Two of my good friends recently endured a very hard loss. They found out that one of their beloved dogs was riddled with cancer, and they decided to end his suffering out of respect for him and the love and joy he brought their family. Both of my friends are taking the loss extremely hard, and understandably so; losing pets is one of the most painful forms of grief, and if you know, you know.
Our family has had many pets over the years on the farm, and losing them never gets any easier. A few years ago, we lost who I like to refer to as my soul dog – Jake. He was an Australian Blue Heeler, and I have never had a relationship with a dog like I did with him. He was mine, and I was his, and when he very tragically and traumatically died, I genuinely believe he took a piece of my heart with him. He has been gone for years now, and anytime I allow myself to think about him, I get emotional. We had a deep and unspoken bond, and Jake understood me on a level I don’t think most humans do.
I believe one of the reasons why losing pets, specifically dogs, is so damn painful is because their sole purpose in life is to love. They don’t even really have a grasp of who we are as their owners, and yet they’re willing to lay down their lives for us, without question or hesitation. Their loyalty is astounding, and their love is so freely given that when it is taken away from us, it leaves behind a hole that is tremendously challenging to fill.
Pets are a blessing, and like the saying goes, we humans really don’t deserve dogs and all of the wonderful joy they grant us in the short time they have here on Earth.
Photo by James Barker on Unsplash
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