Pet Loss Canada

I am often asked to put into words what people experience with both the love of a pet and its death.  Of course, there are the usual panaceas like the Five Stages of Elizabeth Kubler-Ross (intended to be a psychological study and not a definitive explanation);  the Four Phases of Parkes and Bowlby (2006);  the Four Tasks of  Worden & Rando.  Each has its merits and its detractors, but, somewhere, as the world continues to study grief and mourning, we will, no doubt, have other “suggestions”.  Sometimes, rather than using the “advances” of education and knowledge, a more simplistic answer is available to us all.

I was advised that there was a simple, hand-written poem called “Beau” that, when I read it, had a profound effect both in understanding and in emotion.  Jimmy (James) Stewart wrote a poem about his dog “Beau” which, quite spontaneously, he read on the old Johnny Carson Show.  It brought humour and tears. Frankly, I have almost been compelled to replay it several times: it is that powerful.  I do hope that you will appreciate the simple words of a famous actor who was writing of a personal and private experience in a way that only Jimmy Stewart could read.

I hope that it offers to you all a different way to see a pet, to appreciate every moment we can spend with them, and the effect of their death.                                      Brien

OFTEN I am asked if I believe that animals have some form of Extra Sensory Perception OR some sense of pre-meditation.  Joseph Banks Rhine began studies into these phenomenona (telepathies) in 1927 at Duke University (USA) and issued his report in 1934. BUT, have you ever wondered if “non-human animals” have the same abilities?

When I was a young child my parents had a dog named “ROCKET”.  Every afternoon, at about 4:10 pm, without fail, Rocket would sit in the front window of our home looking north towards the area from which my father would appear at about 5:30 pm.  I had a dog named “Gidget”.  When I would go away, she was taken care of by neighbours.  They often told me that about 2 hours before I would arrive home Gidget “ran around and became unusually excited”, perhaps feeling that I was soon to arrive to be with her again.  Recently we placed on Pet Loss Canada the picture and story of a German Shepherd that remained in the church out of which his owner was buried and he even attended celebrations of Mass.

You are about to view an unbelievable scene of a dog that, when I received it, made me shed tears and consider all of this discussion.  I WOULD LIKE YOU, THE READER, to reach your own conclusions.  I would also appreciate reading your feedback.  I do know that, when I sent this to my wife and she shared it, many in her office were drawn to tears.

Wiley the wolf-dog was pretty fond of it’s owner’s late grandmother, Gladys – so much so that he appears to cry at her graveside. In this heart-breaking video, posted to YouTube on April 14 by user SarahVarley13, the adorable wolf-dog lays on the tombstone, shaking, and makes what appear to be sobbing noises as the family gathers around him.

Best wishes and pleasant thoughts                                     Brien