Dogs are wonderful. My lovely Rosie (lab/collie cross) was my greatest comfort when my marriage ended, years ago. She just wanted to snuggle up with me. I used to take her to a homeopathic vet about 50 miles away. Animals respond well to alternative therapies. I always gave them Rescue Remedy on Bonfire Night, New Year etc, which worked wonders. I also gave it to my last old boy Prince. He was the most handsome G Shepherd X, came from my local sanctuary aged 10 and was with us 7 years. At the end he was a bit confused and I gave him RR to calm him.
H
Wishing the very best to all of you and your beautiful companions.
Ann 
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PS donāt know where that H came from.
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Dear Friends,
Am so sorry Kate to hear about your dog having cancer, our dog is a rescue and she is 13 and has had Myloma for over 18 months which is usually how long they last with it but she is still trooping on, still happy, she did have surgery 5 months ago to have some bad lumps removed but some came back and we said we wonāt put her through any more surgery and now they are shrinking, at the vets they call her the miracle dog 
she is on steroids and chemo tablets which obviously help, ww will keep giving her all our love but if she starts to decline or suffer we wonāt have any other treatment our vet says she will let us know when itās time,
Victoria I pray Gemmas cat keeps trooping on and Iām sure it will, my friends cat had various ailments and was about 22 when he finally crossed the rainbow bridge
Susan your dog sounds amazing 17 wow! they are such a comfort to us, only pet lovers understand as I know some people think we are mad but thatās their loss,
Marina how precious Christians little dogs crossed the bridge within 3 months of each other 
devastating for you I know but a comfort they are with Christian
Love to you all and our 4 legged companions 
Michelle xxxx
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Dear Anne,
Our dog is a lab cross with German shepherd, such a beautiful combination my daughters say sheās a labrashep 
Sending you much love from Michelle xxxx
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Dear Michelle, Our very first dog was a cross between a lab and German shepherd, like you say a beautiful combination, large but with the sweetest of naturesā¦I think your daughters have invented a new breed with labrashepā¦love it Take care Marina xxx
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Hi to all friends on here
Your lovely kind messages give me great comfort. Its so sad we now have even more new people . I lnow for a fact i wouldnt get through without your thoughts and kindnessā¦so thank you .had a bad few days . I also have a dog called milo hes still young will be three on the 1st.a cockerpooā¦ he was so naughty in the beginning and sam used to say youve got a wrong one there . Well hes turned into the most loving dog .hes Ä·ept me saine sat with me for hours i think they know .when sam passed milo kissed his hand .it was mad to see .it was like he new the sadness ā¦ his my saving grace. Sending you all love and hugs .i hope all your dogs are ok .
Will be thinking of you kate big hug
.thank you all for caring xxx love zoe
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Hi luv I hope you pooch gets better itās awful when they are poorly my pug naughty Pepe we thought he had something stuck in his throat and I was beside myself for two days I was back n forth to the vet s after sedation X rays meds we found out everything was clear he had picked up kennel cough from lord knows where now my Frenchie Shelby has started with it Iāve been so upset and angry at the same time my dogs are vaccinated I thought I was going to loose my pug and with loosing Leah and Katie I just thought I canāt cope with this no more. In tears and stressed you just think when is something nice going to happen but hopefully they are on the mend a bit. I donāt think she people realise howuch our pets help us cope with bereavement but they do hope everyone has a better day. ā¦ shellyanne XX 
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Shellyanne, kennel cough is scary. Last autumn all 4 of ours got it. Vaccinated too. The older lab coped well but passed away of cancer last October. He had been Lisaās dog so doubly grief-stricken for him.
They do help us in so many ways. Brackla seems fine just now so we will just love her to bits and keep her pain free when things get worse.
They are such a big part of our lives.
Hope your wee digs are on the mend. Takes about a week I think.
Lots of love to you, Kate xx
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You too Zoe. Lots of love and hugs.xx
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Thank you luv I know I hate it when they are poorly Iām sat on settee with them now heās coughing n snuffling bless him been up with them since 5 but I donāt mind itās comforting for them at least heās sleeping a bit now Iām going to try n nod off for a bit while heās resting. Thank you for caring. Shellyanne XX
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Ah Shellyann, I wil be sending you all love while you are all snuggled up on the settee, hope they are better soon. Take care xxx
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Hi Kate, you are so right about dogs helping us in so many ways , they are such a big part of our lives. Its lovely to hear you have Brackla for company, they are so comforting to have around. Take care, give Brackla a hug from me. Xxx
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Hi all, just wanted to put this out there and welcome your opinions.
