Pet Loss Grief Support

Legacies of Love, A Gentle Guide to Healing From the Loss of Your Animal Loved One

Teresa Wagner, M.S.

With heartfelt empathy and love, these four CDs provide animal lovers who are grieving with a compelling message of hope and renewal. The author's healing and gentle voice leads the listener through a journey of understanding grief and how animal loss is different. Listeners learn not only how to survive and cope through loss, but to navigate their way to truly heal and find meaningful growth. They are guided through a meditation with an original score of soothing music. Click here for excerpts and reviews or outline of contents.

Four CD Audiobook: Three hours running time
Also available as download

Blessing the Bridge, What Animals Teach Us About Death, Dying and Beyond, by Rita Reynolds

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED This is the very best book I have ever found to support us during the poignant and emotionally challenging time of supporting our animals and ourselves when our beloved animals are nearing the end of life, during their actual transition and after death. Reynolds does not speak from a lofty, intellectual or moralistic perspective, but rather from the depths of her heart. Her book is based on several years of being lovingly present with many animals at her sanctuary during their illness and death. She speaks with great spiritual wisdom, love and kindness. Sample chapter titles: Each Creature Brings a Gift; Euthanasia, the Merciful Release; The Art of Letting Go; Communicating without Words; The Power of Prayer; A Hand to Hold, a Soul to Ease; Tools for Caregivers.

My Personal Pet Remembrance Journal, Enid Traisman, MSW

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED as a comforting, compassionate journal to write about our animal loved ones' lives, our relationship, their passing, and our grief.

The Daisy Sutra: Conversations with my Dog, Helen Weaver
Highly recommended!

Grieving the Death of a Pet, Betty J. Carmack

A comprehensive and comforting book by a long time experienced pet loss counselor. Includes chapters: A Time to Love, A Time to Get Ready, A Time to Let Go, A Time to Grieve, A Time to Heal.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

Spirit Dogs: Heroes in Heaven, Susan Kelleher

Final Farewell: Preparing for & Mourning the Loss of Your Pet, Marty Tousley, Katherine Heuerman

Good-Bye, My Friend: Pet Cemeteries, Memorials, and Other Ways to Remember, Michele Lanci-Altomare

For Pet Loss Books based on Christianity visit Paraclete Press
Including Faithfully Yours: The Amazing Bond Between Us and The Animals We Love by Peggy Frazon, a collection of touching and heartwarming true stories.
 

Badger's Parting Gifts, Susan Varley

When Badger dies, each friend remembers a special skill that Badger had taught him. In remembering those "gifts", Badger's memory stays alive and the mourners' hearts are soothed.

Cat Heaven, Cynthia Rylant

A rhyming text describes a realm in which felines are fed from God's countertop, a place where they no longer get stuck in trees because now they can fly. There are thousands of toys, and soft angel laps in which to cuddle. There is even a quiet time to look back on former homes and loving people. Childlike, bright illustrations; appropriate to young children mourning the loss of a beloved cat.

Dog Heaven, Cynthia Rylant

Similar to Cat Heaven, comforting and appropriate to young children grieving the loss of a beloved dog.

For Every Dog an Angel, Christine Davis

For Every Dog An angel is a light, magical little book that honors the timeless connection between people and their canine companions. Written from the heart after the unexpected loss of her "forever dog" Martha, this charming book will bring comfort to anyone who has ever had to say goodbye to their best four-legged friend. (atuhor also wrote For Every Cat an Angel--also highly recommeded!)

I'll Always Love You, Hans Wilhelm

Tender story about a little boy and the dog he has grown up and played with since it was a puppy. As the dog grows old and one day dies, the boy is very glad he remembered to tell his dog every day, "I'll always love you."

It Must Hurt a Lot, Doris Sanford

When Joshua's dog, Muffin, is killed suddenly he feels no one understands how much he misses him. Then one day Joshua realizes he has learned some special secrets about loss and life. By expressing his feelings he gains strengths and insights. A tender and wise story about the possibility of growth through grief.

Suho and the White Horse, Yozo Otsuka

Mongolian folktale about a poor shepherd boy who saves a newborn foal and raises it until it beceoms "as dear as his own life." When the horse is cruelly wounded and dies, Suho is shattered by sorrow. The horse appears in a dream to Suho and offers hope and encouragement: "You must not mourn me. Take my bones, hide and sinews and use them to make an instrument to play on, then I will be able to stay by your side forever." Touching, well-told story about the deep love we share with animals and the healing power of using their gifts long after death.

The Accident, Carol Carrick

When a boy's dog is hit and killed by a car, he experiences a range of emotions and reactions including shock, anger, sadness, resentment, and finally reconciliation with his loss.

