP sweet Bentley.

Take care.....

He is one really cutie pie. Im so sorry for you loss, greiving is good but you cant blame yourself. Things happen and dogs can be fickle.

I am so sorry for your loss.
You can feel your pain in your posts.
Seeing your pics of him, its obvious he was so loved.
Again I am sorry

Deana
Prestigeous

I'm crying for you right now. I think we can all understand and feel your pain in some way or another. {{{Hugs}}}

I am so sorry for your loss. My heart goes out to you.

I am so sorry for your loss. I am sending prayers for you and your Bentley. May he rest in peace.

I'm so sorry for you and Bentley. My thoughts and prayers are going out to you during this time. Hang in there. You did all you could and he was very loved.

xoxo

My heart is breaking for you. You were a perfect Mommy and did everything right. An accident is what it is - an accident. We have no control over them. Bentley had a wonderful life and will be watching over you until you meet again. I'm so sorry. You and your family will be in my thoughts and prayers. Rest peacefully, Precious Baby Boy.

Please do not blame yourself. I know the grief you are going through and the what if's - especially when your baby is here one moment and gone the next. When Max died suddenly I was devastated. Please take comfort in your joyful memories. My thoughts are with you.

Jackie

You'll know when the time is right to get another baby to love, like you said, when it's warmer perhaps.

When our Starr died, I was devastated and my husband even more so. He is the impatient type and was absolutely rabid about getting another pup right away. I didn't want another dog EVER, or so I thought. Well, when my hubby wants something, he doesn't care about anyone else's feelings about it, he just gets it! Very immature of him, but nobody's perfect. It's just how he is:rolleyes: Well, the day after Starr passed, he dragged me around from pet store to pet store,and responded to ads in the newspaper and had me look for breeders online. He ended up insisting that we go and save Luna from the first petshop we had gone to. I tried so hard to convince him that buying her was only supporting mills, but he didn't listen, and we took her home. I was SO not ready for a puppy, less so for one that was as sick as Luna was:( BUT---caring for her took my mind off of my grief for a while each day, and her cute little furbutt helped my heart to heal. I am so glad that we got her (and Izzy too, a couple of months after). If I had had a choice, I'd rather have waited a bit. I was exhausted from trying to get Starr better, up all night for about 5 days in a row, and then a sick puppy!

Anyway, sorry so long:o Follow your heart, and most importantly, be kind to yourself:love:

Thanks you Luna and Izzy's mom
 

I think about getting another puppy also. And I probably will do it in the spring.
Now that I have a 10 minth old granddaughter who is here pretty frequently I'd have to ive it serious thought.
She and Bentley were good together...but she's not on the move yet.
And when she was here with Bentley I hve to admit it was like having two babies. he was never rough to her...and she was getting to the point where she's grab his fur. Once or twice it happened and he's siit still and not fight back. or he's let out a whine.
By spring she''d have better control over what she can do with her hands.
Sounds like your husband is really a nice guy and a dog lover.
My daughter and sister are saying to get another dog soon. I just want to be sure no one surprises me with a puppy in an effort to be nice.
Because I really would want to be part of the process and see the puppy's home and mom.
Since bentley was a male...I think I'd want another male.
It's nice to think about dogs like this...I just have to remember that I shouldn't be talking all day about dogs as a way to "pretend" to myself that I am still a dog owner.


I need to spend time thinking about it and preparing for a puppy again. There are a few things I would do differently if I got another puppy.
With Bentley I didn't use a crate...and of course on the first day home we brought him into the living room and set him down to play with him. I was establishing a precedent that he could romp about tthe living room. It just seemed like it would not be fun for him to bring him in an put him in a cage.
he had come from a great enviironment where the whole litter could go in and out of a nice clean garage...where the mother doog cared for them. And they could go in and outthe house once they figuredd that out. In the yard they had made a nice pen for the puppies and when they could watch them the puppies ould play in the garden. the mother dog was trained to an electric fence collar and the owner said she was so good about it...she wouldn't cross the boundary even if a puppy was on the other side.
And she didn't even wear the collar all the time. She just stayed in bounds.
But I can now see the advantage to having a crate available in the house right from day one...or at least gating off the kitchen and starting in there.
Once you let them go around...it seems cruel to confine them. If you start with a small area...they don't probably feel they are missing anything.
Another things I''d like to do differently....Bentley would never go potty on newspaper or a pad in the kitchen or any hard surfaced floor. It was outside or he'd pee on the carpet.
We got past that soon enough...but I think I could have started better.

Also...after a couple days I bought puppy pads....Now I think those pads are confusing since you praise them for using the pad in the house...and you praise them for going outside. But in their minds they are being praise just for going potty.
So...No pads if I do it a second time. Or only pads in the kitchen and really not let a new pup loose in any other room until trained.
It sounds simple...but requires a lot of discipline for the new mom. (I am a push over). Hard not to want him in every room.
Another thing I would work on earlier is standing to be brushed and toe nail clipping.
Bentley always thought brushing was a form of play and it was pretty difficult to get much brushing done. Finally, after I had my daughter cut off practically all of his hair because of severe matts (I got phenobarb from the vet to calm him for that). the new hair was growing in very nicely and didn't seem to matt like the first long hair did?
Maybe the first hair that a puppy grows tends to matt more?
He was beginning to enjoy brushing after we started over with short hair.
The third thing I would work harder on is mouthing. he didn't bite...but he did always want to mouth the brush and to keep his ball. He wanted to play fetch..and we did plenty of it. But it was always frustrating to get the ball back. That was part oof the game for him.
Also....if possible I'd start using the undeground fence that I installed this past fall.....if I got a new dog and when he was at least 8 pounds.

I'm just reading this and just want to say how very sorry I am for your loss.