pet grief

We Are 1 In Spirit Interview: A Special Message about Grieving You May Find Refreshing

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On this weeks Joyful Paws Jaunt blog tour, I was interviewed by author and coach, Yvonne Perry on her podcast, We are One In Spirit

Click here to listen to the interview.

Introduction from Yvonne about my segment 

Do you remember when you first began exploring your spirituality? What inspired you to seek answers to life’s greatest questions? For Barbara Techel, it was her dogs that helped her to live more authentically and more joyfully.
After her dachshund, Frankie, suffered a spinal injury, Barbara had her custom-fitted for a wheelchair that allowed her to be mobile in spite of being partially paralyzed. Barbara quickly realized the beautiful opportunity she had to spread a positive message that animals with disabilities can and do live quality lives if given a chance. This translated into also helping people see their challenges in a positive way. Today, she is a passionate advocate for special needs pets such as dogs in wheelchairs, and those in particular that are diagnosed with Intervertebral Disc Disease (IVDD).

From the inspiration she gained from her little wiener dog on wheels, Barbara has found her life’s purpose. She let go of her fears, and began doing hospice work with Frankie as a therapy dog team. She let go of her fear of death and began to appreciate each day of her life. She has a special connection with all her animals, but two of them have let her know they are still with her now that they have passed into the afterlife. In the audio below, she offers a special message about grieving that you may find refreshing.

Barbara is the award-winning author of the children’s book series Frankie, the Walk ‘N Roll Dog which are true, inspirational stories about her paralyzed dachshund. From 2008-2012, Barbara and Frankie made over 350 appearances to schools and libraries in Wisconsin, as well as many visits to classrooms across the US and Canada via Skype. They were also a therapy dog team visiting local facilities and logged over 250 visits spreading joy wherever they went.

In August 2012, she founded National Walk ‘N Roll Dog Day in memory of Frankie and in honor of all dogs in wheelchairs. She also started the Frankie Wheelchair Fund, which helps families who can’t afford wheelchairs for their disabled dogs. To date, this fund has helped thirteen dogs, who may not otherwise had the opportunity, to get a wheelchair.

In her newest book, Through Frankie’s Eyes Barbara takes you on a journey that led her to live her own truth and live with more joy, all because of what Frankie taught her along the way. Enjoy this interview as Barbara shares her story with Yvonne Perry on We Are One in Spirit Podcast.

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For more intuitive and inspiring podcasts with Yvonne, I invite and encourage you the visit her website today.

Don’t forget!  You can win a copy of my new book through Goodreads!  I’m giving away two copies, but hurry as you must enter by midnight on Monday, March 25th!  Good luck!

The Shifting of Frankie’s Spirit

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It has taken me a few days to write about this. I guess it’s just one of those things that left me wondering if it really happened, or was it my imagination. But I’m going to trust my intuition here, as well as trust once again, that yes, we are all connected–whether those we love are here physically or not.

Last week Friday, in the early evening I finally had a moment to sit on the sofa and do one of my favorite things which is peruse through my Country Living magazine, with Joie by my side.  But let me back up for a moment.

After Frankie passed in June, everyday after that for over three months I’d take a moment each morning and look at the family photo of us above. I’d touch Frankie’s head as if petting her, telling her how much I missed her and loved her… would always love her. Often times at night, I’d feel the need to look at her in the photo as I sat on the sofa reading.

So this past Friday, finally beginning to relax after my big three weeks of releasing the special edition of my book, plus my book launch, it felt good to find my way back to a routine again. But all of a sudden, I heard a voice in my head say, “I’m moving on now.” I immediately looked up at Frankie’s picture and my eyes filled with tears.

Silently I said, “No, please don’t go!”

Then I heard, “I’ll still be here, not far, if you need me. But you will be okay now.”

My lip started  to quiver and I felt as if Frankie was moving through me. It was as if her spirit lifted up a bit further than where she was before. I sat in this feeling for a few moments questioning if it was really happening. Not wanting it to happen, but knowing she was right. I am, and will be, okay.

I then smiled and told her it was okay to rest now.  As I’ve moved through the past few days since then I’ve felt Frankie’s spirit become lighter and lighter- not a bad thing- but a comforting feeling that her work is now completely done. She got me through the book launch of our shared story and now she rests in the peace that she did a job well done.

