When my dog Linus passed...I gave his treats to the dog upstairs. As much as he loved his treats...he would have been appalled at the idea of FOOD GOING TO WASTE. The horror!
The empty time is the hardest. I never realized how much time I spent on dog care during the day. Walks, feeding, brushing, petting...until it became empty time. I ended up having a rather large Irish wake for Linus...at Molly Malone's in Forest Park. About 30 people...a huge bar tab...and everyone swapped Linus stories. I raised $600 for Oak Park's Animal Care League. I asked people to bring photos of their pets who had passed...and we made a collage. People I knew who were NOT "animal people" thought it was a silly waste of money.
It was very theraputic.
In the interm...I adopted a tank full of Gerbils from the animal shelter...so I could fill some of that empty time with something fuzzy that I needed to care for. It helped.
Then my Mom had a dream...that Linus was walking down South Boulevard in Oak Park...and all the traffic stopped for him. People waved out their car windows. The owner of George's Pancake House waved him inside...and told him that they had his table ready. (He loved leftover liver and onions from George's.) So...I'm pretty sure he's in beagle heaven.
I lasted about four weeks before we adopted Rerun...who you met at that weird little KOA Ren Faire a few years ago. Dog with red backpack who wagged through your set.
Anyway...it's so hard. Losing your fur baby. A big part of what makes "animal people" animal people...is the need to care for something. Care for yourself...then find something or someone to fill that need to brush and pet. Take care.
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branchandroot
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Date: 2011-08-03 02:28 pm (UTC)The empty time is the hardest. I never realized how much time I spent on dog care during the day. Walks, feeding, brushing, petting...until it became empty time. I ended up having a rather large Irish wake for Linus...at Molly Malone's in Forest Park. About 30 people...a huge bar tab...and everyone swapped Linus stories. I raised $600 for Oak Park's Animal Care League. I asked people to bring photos of their pets who had passed...and we made a collage. People I knew who were NOT "animal people" thought it was a silly waste of money.
It was very theraputic.
In the interm...I adopted a tank full of Gerbils from the animal shelter...so I could fill some of that empty time with something fuzzy that I needed to care for. It helped.
Then my Mom had a dream...that Linus was walking down South Boulevard in Oak Park...and all the traffic stopped for him. People waved out their car windows. The owner of George's Pancake House waved him inside...and told him that they had his table ready. (He loved leftover liver and onions from George's.) So...I'm pretty sure he's in beagle heaven.
I lasted about four weeks before we adopted Rerun...who you met at that weird little KOA Ren Faire a few years ago. Dog with red backpack who wagged through your set.
Anyway...it's so hard. Losing your fur baby. A big part of what makes "animal people" animal people...is the need to care for something. Care for yourself...then find something or someone to fill that need to brush and pet. Take care.