My wife has had a friend she has had for many a year,. She knows our story and we know here story , family ect. Anyway she lives about 40 minutes away. So we donāt see her that often my wife is on the phone regular to her. So today we had a ride over to see her. Whilst sitting chatting about this and that. The conversation came up about her son who is a drug addict but blames everyone else for his bad life choices. So our friend Allison said, my son is always playing the victim. But there are people who have got real problems. She then went on to say,. Iāve just been talking to a neighbour who told me that the wife had lost a baby ( stillborn). She said imagine if my son had that for a problem. Imagine if you had to live with that on your mind, it must be a terrible thing to have to live with. My wife quick as a flash said. Jim has lost his son!!! (Which she already knew). Allison just looked at me made a hmmm sound then changed the subject. Iāve seen this reaction many times. But it just felt weird today. To be in the middle of a conversation about loosing children to then suddenly react like youāve had memory loss. Quite bizarre
Ok thanks for listening
Jim
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Hi Jim,
Sorry to hear this Jim, it must have been upsetting for you, I can imagine your wife felt hurt for you and was disappointed in her friend, she couldnāt have forgotten something like you loosing your son 
I think some people donāt always consider the father they think it mainly affects the mom, some of the people my husband works with are like that, they think heās probably over it now, they have no idea, we as parents share this horrendous grief journey equally. Canāt imagine youāll be in a hurry to make that 40 min journey anytime soon 
people never sease to anaze you ! I love to read your posts and the way you express the love you have for your precious son is so moving take care Jim, much love Michelle xxxx
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Morning Jim and Michelle. Thatās just awful. I canāt imagine what possessed her!
I know my husband is grieving terribly. I hear his voice catch when I mentions something that Lisa did or said.
I am more 'practiced ā now bit I guess itās because we friends here let our feelings out. It makes a huge difference.
Love to you.
Kate xx
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Hi Jim
Sorry to hear about the reaction of your wifeās friend. I suspect that she momentarily forgot in her conversation and when she realised did not know how to show her horror with herself but made it worse for you rather than say āJim oh my god I am so sorry how thoughless of meāā¦that would have been the right way to react. She has a son you say who is a drug addict and she probably lives with the fear that one day she or someone else will find him dead and she knows there is nothing she can do to help. John my husband has a son who is lazy does not wash tellās lies like its going out of fashion, and says he has mental health problems. These mental health problems disappear on a weekend when heās off drinking. He so say works for my husband but he doesnāt turn up for work too hung over he drinks most every night, J0ohn paid Ā£20,000 to get him in the priory for a month but when he came out he started all over again. As you say it is their own issue and they are the only ones who can solve it. There is a saying you can lead a horse to water but you cannot make it drink!
Love Helen
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Hi Jim, Some people donāt think and are just plain ignorant and rudeā¦many years ago my cousinās little baby died of cot death at six months old and even today after all those years that when Iām with her and the talk of babies come up I am very careful of what I say in case of upsetting her and bringing back those memories. There are a lot of people who are just not worth knowing,Love to all Marina xxx
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Thanks for your replies. Helen I no exactly what you mean about your husbandās son. Think we all know people like that. I know people who have never worked a day in their life but can find drink money no problem and they always think the world owes them a living. I totally get that sometimes people accidentally say the wrong thing but us as parents are probably a little over sensitive (rightly so). But sometimes people come out with things and you just look at them with disbelief. Iām talking to a bloke who lost his adult daughter 8 months ago. My mam came round one day and without blinking a eye said to me . " Are you still talking to that bloke or has he got over it now" 
. I just looked at her and said. NO, YOU DONāT HET OVER IT". Then she changed the subject. Thatās my own mam the grandmother of the son I lost. She will stop people in the street and tell them how she lost her grandson. Yet expects other people to " get over it". People never cease to amaze me. In the beginning such remarks would have cut me to the bone,. Now I just laugh at peopleās ignorance. You have to put it down to the fact they simply have no concept of the monumental trauma of loosing a child, and hopefully they never will. I wouldnāt wish this on anyone. However I thank you all on this site, you help more than you will ever know
Thank you.
Jim
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Good evening Jim, I am sorry you had to experience that. People never cease to amaze me sometimes and I think we have all encountered tactless, thoughtless or downright rude people. I donāt understand people like that and honestly they are not worth a second thought. As Helen said, she could have said āoh I am so sorry. I hadnāt thoughtā.
Your love for son does shine so brightly and as you said, people have no idea of how it feels to lose a beloved child. Big hugs to you and your wife xxx
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Hi all, I havenāt posted anything for some time but I have been reading most of your posts. My daughters birthday is next Sunday 14th and my daughter has arranged my granddaughters christening on the same day. I have mixed feelings. A christening is a joyous occasion but I am filled with sadness as my daughter would have been godmother. I have been crying alot and staying away from the world. The weather has been glorious and as I live 2 minutes from the beach I should be over there but I canāt face enjoying something and feeling happy. I just sit in my house watching TV and drinking wine. My daughter isnāt here to experience joy so why should I. I watched a film earlier and someone in it said the day my son died, so did I. I can totally resonate with that feeling. My heart is so broken and I feel that my life is ruined, I really dont know how to pull myself out of this blackness, itās been nearly 2 years since my darling daughter was taken but it still feels yesterday.
Deborah x
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