When people who have never had a dog see their dog-owning friends mourn the loss of a dog, they probably think it’s all a bit of an overreaction, after all, “it’s just a dog.” I know this to be true because I used to think this way. However, after my beloved pug, Buddy passed away in January I knew the truth. Your pet is never “just a dog.”

Losing my dog was its own kind of sorrow, different from any I have felt before.