New Pet Loss Grief Support Meeting

The death or loss of a pet can often leave a large hole in our hearts.

The profound bond between us and our pets reflects the genuine love that holds them close to our hearts and may lead to such significant grieving when we lose them. The time following a death or loss can be such a difficult time for their people, and often a lonely process for too many individuals.

Holly McNinch, MS, LAPC and her colleagues are now offering a Pet Loss Grief Support meeting on Saturday mornings at 10:00 AM at The Conley Center for Care Counseling, and Psychotherapy. McNinch is offering this Care Group as a free service to the community for anyone 16 and over who has lost a pet.

"The meetings are a time of reflection and gentle compassion," McNinch says. She will offer materials for helping answer children's questions; different ways of honoring a pet's memory; and additional resources for understanding and coping with the process of grieving. McNinch encourages individuals to share a story that honors their pet. Alternatively they can also simply listen and learn while she shares ways to help create a more meaningful path through this time of grief.

Her suggestion reminds me of my story, when I lost my well-loved and sweet little little Australian Terrier to cancer a few years ago.

Jodie was a special spirit, and my wife and I were so sad after she died. We tried some different ideas for helping with the grieving procces: we built a little memorial garden in our garden, and connected with UGA Vet School to help fund a scholarship in her memory. 

We were still missing her when a remarkable event occurred. We went out to visit Susan Saulvester, one of the two Australian Terrier breeders in the Southeast: we thought that it would be nice to see some dogs like Jodie, and Susan had quite a pack of her own adult Aussies.

We soon sat down in the middle of Sylvester's living room, playing with ten delighted Australian Terriers,  nine of whom were Susan’s adult dogs. The remaining one was a little rescue dog that she was fostering. The little fellow had been bought at a livestock auction in the mid-West by a Pug rescuer and sent to the Australian Terrier Rescue Group. Prior to his rescue, he was being auctioned as a sire, destined to spend his life in a kennel pen under poor conditions.

Later that afternoon as we got in the car to leave, we simultaneously asked one another, "Do you want to adopt the rescue?" and we decided to ask Susan if we could adopt him, and she accepted.

Since we were on our way out of town, we couldn’t retrieve him until the following weekend. We spent that week trying to attune ourselves to a name that would be very special, and one that he would quickly identity as his own. We considered naming him Kennedy or Carter, after two of our favorite presidents, but these names and others we explored didn’t quite seem to fit.

The day arrived to pick him up, and we still could not settle on a name. We thought we might just call him doggy-dog temporarily. However, as we set out to fetch him home, we passed the exit for my aunt and uncle, and the idea came to me!

“Let’s name him Teddy after my Uncle Ted!"

My uncle was a man who had defended his country as an airman in WWII, and then served his country and the world as an ambassador in the Peace Corps. Australian Terriers are both protective and friednly little ambassadors, plus they have a good sense of humor, too. This would be a great name for the new addition to our family.

We soon arrived at Susan’s home, and asked her if she happened to know the little dog’s age.

“Just a minute, she told us. "I have his papers and will check.”  As it turns out, the little dog came with papers.

“He’s about fourteen months old,” she reported, before casually continuing, “and the name his original owners gave him was Teddy.”

“WHAT!” we both exclaimed.

“Teddy,” Susan replied, wondering about our amazement. “T-e-d-d-y” she spelled so that she was sure we comprehended.

My wife and I turned to each other with mouths open in utter astonishment! We take this as a sure sign that our original little Jodie and her angels were watching over Teddy, seeing him from Texas to Tennessee to Atlanta. His place is with us.

Every time I tell this story, I honor the memory of Jodie and my uncle, and feel luckier for having had both in my life. I still miss them, but feel that the circle of life moves forward with the care and compassion that we share with Mr Teddy.

So if you know a friend who has lost a pet, please share the new Pet Loss Grief Support meeting with them: Holly McNinch at 404-816-7171 x12 or email The Conley Center at info@fmc3.org

And if you want to learn ONE MORE AMAZING fact in Teddy's adoption story, let me know and I will share it with you! 

Thanks for reading!