“It’s just a dog. You should be over this by now.”
“Get another one.”
If you’ve ever lost a beloved pet, you’re probably no stranger to these comments—and how they make you feel. Dismissing the loss of a pet is fairly commonplace in today’s society, but it causes a world of hurt to pet owners.
Healing Wisdom for Pet Loss by Anne Marie Farage-Smith, LMHC is, for lack of better terms, a guided therapy session for grieving pet parents. For those who don’t know, LMHC stands for Licensed Mental Health Councilor.
Anne does a wonderful job of walking pet parents through their grief, with writing exercises that help bereaved pet owners come to terms with their loss in a healing manner.
The book is 12 chapters long with four sections, each section covering a different part of pet loss.
The first section talks about the human-animal bond and explains as well as validates why we feel tremendous loss when a beloved pet dies. It also does a good job of showcasing different types of animal bonds, from dogs and cats to lizards and birds.
Section two is the meat of the book, and really digs into different types of grief. Anne kindly recognizes that an animal need not be dead to have feelings of loss, such as when a parent unexpectedly rehomes the family dog, or when a military person is deployed somewhere they can’t take their pet.
The book also recognizes a rather important part of pet loss—that the majority of people who hear about your loss tend to brush it off with something scandalous like, “It’s just a dog. Get another.”
These hurtful comments are obviously no help. Anne does a wonderful job of validating the emotions of those who have lost a furry friend and gives concrete advice to help heal those wounds.
If you’ve ever lost a pet, this is a wonderful book to help you heal your broken heart.
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[…] best book on pet loss we read was Healing Wisdom for Pet Loss, by Anne Marie Farage-Smith. Anne operates a grief center for pet owners and is very experienced in helping people through […]