Indeed she did. I’ll always love you sweet Frankie for all you did for me. Be well, rest well, and know that I carry you in my heart always.

It’s Just a Dog. Get Over It.

Thank you to Steve of Rolling Dog Farm for posting this article on his blog today.  It is an article worth sharing.  My favorite line in this article is:  “But one of the most important things we can do for them is to acknowledge death as a natural, inevitable and deeply meaningful event.” I believe when we can truly be in the moment of a dying pet it can be beautiful… and I’m so glad to have had that with Frankie.

‘It’s Just a Dog. Get Over It.’

The death of a pet is often dismissed. But treating loss with gravity is better for animals—and humans

By Jessica Pierce.

Last week, the singer Fiona Apple told her fans that she would be canceling the South American leg of her concert tour in order to be with her dying dog. Ms. Apple’s announcement, made in a four-page handwritten letter to fans, has elicited some pushback and—let’s face it—some downright snarky commentary, as in: It’s just a dog, Fiona. Get. Over. It.

What’s surprising, though, is that close to 80,000 people have “liked” Ms. Apple’s Facebook posting of her letter, and the vast majority of fans have supported her decision. Such expressions of support are unusual. People with strong bonds to animals often feel that the larger society in which they live assigns relatively little moral value to pets and other animals. The death of a pet is often dismissed as unimportant. And unlike Ms. Apple, most of us generally are not able to miss work because our animal is ill or dying.

The singer’s decision and the reaction to it represent an emerging cultural shift, one noted by the sociologist Hal Herzog in his book “Some We Love, Some We Hate, and Some We Eat.” More Americans now see themselves as living in a multispecies family. (And, no, this doesn’t mean that people view their animals as miniature humans or furry children, though this stereotype might fit a few pet owners you know.) Surveys conducted by the pet industry have found that 70% of pet owners in the U.S. share a bed with their animal, a figure unsettlingly close to the percentage of people who share a bed with their spouse. And we show our devotion in how we spend. This year Americans will fork out an estimated $53 billion in caring for their pets.

Owners facing the loss of a pet are beginning to feel less isolated, partly because social-media outlets like Facebook and Internet chat rooms allow them to connect with and draw support from like-minded people. The way we care for our animals is changing, too. Once euthanasia was the default response to an animal’s mortal illness. Not any more. The rapid growth of the hospice and palliative-care movement for animals reflects the new attitude.

According to one animal-hospice expert whom I interviewed for my book on how we deal with the decline and death of our pets, there are somewhere on the order of 75 veterinary hospice/palliative care services in the country. (No hard numbers are available.) Another expert estimated that around 10,000 animals are treated annually by practitioners specializing in some form of end-of-life care, approximately a tenfold increase from a decade ago. Ancillary sales of such things as doggy wheelchairs, therapeutic beds and incontinence pads are rising.

As with humans, palliative and hospice care for animals involves a family-centered approach to providing comfort and support during the dying process. Working together, pet owners and veterinarians can often maintain a good quality of life for an animal long after we might, in past times, have simply euthanized it.

For example, we can help to keep a wobbly and arthritic dog mobile by making alterations to the home environment (ramps and throw rugs and nonslip “socks”) and doing physical therapy and massage. Caregivers are educated about disease process and prognosis and how to recognize and address physical and psychological suffering in their animal.

At animal hospices, owners are encouraged to talk about the anticipation of loss, what they fear, how they perceive death and what comes after. A skilled veterinarian or bereavement counselor can help. Every vet is trained in pain management and can help to create an end-of-life care plan for an animal and his or her human family. A small but growing number of veterinary professionals are certified as pain practitioners by the International Veterinary Academy of Pain Management.

It is easy—and I say this from hard experience with my own dog—to let our own fear and suffering get in the way of really being present with our animal at the end. But one of the most important things we can do for them is to acknowledge death as a natural, inevitable and deeply meaningful event.

I’ve spent more time in the kitchen cooking special meals for my dying dog than I spent cooking for the humans in the house—and I know I am not alone. Crazy, maybe. But not alone.

—Dr. Pierce is the author of “The Last Walk: Reflections on Our Pets at the End of Their Lives.”

A version of this article appeared December 1, 2012, on page C3 in the U.S. edition of The Wall Street Journal, with the headline: ‘It’s Just a Dog. Get Over It.’.