Mourning for animals: When your own dog dies ...
Very few articles begin with death. Especially not with a death four years ago. And it is even more unusual when it is "just" about a dog. But my story starts there. Four years ago Pira, my beagle bitch, died.
Not a day goes by without me thinking about her. It does not hurt anymore, but still I miss her. I wonder if that's really normal. Why does an animal bother me so much?
"The relationship between people and pets is often a very special one," explains psychologist and author Claudia Pilatus ("It's only a dog ... - Mourning for Animals" by Claudia Pilatus and Gisela Reinecke, Kynos-Verlag). "First, of course, because the animals are always present, but most of all, it's the form of communication: gestures, looks - that's of particular importance - I can tell the animal everything without a spoken comment coming back - and yet I feel just a dog is a patient listener, always on hand and easy to get excited. "
Early comes the fear that the dog dies
Beagle bitch Pira
Pira was really special and, above all, the most beautiful dog in the world. But that's probably what every dog owner says about his dog. My parents bought them when we were three daughters all at puberty and did not have much left for a gentle, harmonious form of communication. This little dog has awakened in us the loving side again.
But with love came the fear that she might die. In the "pre-Pira period", my father once said that his colleague took a vacation to accompany his dog while he was dying. We still laughed about that. Now we could understand him.
"The relationship between man and beast must be experienced, otherwise this unity with all its emotions is difficult to understand, and many of them, of course, say: Why are you mourning pets, but allow livestock to be mistreated? Difference makes, "says Claudia Pilatus.
For 13 years Pira was alive and very fit, but then everything went fast. She was probably suffering from cancer and reduced within four weeks severely. I have not lived with my parents - but it was very clear to me that I had to go home immediately. Tears well up in my eyes as I think about the last time I hugged her.
"There is only one tip when the dog dies: Let your grief run free Do not be ashamed, do not stop it If you want to cry, then cry," advises Claudia Pilatus.
There are a few tears flowing. But that was not the only thing that bothered me. I reproached myself for crying much less at the funeral of my grandfather, for example. Is not that an insult?
Claudia Pilatus: "Many feel a greater grief for their animal than for a relative, which is understandable, it depends on the degree of closeness, and when I have had little contact with a relative, his death touches me less than with a pet, always around me, was always there for me, the relationship with my pet is always positive. "
However, it was hard for me to accept that for the first few years. I banished all photos of Pira to forget them faster. Now I have set one again: it just belongs to it.
You can see how the farewell to the beloved pet can best be prepared and accompanied in the video above!
