When LOVE is lost…
Just the thought of losing your canine, sends shudders to any dog lover. The death of a pet means loss of unconditional source of love and it causes a lot of mental and physical trauma. Grief is natural and nothing can substitute the loss of the bereaved. But, as we say life moves on…and so we also have to move on. Here are a few ways to help speed up the healing process.
- Accept the feelings of grief : The first response when the pet dies is of shock and various emotions like guilt, denial, anger and depression, surface out. It’s natural and give yourself permission to grieve.
- Talk about your pet : Only a dog lover knows how one feels after the death of a pet. So, talk about it with like-minded people who can understand your feelings.
- Keepsakes : Do not throw your pet’s things immediately.
- Decent goodbye : Give the pet a decent burial or cremation.
- Memorialize the pet : Make a small place for the pet, sit there and express your feelings and pay tribute to him.
- Do what you like : There are a lot of ways to express grief – write, sing or draw, do whatever that gives you peace.
- Take good care of yourself : Take lots of rest, nutritious food and exercise. Try to maintain your daily routine.
- Getting a new pet : Do not get a new pet right away unless you are ready for it.
There is no specification about the amount of time a person must mourn over a lost pet, for it differs from person to person. Life is mortal but love is immortal and nobody can take away the sweet memories of your canine from your heart…A wag of tail and a sweet bark of another canine will soon fill the void in your life.
– by Varsha Verma
Paws for thought
Who is more intelligent, you or your doggy… Before rushing to mince your name, just think a moment… because your doggy might be equally intelligent as you, if not more. A recent study has shown that our canine friends possess humanlike learning ability and instead of copying the tricks blindly, they interpret them and do them accordingly. Researcher Friederike Range and his colleagues from the University of Vienna, Austria found out this pathbreaking finding.
They used a Border Collie to pull a food lever with her paw. Forty canine students were taken, half of which saw Collie pull the lever with a ball in her mouth while the rest saw her pull the lever with nothing in her mouth. While the first half used their mouths to pull the lever (thinking she used her paw as her mouth is occupied), the other half used their paws for the same. These dogs certainly have a mind of their own and a sharp mind, we would say!
Do not weep….
Do not stand at my grave and weep.
I am not there, I do not sleep.
I am the thousand winds that blow,
I am the diamond glints on snow.
I am the sunlight on ripened grain,
I am the gentle autumn’s rain.
When you awaken
in the morning’s hush,
I am the swift uplifting rush
of quiet birds in circled flight.
I am the stars that shine at night.
Do not stand at my grave and cry,
I am not there, I did not die…