Pet Loss Grief Support Program Blog on Children and Pet Loss

For many children, their first experience with death is with a pet.  Some parents are fearful to discuss death with their children or try to shield them from it.  It is important not to shield children but to teach them within their comprehension and age, what death is.  Losing a pet is a sad moment but also a learning moment like all loss.  It teaches important life skills of how to adjust to loss with the death of future family, friends and other beloved pets.  Please also review AIHCP’s Pet Los Grief Support Program

It is important to include children about a death of a pet. Please also review AIHCP’s Pet Loss Grief Support Program

 

The article, “How To Explain A Pet’s Death To Your Child, Based On Age” by Megan Glossan looks at how to better talk to one’s children within certain age groups regarding pet loss.  She states,

“When our children are young, our primary instinct is to protect them. So, we may think it’s a good idea to use gentle language when explaining a pet’s death to little ones. However, the experts at Family Education say this isn’t the best approach. Instead, they say you still want to use language that is direct and honest because they are actually less ambiguous. When you use words like “death” and “dying,” it’s less confusing and potentially traumatizing than saying your pet “went to sleep” or “stayed at the vet.”

To read the entire article, please click here

Please also review AIHCP’s Pet Loss Grief Support Program and see if it meets your academic and professional goals.  The program is online and independent study and open to qualified professionals seeking a four year certification in Pet Loss Grief Support.

Pet Loss Grief Support Certification Blog on Pet Loss Grief

When someone loses a pet, many dismiss it as not important.  This type of disenfranchisement is common for grievers over pet loss.  They are made to feel as if their loss is minimal and not identical to the loss of a human being.  It is important to dismiss this type of shaming and recognize the reality of grief.  Attachment to a pet can be very strong and the pain is very real.  The grief of those who lose pets should be recognized and respected.  Please also review AIHCP’s Pet Loss Grief Support Certification

Bonds with one pet are as strong as some bonds with people. Please also review AIHCP’s Pet Loss Grief Support Certification

 

The article, “Nobody Can Tell You How to Feel After Losing a Pet” by Lianna Bass defends the emotions of pet owners who lose a pet.  She states,

“There comes a time in every pet owner’s life when you have to say your final goodbye—and, suddenly, the limitless source of love from your furry friend is just…gone. When that happens it can be absolutely devastating. For some people the death of a pet can feel even harder than losing a human loved one. We may not openly talk about pet grief in polite society, but most pet owners know that a pet isn’t just an animal. They’re also a beloved member of the family and a huge source of unconditional love, affection, and comfort.”

To read the entire article, please click here

Please also review AIHCP’s Pet Loss Grief Support Certification and see if it meets your academic and professional goals.  The program is online and independent study and open to qualified professionals seeking a four year certification in Pet Loss Grief Support.

Pet Loss Grief Support Program Blog on Pets and Ashes

When a dog or any type of pet dies, many retain the ashes and put their pet in a urn.  This is a way to keep the pet’s spirit close and within and also a way for the grieving to commemorate and honor their deceased pet.  It gives a sense of finality but also a sense of presence and peace.  Please also review AIHCP’s Pet Loss Grief Support Program

Keeping the ashes of a pet is a way to remember and honor the pet. Please also review AIHCP’s Pet Loss Grief Support Program

 

The article, “The Moment a Dog’s Ashes Turn into a Pet: ‘Never Truly Leave Us’” by Jeff Salle looks at this moment and the power of spreading or keeping the ashes.  He states,

“It’s never easy to lose a pet. Bereavement of our beloved pets can have the same psychological impact as bereavement of other family members. Biscuit’s owners, who own a 12-year-old German Shepherd and Collie mix named Biscuit, captured a magical moment while scattering her ashes that has wowed the internet and given the grieving owners new hope.”

To read the entire article, please click here

Some find solace in releasing ashes at a pet’s favorite place, or keeping the ashes with them, but whatever the way, what matters most is how it helps one honor the pet and grieve in a healthy way.

Please also review AIHCP’s Pet Loss Grief Support Program and see if it meets your academic and professional goals.  The program is online and independent study and open to qualified professionals seeking a four year certification in Pet Loss Grief Support Counseling.

