by Robyn | Apr 1, 2023 | Personal Ramblings, Pet Loss, Pet Memorial, Senior Pets
Watching your senior pet age or losing a beloved pet to illness or an accident is never easy. John and I lost Peter, Luna, Jamie, and Guinness over the course of 4 years. Each one of them has left an incredibly deep void in our hearts.
Even if your pet has already crossed the rainbow bridge, you can still explore new ways to carry them in your heart. Creating new memories during your pet’s senior years or finding ways to celebrate the memory of a pet who has passed-on can help you on your own healing journey.
How you honor your pet is up to you and will help make sure their life story continues on. That’s how I felt when Peter passed. Since he was the first one of our pack to cross the rainbow bridge, I wanted to create a beautiful memory necklace that I could wear with a lock of his fur inside. That way I could feel him close to me, even though he was no longer with me. That is how I chose to honor him.
If you’re searching for a way to celebrate your pet’s life, I’d like to share these 5 ways that can help you carry them in your heart.
1. Hire a photographer for a portrait
A professional pet photographer is an expert at capturing your pet’s personality. That’s what we do here at Muttography® & Co. Our goal is to capture your pet’s personality through soulful images that will last a lifetime. We’ve been photographing pets for close to 14 years, and sadly, many of our past clients have had to deal with their own loss in that time. It’s always an honor when our clients reach out to tell us how meaningful the photos of their beloved pet are to them.
2. Create a custom piece of wall art
You can make or hire someone to make you a piece of art that celebrates your pet’s life. One of my favorite artists, Ron Krajewski, paints beautiful watercolor portraits of pets. He will paint a custom portrait, or you can choose a breed from his collection of art prints.
3. Donate a memorial brick, bench, or financial donation to a shelter near you
Organizations like animal shelters depend on these types of donations. Check with your local shelter to see if they have a memorial program like a brick patio, visiting room furniture, etc. What an amazing way to honor your pet! The personalized patio brick or bench will serve as a physical legacy for your pet.
4. Celebrate their birthday, gotcha day or the anniversary date of their passing.
Take the day off work. Go for a hike in a place you shared together. Invite an animal-loving friend to share the day. Think about the special days of the year and plan remembrance celebrations ahead of time so you can look forward to them. Our Jamie’s birthday fell on St. Patrick’s Day, so we always celebrated with a nice long walk, and lots of treats. We still celebrate her, but now we do with our new pack, Hannah and Wyatt. We tell them that these treats are special because they’re from their big sister, Jamie.
5. Keep a lock of their hair or fur
You’re not crazy if you do. It’s a tactile way to remember what they felt like. Some creators can use the hair or fur to make jewelry, like I did with Peter’s fur, or other memorial items. My mom bought me these beautiful little handcrafted boxes to keep a lock of each of my pet’s fur in after they passed. It brings me so much comfort when I open the boxes and see a real piece of them in there.
Watching your pet age or dealing with the grief following a pet’s death can be heartbreaking and difficult. Don’t be afraid or ashamed to seek out professional support if that feels right for you.
#petloss #petlosssupport #petmemorial #griefandloss #petgrief #healing #petlosshurts #pawprintsonmyheart #petbereavement #losingapet
by Robyn | Aug 12, 2018 | Dog, Dogs
What can I say about this guy! This is Carl, and he is a typical Lab – goofy, playful, clumsy, adorable and sweet. We met Carl a few years back. Carl’s mom also hired us to photograph her two other pups, Sadie Mae and Briggs. Carl was supposed to be a foster pup, but there were a few unfortunate (fortunate?) circumstances that kept him from being adopted – so his mom made it official and adopted him herself! I think that’s fate’s way of telling us Carl was exactly where he was meant to be!
