There are times that I still catch myself calling our present doggy the dogs names we had years ago..so yes,it's normal to still miss your furry friend so much. But they would want us to keep going-to perhaps befriend another furry friend who needs your help.

I'm doing the best I can after 3 weeks. Today - actually right now in this moment - 3 weeks ago today I was driving him to the vet to be put down.
I am trying to keep going.
I honestly thought I was doing okay after it only being 3 weeks, but then I read your post and feel like maybe I'm not pushing myself hard enough.
I had my dog for almost 10 years. I sat there with him 3 weeks ago at the vet while I put him down.
I guess I am not doing a good job. I'm just not able to get another pet right now. It doesn't feel right yet. Maybe 3 weeks seems like a long time to you. To me, it doesn't.
Maybe you just read the first few sentences of my post. I don't know. All I know is I am hurting. That was my first post on daily strength. I guess I'm doing it wrong.

I am so sorry for your loss. I had to put my almost 17 year old cat down 10/28/13 and then three months later my partner Mike died of a sudden heart attack. Not to be cliché but time does heal. Be gentle with yourself. You will eventually have some good days and then more good days. I have had to lean on my faith to get me through. (((Gentle hugs)))

do what Veronica has written..one day at a time and be kind to YOU>> grieve, cry and write here. I am alone also and at near 70, it is not easy. I have other kitties but each so special, and touch our hearts and souls in different ways. some are just a personality, that tugs touches us more and we grieve in different ways for each. I lost Precious last Nov, 12 1/2 and still have her brothers. I rescued all 5 new borns. I delivered Precious.. so we had special bond. to say least.. I miss her and I cry... some times i hold the others thru tears some times i just cry for her only. In time, maybe there can be another for you.. all in time. visit shelters . You are not betraying your love for this dog if u visit and show another dog some attention. having been thru this 11 times so far, I have learned that hurt and empty place you feel, there is room for a new dog when you are ready. never know, when you visit a shelter, there is a dog, waiting for you just to love them. think of it this way for when you are ready. That dog is hurting and feels lost inside like you do now.. So in time, the right dog and you will find each other... and your dog in heaven is watching and at that time, your dog will smile down because u are not hurting or alone any more...

Veronica77, so sorry for your loss also.. and we do move on. I read it is not that we heal in as much as we learn to cope...and then those good moments happen.

Hi Lifeisgood2018, I feel your pain. We made the difficult decision to have our 14 year old doggy euthanized yesterday. The vet came to our home and we were holding him as he passed. It was the hardest thing I have ever done and I am beside myself with grief. There is a void when they are gone that cannot be filled. I don't have any words of wisdom since I am just going through this too but do know that you are not alone.

Your story is very similar to mine. I had to put my 9 year old dog to sleep Tuesday.

Beowulf was acting a little off, but nothing too out of the ordinary for a couple of days. He panted quite a bit but I just assumed it was from his recovery as he’d had his eyes removed due to glaucoma just a few weeks prior. And then I noticed he wouldnt eat, and his breathing started to become labored. On Sunday I realized he was showing signs of congestive heart failure so I rushed him to our vet who confirmed pulmonary edema and gave a shot to try and draw the fluid from his lungs.

On Monday I took Beowulf for a full work up, but I knew even before I got the results from the vet that my baby was in the very final stages of heart failure because I researched it while waiting. Turns out he had tumors in his chest and abdomen.

I feel like my chest has been ripped open, and I am drowning in my own inescapable pain, I wail my grief. It hurts so bad that I just want to scream in anguish. It wasn’t supposed to end like this, we were supposed to have more years together.

I, too, keep seeing my baby in my mind just laying on the floor. Dead. I don’t know how to accept that I’ll never see him again. I could barely make it out of the vets office because I just sat there with his head in my lap, stroking his head, and staring at his chest as if he would suddenly start breathing again. It’s so hard realizing that he was gone and his body was only an empty shell.

I’m so full of regrets. I keep thinking about all the times he came to me seeking affection and attention while I was busy or too wrapped up in whatever I was doing. I can only hope he always knew how very much I loved him. Did I show him enough? Why didn’t I spend all my waking moments with him between the time he became critical to the time I put him to sleep? Why didn’t I think to take a million pictures of him the day he went to sleep?

I’m just so consumed by pain I don’t know where to go from here.

I am very sorry for your loss but it sounds like you did everything you could to give your doggy a long/happy life and I'm sure he is watching over you now. He wants you to keep trudging along-people here make all kinds of memorials for their pets-so that is a thought.

I am so sorry. No, that doesn't put it even into perspective. I had to have my life companion, Rose, euthanized for congestive heart failure. I know she was old (16 at least...she was a stray), I know she isn't suffering anymore, I know she is waiting at the Rainbow Bridge for me and I know until the last year or so, she had a good life. It doesn't make me feel any better. Rosie was a white jack russell terrier and she was the light of my life. She had been to the vet several times, was on heart medication, and could barely walk. I had just picked her up from the vet on Wednesday and awoke Friday, May 18th, to her heavy panting at 6 am. She sat on my lap while I took her to the emergency animal services and we knew it was the end. I was so distraught I was let go from my job. I have no friends, no family except Lulu my rescue dog and Kit Kat, my rescue cat. I have cried and cried and cried. I also suffer from severe depression and anxiety so that doesn't help. Rosie, I am trying but I miss you so badly it hurts. Two weeks ago on Friday, Rosie passed. I have no regrets, I loved her with all my heart but there is a huge void that will never be filled.

I am shedding a few tears for all of you. And as Shortnsassy mentioned my chest remains ripped open. While attending to my mother, who was palliative at the time, i leaned on my retired work partner Reuben, a beautiful black lab with a human soul. I feel guilty as he suddenly became palliative himself and I had to make the awful, yet unselfish decision to put him down. Then a few weeks later, I came home from caring for Mom and my beautiful Willy cat had passed in my hallway. I think Mom passed the following month.
That was 2014 and just a few months ago, was I able to remove their ashes/urns from the boxes i had received them in. Not a day goes by that I don't have a sudden attack of tears, guilt and grieve. I know there is no time limit on these things but i find it gets worse with time......just today I found a lump on the side of my second retired drug dog partner....i just hope and pray it's a fatty deposit. As I just don't think i have the strength to go through this again. Loosing a pet is devastating but i think loosing your work partner, who spends 12 hour shifts right beside you is even a bigger loss.
I agree with JackieTeller, i have no regrets,,,they were my fur babies and were treated as such but the loss is too devastating.....there has to be somewhat of a soothing solution. I will contacting a Pet Psychic to see if her words might soothe some of this hurt. I feel for all of you and thank you for your posts, now i know i'm not alone....xoxox to all you fur parents

So sorry for your loss. I can feel your pain. As i was reading your post i felt like it was me writing it. I had to put down my boy chihuahua on 6-7-2018. And since that day the pain seems to get worse. I also have nobody to lean on as my own family doesnt understand my ongoing pain. I feel alone and lost. Never knew a dog could leave such a empty space in my heart. They say time heals....im still waiting. I hope you get better.