Pet Loss Grief Support Blog on Healing After Pet Loss

The death of a pet is a pivotal moment in life, no matter how many previous cats or dogs have passed prior.  Each relationship is unique and special and each ending to that relationship is equally painful.  Saying good bye to any friend or family member is difficult and that is why saying goodbye to a pet is equally difficult.  For many, pets are family.  This is not odd or weird but a reality and completely normal.  Animals have pure souls of love and devotion and teach humanity many times the most loyalty.  It is then of no surprise that the loss of a pet can be a very painful moment for someone.

Each pet is unique and loved. Please also review AIHCP’s Pet Loss Grief Support Certification

 

The article, “Lessons from loss: healing after a beloved pet dies” by Elsic Lynn Parini looks at the lessons we learn and the healing we experience after the loss of a pet.  The article states,

“In the case of two of my six cats they fell asleep on my heart and that’s when I fell in love in a very big way,” Glauber remembered of his own adoption experiences. “I now have the immense responsibility for this being… And then, all of a sudden, there’s the opposite feeling: ‘Oh no, man is it going to be hard to say goodbye to this creature.’ You can’t have the one without knowing the other will come… In our wildest fantasy, no being we love should ever die, but we know that is not true. The courage to grieve is the courage to love.”

To review the entire article, please click here

Please also review AIHCP’s Pet Loss Grief Support Certification and see if it matches your academic and professional goals.  The program is online and independent study and open to qualified professionals seeking a four year certification in Pet Loss Grief Support.

Pet Loss Grief Support Counseling Program Blog on Time for a New Dog

Death and life are a cycle.  Ironically, joy and grief also coincide with each other.  The death of one loved one can be overlapped with the birth of another.  Pets are also an overlap of death and life.  Many individuals find new dogs or cats to love, while still grieving the loss of another.   Many individuals feel they may be replacing a past dog or cat, but the reality is, one is loving another while never forgetting the other.  It is like having multiple children.  No child replaces another but only enhances one’s life.

For many the decision for a new puppy can be difficult. Please also review AIHCP’s Pet Loss Grief Support Program

 

The article, “What I’ve Learned from Loving a New Dog While Grieving Another” by Annette McGivney looks at her journey of caring for a new dog, while still in the acute process of grieving the loss of another.  She states,

“Last April and May, I tried to live without a dog and focus entirely on grieving Sunny, but I soon found myself looking at puppies online at two in the morning. One thing led to another, and in early June I drove to Pueblo, Colorado, to pick up Trudy after a rescue organization reached out to me. My contact there knew I was planning to wait at least a year before bringing another dog into my life, but she convinced me to go for it. “This dog really needs someone who is active and can spend a lot of time with her,” she said. “You would be perfect.” Trudy’s elderly owner lived alone and had dementia. He had kept her isolated in a cement dog run for her entire young life.”

To read the entire article, please click here

The late comedian George Carlin once said, “life is a series of dogs”,  For many pet owners this is true.  It is not a series of replacements but a series of sharing life with new faces and one day hoping to see all those faces again together.

Please also review AIHCP’s Pet Loss Grief  Support Counseling Program and see if it meets your academic and professional goals.  The program is online and independent study and open to qualified professionals seeking a four year certification in Pet Loss Grief Support.

Pet Loss Grief Support Program Blog on Sudden Pet Loss

Like any death, sudden deaths cause extreme distress for people.  Unexpected loss is always painful and can lead to complications.  The same sudden loss of a beloved pet can be a horrible experience.  If one’s dog is hit, or cat is killed, or horse breaks a leg, can be unexpected and painful moments in anyone’s life.  Such sudden death should not be downplayed but respected and heard.

Losing a pet suddenly can cause complicated grief. Please also review AIHCP’s Pet Loss Grief Support Program

 

The article, “When death comes suddenly to a pet” by Katie Burns looks at the sudden death of a pet.  She states,

“In other cases, a pet owner might have been managing a pet’s underlying condition, and the pet dies suddenly from a fatal progression of that condition. In Florida, other notable causes of sudden unexpected death—but not unexplained death—are drowning in pools and even death by alligator attack.”

To review the entire article, please click here

There are so many ways our beloved animals can die.  If sudden, it can cause intense trauma and these feelings should not be kept in.  Please also review AIHCP’s Pet Loss Grief Support Program and see if it meets your academic and professional goals.  The program is online and independent study and open to qualified professionals seeking a certification in Pet Loss Grief Support.