The Tenth Good Thing About Barney, Judith Viorst

Barney the cat has died ad his owner tries to think of 10 nice things to say about him at the funeral; he can only think of 9 things. Several days later, he realizes Barney's remains will become part of the great cycle of birth-death-rebirth.

What is God?, Etan Boritzer

A beautifully illustrated children's book (for all ages--including adults!) which describes God in perhaps a more understandable way than any theological text or religious dogma ever could to a child. A bonus is that a dog in involved in the story.

The Grief Recovery Handbook ~ A Step-by-Step Program for moving Beyond Loss, John James & Frank Cherry

The founders of the Grief Recovery Institute have written an excellent book describing steps necessary to resolve loss, written from their personal experiences as well as from their experiences with thousands of workshop participants. Includes very helpful exercises for working through loss.

Beyond Grief, Carol Staudacher

Written both for the bereaved and the helping professional, this book combines personal stories of many grievers with a step-by-step approach to grief recovery. It acknowledges the pain of loss and is hopeful and loving. It says to the grieving person: you are not alone, you can get through this, there is a path back to feeling alive and vital again. Given high praise by grief counselors, the book has been described as "a warm practical book," "a valuable resource," and "a complete joy to read."

How To Survive The Loss of a Love, Melba Colgrove, Ph.D., Harold Bloomfield, M.D. and Peter McWilliams

A soothing blend of comfort and pragmatic help, poetry and practical steps to healing. Though the title suggests "love loss", it is really about any loss. This classic is a great bedside book for those moments of needing immediate empathy and comfort. A compantion workbook, Surviving, Healing & Growing ~ The Workbook by the same authors, is full of helpful exercises to work through the issues of loss.

To Heal Again ~ Toward the Serenity and the Resolution of Grief, Rusty Berkus

This is a "feel good right away" book filled with beautiful illustrations, acknowledgement of the pain of loss, and strong hopes that we can find meaning from it. It reads as a lovely poem.

When a Man Faces Grief, 12 Practical Ideas to Help You Heal from Loss, Jim E. Miller and Tom Golden

These two male grief support professionals teamed up to write this concise, informative guide.

Animals in Spirit, Penelope Smith

A book in which the author, the renowned animal communication pioneer, explores the subjects of animal death from a spritual perspective. Both informative and comforting, this tape fathoms the process of dying from animals' and people's viewpoints, working through guilt and grieving, when to consider euthanasia, and what happens after animals depart from the phsysical body. Highly recommended for those who already believe in reincarnation or for those who are exploring these beliefs. Includes a story written by Teresa Wagner.

Animals and the Afterlife, Kim Sheridan

This book is a treasure. I've recommended it to many, many clients who rave about it--the stories and the comfort and support it's given them. I hope it will do the same for you. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

The Next Place, Warren Hanson

A hardcover, exquisitely illustrated children's book, this is a book for all ages for inspiration and comfort about what the experience of heaven, the other side, must be like. HIGHLY, HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

Who Dies? An Investigation of Conscious Living and Conscious Dying, Stephen Levine, Ondrea Levine

One of many of their extraordinary books, this is a compassionate and spiritual guide to dying and grieving which transcends the narrow limitations of a particular paradigm or dogma. See Amazon's listing of all their books and tapes. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

On Death and Dying, What the Dying Have to Teach Doctors, Nurses, Clergy and Their Own Families, Elisabeth Kubler-Ross

One of many classics by hospice and death education pioneer Kubler-Ross

The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying, Sogyal Rinpoche

A Tibetan Buddhist view of death

As Someone Dies ~ A Handbook for the Living, Elizabeth A. Johnson

An inspiring and practical book to guide the living as a loved one dies.
A small, comforting, easy to ready book that is a balm to the soul for someone losing ther loved one.

Talking to Heaven ~ A Medium's Mesage of Life After Death, James Van Praagh

The inspiring classic describing real stories of communication with loved ones after death.

Destiny of Souls, Michael Newton, Ph.D

In this sequel to his popular Journey of Souls, Newton explores what happens to the soul after death and addresses angels, ghosts, reincarnation, why certain people are drawn together, and what lessons the soul is intended to learn, casting new light on life's events and relationships.

Lessons From the Light, George Anderson

He brings a message of hope and love in his book, describing many communications with the deceased loved ones of his clients. Helps us better understand our on-going conection to loved ones after physical death.

Messages from the Masters: Tapping into the Power of Love, Brian Weiss, MD

In Many Lives, Many Masters, Brian Weiss opened an unexpected door into the astonishing realm of past-life regression. In Only Love Is Real, he showed us how we all possess soul mates from our pasts who wait to reunite with us today. Now, drawing on the wisdom of the Masters, the spirit guides who shape our destinies, bestselling author Brian Weiss gives us his most outstanding achievement to date. He reveals the essential life force in the universe and the ultimate healing energy. Its name is love. And he shows us how to harness its awesome power.