" ... Stories from people who had lost an animal companion."--Cover

The purpose of this book is to provide a resource to help animal owners work through the pain anticipating or following the loss of their pet. In our society there is often a message that there must be something wrong with anyone who feels despair or " falls apart " over the loss of an animal. Because of this message, the "survivors" of animal loss are often left feeling alone and "crazy" because they are having such a strong reaction to their loss. This book serves to "legitimize" the grief following the loss of a beloved pet as well as a guide to try to make the pain of that loss more bearable.

Affirming a pet owner's struggle with grief when his or her pet dies, this book helps mourners understand why their feelings are so strong and helps them overcome the loss. Included are practical suggestions for mourning and ideas for remembering and memorializing one's pet. Among the issues covered are understanding the many emotions experienced after the death of a pet; understanding why grief for pets is unique; pet funerals and burial or cremation; celebrating and remembering the life of one's pet; coping with feelings about euthanasia; helping children understand the death of their pet; and things to keep in mind before getting another pet.

You just arrived home and in an instant, you realize that something is very different. Your house is quiet and there is a cold feeling of emptiness. These feelings are taking on a life of their own, and suddenly reality hits you! Your dog is not bounding through the house to greet you. Your dog is no longer enveloping you with unconditional love, kisses, and endless joy. Devastated you ask yourself, ?What am I going to do? The answer to this question and the good news is that Wendy is sharing her new book with you as she supports you through your pet bereavement journey. Offering you tools and compassionate guidance to help you heal from the trauma of pet loss. Sharing helpful ways to deal with all the changes that you are going to experience immediately after the death of your dog. Plus, special ways to prepare for the future. If your dog has died and you are experiencing grief, having difficulty making important decisions, and you want to do something special to not forget the life you shared with your dog then this book is for you.

If you've found yourself almost inconsolable after your pet died, please know that you're normal. If you've found that your family and friends don't seem to understand the level of your grief, please know that, too, is normal. Without comparing our relationships with our pets to those with people, we know that, because of the unique emotional relationships we have with our pets, their deaths produce a level of pain that is difficult to describe. If you relate to any or all of these sentences, this book is for you. We have been there and most probably will be there again. We will be with you on this journey to help your heart deal with the absence of your cherished companion. --Russell, Cole, and John Your relationship with your pet is special--it's a bond that is very different than those that human beings share with each other. When a beloved pet passes away, people often resort to incorrect mechanisms to deal with the grief, such as trying to move too quickly past the loss (dismissing the real impact), or even attempting to replace the pet immediately. However, these are merely two myths out of six that the authors discuss and dismantle in The Grief Recovery Handbook for Pet Loss. Based on the authors' Grief Recovery Method(R), this book addresses how losing a pet is different from losing a human loved one, and ultimately, how to move on with life.

Pet loss is accompanied by real feelings and emotions such as, sadness, depression, guilt, lethargy, emptiness, and overwhelming grief. How can I recover from the devastating loss of a beloved pet? Why is my grief so debilitating? Am I crazy for loving animals so much? How do I recover from this pain? Does God love all His creatures, including animals? Is there an afterlife for animals? Can it be proved by Science and the Bible? Do animals have spirits and souls? What is a soul? Where does the soul of your beloved animal go? Is there another dimension? A spirit world? Is there really a Heaven? Is it possible for the soul of a human to bond with the soul of an animal? Will I see all my animals in Heaven; or in the afterlife? A book of hope and comfort for those who have loved and lost. This book gives both Scientific and Biblical facts/proofs that will answer all these questions and more! And most importantly, this book will guide and help you to get past the pain and heartbreak of pet loss. Also: Amazing true stories of animals that have saved humans and true stories of people who have had Near Death Experiences (NDE) and have seen their animals in Heaven. Includes a ten-step recovery program for pet loss grief.