Pet Loss Grief Support Certification Blog on Prolonged Grief Disorder in Pet Loss

Prolonged grief disorder is a form of complicated grief.  The grief is not resolved.  While slightly different than depression, prolonged grief disorders disrupts the lives of individuals and prevents them from properly adjusting to the loss.   Pet owners can also face this type of disorder over the loss of a pet.

Pet loss can have complications for people in the grieving process. Please also review AIHCP’s Pet Loss Grief Support Certification

 

The article, “Can Bereaved Pet Owners Suffer Prolonged Grief Disorder?” by Hal Herzog, PhD, looks at how complication grief does not discriminate between pet loss and human loss.  He states,

“According to the DSM, prolonged grief disorder only occurs in response to “the death of a person who was close to the bereaved.” Bereaved pet owners are omitted. Yet, in a 2020 study of 395 functionally impaired bereaved pet owners published in the journal Psychiatry Research, Sherman Lee found that the patterns of their symptoms were the same as in individuals suffering prolonged grief disorder in response to the loss of a human companion.”

To review the entire article, please click here

Please also review AIHCP’s Pet Loss Grief Support Certification and see if it meets your academic and professional goals.  The program is online and independent study and open to qualified professionals seeking a four year certification in Pet Loss Grief Support.

Pet Loss Grief Support Blog on the Pet Loss is True Loss

For too long the stigma of grieving a pet as if losing a family member was looked upon as abnormal.  This view is changing now and the grief of losing a pet is becoming more normally accepted as a significant loss.  Too many times in the past it was marginalized as something small but the reality is pets are family and a loss of a pet is a painful loss.

The loss of a pet is a true loss. Please also review AIHCP’s Pet Loss Grief Support Program and see if it meets your goals

 

The article, “Why it’s time to normalise grieving the loss of a pet” by Evalyn Lewin looks at why it is time to no longer disenfranchise pet loss.  She states,

“If your loved one is grieving the loss of their pet, Magri recommends acknowledging their pain and validating their feelings. If you’re the one struggling after the loss of a pet, reach out to people in similar situations by joining Facebook pages dedicated to pet loss, or by attending support groups or counselling. And if you’re worried about your mental health, talk to your GP.”

To read the entire article, please click here

Please also review AIHCP’s Pet Loss Grief Support Program and see if it matches your academic and professional goals.  The program is online and independent study and open to qualified professionals seeking a four year certification in Pet Loss Grief Support.

Pet Loss Grief Support Blog on Helping Children Grieve a Pet

It can be very difficult to finally say goodbye to a dog or cat or any pet.   It is something that requires much thought and considerations.  It is not only about one’s feelings but also for the best interests of one’s pet family.  It is maybe one of the toughest decisions to finally say goodbye and is very painful.  Teaching children how to say goodbye is key.

Children need help grieving pets. Please also review AIHCP’s Pet Loss Grief Support

 

The article, “These three simple things helped my kids grieve after our pet died” by Jessie Harrold looks at how to help children say goodbye.  He states,

“We spent the days and weeks after our pup passed telling stories, creating art, and poring over pictures of Roxy. It wasn’t until my son started having impromptu “funerals” on our family outings that we realized how important these little rituals of grieving were to his ability to process something as complex and overwhelming as loss.”

To review the article, please click here

Please also review AIHCP’s Pet Loss Grief Counseling Support Certification and see if it meets your academic and professional goals.  The program is online and independent study and open to qualified professionals looking for a four year certification in Pet Loss Grief Support

Pet Loss Grief Support Video on a Pet’s Last Days

Losing a pet is painful but worrying about the right things to do before the pet dies can be difficult.  Anticipatory grief may begin to enter and we may lose valuable time with our cat, horse or dog.  It is important to make our pets last days as wonderful as possible as well as make the proper decision when to say goodbye.  This is easier said then done unfortunately.

Please also review AIHCP’s Pet Loss Grief Support Certification and see if it meets your academic and professional goals.  The program is online and independent study and open to qualified professionals seeking a four year certification in Pet Loss Grief Support.

 

Please also review the video below