by Robyn | Jul 7, 2018 | Dogs
Laci is one of those happy-go-lucky pups who manages to put a smile on your face just by looking at her! Laci’s mom was looking to surprise Laci’s dad with a few nice photos, so when we arrived, Laci was super clean, smelling fresh, and ready to go! So off we went to the backyard to get some pretty “nature-inspired” shots. Well, it took her all of about 3 minutes to end up in the stream in the backyard! Way to go, girl! It was so much fun – she was having a blast, and I think that’s what is so amazing about our job. We just go with it! Isn’t that what you want to remember about your pup anyway…your pup, just having the time of her life?
by Robyn | Feb 14, 2018 | Dogs
Mina and Rico were rescued from Puerto Rico after Mina had been hit by a car and then attacked by dogs. Rico was spotted by rescuers, but would not go to them when they called. The rescuers realized he was leading them somewhere, so they followed him and sure enough, they found his mom Mina, barely hanging on. They were both rushed to the vet and flown to specialists to receive treatment. Rico is a hero! He saved his mom’s life! Good boy! They are available for adoption through Rescue Dogs Rock, Inc.
by Robyn | Dec 27, 2017 | Dog, Dogs, Personal Ramblings
One of the most difficult things to deal with as a pet parent is knowing how short our animals lives are. Before John and I went on vacation, Peter had a little cough and a limp in his leg. This wasn’t necessarily unusual, since the boy LOVES to swim and often gets water up his nose and down his throat. He also doesn’t know when to call it quits in the pool – so the limping (we thought) could have been due to his over-exuberance and not knowing when to stop. By the time John and I got back from vacation, Peter was still coughing and limping so we decided he needed to be seen by our vet. That’s when we were told something that no pet parent ever wants to hear – “he may have cancer”. After photographing a few dogs who were battling cancer, and listening to their parents talk about how hard it is to go through, we never thought we’d ever have to live through it ourselves.
Peter came to us in 2010, after we had been searching for a companion for our other dog Jamie. Since Jamie is the “boss” we knew our options were limited and we’d have to find a special pup who would be content as being “second in command”. We worked with the American Lab Rescue, and we inquired about several of their adoptable Labs. All of them were no match; either for Jamie, or because our fence was too low (apparently one was a jumper!) So when we were ready to put our search on hold, Liz from ALR said she had a guy in mind, who was coming up to Connecticut on the transport truck the following week. She told us about Peter, and that he was a sweet, submissive guy, and she thought he’d be great with Jamie. So, we decided to bring Jamie up to Peter’s foster mom’s house to meet him in person. We instantly fell in love with him, but Jamie – well, she didn’t really seem all that interested – which was good because that meant she didn’t have an issue with him.
For seven and a half years, Peter was given so much love, great food, his very own swimming pool, and lots of comfy beds throughout the house, but none of that mattered to Cancer!
Peter’s cancer was extremely fast growing. He actually had two types of cancer – Osteosarcoma in his leg and Adenocarcinoma in his lung. This explained his limping and coughing. Apparently, we were told, having two types of cancer is rare. If he only had the Osteosarcoma, we could have had his leg amputated, but since he had multiple lesions on his lung from the Adenocarcinoma, putting him through a surgery like that would have put his already week body through hell – for nothing. When we asked about chemo, the doctor said it may buy him another 3 months but that was no guarantee. So, we agonized over it, and knew that putting him through chemo wouldn’t save him in the end. We scheduled a day in November to have our vet come to the house to help him on his final journey. We all cried and cried, and told ourselves we were doing the right thing. We had friends and family come to say their final goodbyes. Then, it hit us, HE doesn’t know he has cancer! He’s still acting fine, still eating fine, walking and playing fine! Why do we have to say goodbye so soon? We asked the vet if she thought it would be ok to postpone his journey, and she thought that it was a good idea too. So, we promised to give him the best palliative care, until HE was ready to say goodbye.
Peter was with us until the day after Christmas. We had our vet come over that afternoon to help him cross over. It was one of THE hardest things I ever had to deal with in my life! He gave us so much joy and love. I truly believe this dog was my soul-mutt, and I will be forever grateful for the comfort he gave me during one of the most difficult times in my life.
I will love you always, my sweet boy.
