The Pet Loss Matters Blog
"The Pet Loss Blog" is my mini journal on all things Pet Loss. Here's How It Works...
- It automatically keeps you updated by letting you know when any new pages and articles appear on the pet-loss-matters.com website.
- It automatically keeps you up to date with all the new features we'll be adding to the site as they happen.
Understanding Grief and Loss - My Mission and Why
My mission has always been to make people feel less alone by understanding grief & loss, because understanding it can help to take away the uncertainty & fear.
Continue reading "Understanding Grief and Loss - My Mission and Why"
Join Our Pet Loss Support Group
A pet loss support group for those dealing with or preparing to deal with pet loss grief in losing their beloved pets.
Kind Eyes - Part Of Our Growing "Emergency Care Kit"
The second video in the Emergency Care Kit series is now live in the Pet Loss Matters Pet Loss Support Group Classroom. It's called Kind Eyes, and it's led by Henry - the gentle guide who sits at the heart of this community, with two dogs beside him: my Golden Retriever Henry and Cocker Spaniel Red, who are both now at Rainbow Bridge.
This one is a little different from the first video. Henry talks about something that grief quietly does to us - the way it can make us like Velcro for the hard things, and Teflon for the gentle ones. And then he offers something very simple to begin reversing that. Not a big practice. A small, quiet one. Something you can carry with you through the day.
He also leads you through a short guided meditation - inviting you to recall a moment when someone was kind to you. It might be a friend. A stranger. Or perhaps the memory of your own companion, pressing close on one of the harder days, as though they somehow knew.
It's about five minutes. You can do it wherever you are.
I hope it finds you at the right moment. 🐾
Continue reading "Kind Eyes - Part Of Our Growing "Emergency Care Kit""
Pet Loss Support - Sit With Henry
Sometimes, when you need pet loss support, you need someone to listen to the "what if" and "if only" thoughts circling in your head, and somewhere to let them go.
Your Pet Tributes
'Jax'
Jax was only 6 years old but he was the BEST!! He had many health issues but you would never know it. He was a trooper by all means. He was so loved
Real Life Rainbow Bridge Stories
'There Is A Rainbow Bridge!'
Our sweet Bull Terrier, Shniggy, passed away about a month ago. She was a wonderful dog, and we miss her so much. So many tears. Well, we had the vet
Continue reading "Real Life Rainbow Bridge Stories
'There Is A Rainbow Bridge!'"
Your Pet Loss Stories
'Schultz'
My gentle, handsome boy~~Schultz~~a gorgeous black German Shepherd. We had him 13 of his almost 14 years. In all that time, I only ever heard him growl
Your Pet Loss Stories
'Sam'
My Mum got Sam before I was born, but when I was born he was still a puppy. He would sit in my buggy and cot and follow me everywhere we went looking
Your Pet Tributes
'Sandy'
My cat Sandy was the only friend I had when my mother died. It was 7 a.m. on a Sunday when my Dad called to say she was gone. I let out a wail and
Your Pet Loss Poetry
'~~Ode to Elessar~~'
I wrote this for the loss of an online friend's, Jack Russell companion, he was the last of three Jack Russells she raised. ~~Ode to Elessar~~
Your Pet Tributes
'Holly'
I miss Holly greeting me at the door when I come home. She liked sleeping in bed. Holly liked car rides. Holly liked walks. She looked at me
A Return To Yourself - New Support Video In The Pet Loss Support Group Classroom
Something new has just appeared in the Pet Loss Matters Pet Loss Support Group Classroom, and I wanted to come here first to tell you about it.
I am slowly building multiple video courses for the classroom, designed to help guide you through the many aspects of grief.
These videos are presented by Henry, who is a combination of the quiet qualities of my dogs, Henry and Red, who are the Golden Retriever and the Cocker Spaniel in the header image and all over my website. The 'why' of Henry will also become more obvious as you watch the second video course in the classroom. He is there for a particular reason, and a very good one.
The first series of videos are part of an ever growing resource, designed to be 'The Emergency Care Kit' and the first of these videos is a guided practice with Henry, and is called A Return To Yourself.
Grief has a way of pulling you somewhere distant - not just from the one you lost, but from yourself. From the version of you that feels present and grounded. And it can be hard, in the middle of that, to find your way back.This practice is Henry's gentle way of helping you do exactly that. It's quiet, unhurried, and kind. He guides you through two short memory exercises - not to fix anything, not to rush you toward feeling better - just to bring you back to yourself, even briefly. Even on the hard days.
You can use it whenever you need it. When the weight of grief has pulled you somewhere far away and you want something to anchor you back to here.
Henry has some company with him in this one too, which I think you'll love.
You'll find it in the classroom in our Pet Loss Support Group at the link below.
Continue reading "A Return To Yourself - New Support Video In The Pet Loss Support Group Classroom"
Your Pet Tributes
'Nero'
A friend and companion, Nero was an unusual pet, in the form of a giant African land snail. Yet his personality and character was always clear. Rest
Your Pet Tributes
'Missy Ladner (our sweet angel)'
Missy we lost you too soon, but I know God wanted his Angel. When I think of all the great memories I have over our years together it makes me smile.
Continue reading "Your Pet Tributes
'Missy Ladner (our sweet angel)'"
Your Pet Tributes
'Marty'
You came into my life as a rescue and showed me what true love was... and what true rescuing was like. I'm not sure I loved another living thing in the
Your Pet Tributes
'Paddy'
R.I.P Paddy What a wonderful chimp you were, you will be missed so much by each and everyone of us. You lived an amazing happy, fun life at
Your Pet Tributes
'Otis Eliot'
Oh little baby boy I miss you oh so very much. Thirteen and a half years was not long enough for you to be with me. I long for you every day and miss
Your Pet Loss Poems
'Ellie's Left Her Prints On My Broken Heart'
RIP Ellie Gibbins 12 years 18.04.2002
Continue reading "Your Pet Loss Poems
'Ellie's Left Her Prints On My Broken Heart'"
Your Pet Loss Poems
'A New Night'
About our cat and the poem: I lost my cat, Haldis, yesterday. She was 18 years old, and was a strange/special cat like no other cats I've had before,
Your Pet Tributes
'Peanut'
Peanut was a Cairn Terrier, who was my shadow for 16 years and a constant in my life, that I am totally lost without. My daughter got him when she first
Your Pet Tributes
'Rosco'
Rosco you are a good boy, loyal, loving baby. You left too soon and I'm sorry. I love you Rosco. Always in my heart.
Your Pet Tributes
'Shadow'
Dear little one, I will miss you for the rest of my life, you are my best friend and will always be. Time went by so fast, I can't believe its been
Your Pet Tributes
'Nemo'
Nemo was my ride or die, honestly. I got him from my mom when I was 5. In a way, he was my caretaker. When he was in his last days, I became his. I’m
Click here to Read and Share Pet Loss Stories
Join Our
Pet Loss Support Group
Reading these shared experiences can help you feel less alone. Our community is where you can talk to people who truly understand.
Daily check-ins, live meetings (pyjamas welcome), and a gentle space to speak their name.
Chat with Our
Pet Loss Support Companion
If reading this has brought up something you’re carrying, you don’t have to sit with it alone.