A book for parents who want help healing a child's pet loss grief. Children and pets are a wonderful combination. Whether it be dogs, cats, horse or even a goldfish pets will teach your children about life, grief and loss. Telling children about death is not easy...yet this book will help!As a parent adding a furry, finned, or feathered friend to your child's life can be a wonderful teaching experience for them and your family. Animals are more than pets to children, they are a sibling, a best friend, an adventure buddy and can be the greatest teachers they will ever have. Children with pets learn responsibility, patience, unconditional love and much more. There will also be a time when your child's pet will offer a most profound lesson--all living things must die. Since children are naturally curious and want to know how things work, they will experience various emotions and stages of grief and loss that can be extremely difficult for them to comprehend and challenging for parents to help them navigate. Bestselling author Wendy Van de Poll gently takes parents through this trying time with tools that will help children feel supported in their journey and learn lasting compassion as they heal the pain of loss. Discover how a companion animal will share these lessons with your child forever--through life, death, and beyond.

The authors share their own stories of loss and, based on their work at the Grief Recovery Institute, provide a set of guidelines for help.

Healing Circles: Grieving, Healing, and Bonding with Our Animal Companions, is a guide for those grieving the loss of a cherished pet, as well as a celebration of the healing bond between people and their animals. This book contains practical suggestions for working through pet grief, along with accounts of how other people have experienced loss, healing, and bonding. Joy Davy, a Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor with a special focus on Pet Grief, offers insights into the depth of the human-animal bond, as well as ways to grow through the pain of bereavement. The intense pain we may experience after the death of a pet is called a "disenfranchised grief," meaning it is a grief that society does not recognize. Healing Circles gives reassurance and comfort, and offers the words to teach others to respect your loss. You will find a guided imagery for re-connecting with your pet and some ideas for memorializing the bond. You will find an exploration of how children and your other pets may experience grief, and how to help them, and a discussion of when to consider bringing another animal companion home, and how to create a loving bond with that pet. Throughout this book, you will see examples of how animals heal us, and how we heal them, as well. Our bonds with animals are uncomplicated by grudges, criticisms or judgments. Many people today find that their greatest emotional support comes from their pets. We are more stressed than ever before. We are nutritionally impoverished, sleep-deprived, frazzled from over-scheduling and trying to multi-task. The human beings we love may not be present for us, because they are on their smart phones. And we may not be present for them, because we are tweeting and posting. Meanwhile, the cat curls herself into a perfect circle on our lap. The dog settles in next to us, nuzzling our arm, leaning against our leg. The animal is the only one who comes to find us in the blazing, buzzing, electronics-filled house. And we feel accompanied on our solitary path; we feel deeply loved; we love in return. Of course we still love our people, too. But it's the companion animal who values us enough to give us warmth and time. This meets our very deep need for connection. We appreciate that. And so, we bond. There is the pet-who-completes-a-family, the sibling-pet, the once-in-a-lifetime pet, among many other types of bonds that we create. These relationships enrich us beyond measure. Our pets' lives are short, however, and those of us who dare to love will have to face the loss that inevitably follows. This book is a guide through the dark path of pet grief, but it is also a joyful celebration of the beautiful bonds that people and animals create with each other. Healing Circles is an indispensable guide for every animal lover.

Understanding helps heal the hurt when you lose a pet A cherished pet gives you boundless, unconditional love and occupies a special place in your routine, your home, and your heart. When your pet dies, that warm, special place becomes a sad, empty space. This book helps you understand: * The grieving process, including typical stages of grief and techniques for coping * Grieving for a missing pet, one you had to give up because of a change in life situation, and other difficult circumstances * Children and the death of a pet * Euthanasia, including important considerations * Religion and the death of a pet, with articles by various religious leaders * Aftercare facilities, including an extensive index of pet cemeteries, crematories, and memorial gardens This award-winning book has been hailed as the seminal work in the field. And now the fourth newly revised and expanded edition offers so much more to the bereaving pet owner. This edition also includes a significant new way of considering the meaning of afterlife for us and our pets. It discusses the topic from a twenty-first–century scientific perspective that is very different from existing religious or metaphysical ones, offering a new comfort to skeptics and agnostics as well.