I Feel So Guilty About My Dog's Death Options

[ToBeFrank]

I lost my 7 year old Boston Terrier, Sophie, on Friday night. It was a horrible accident, and I am guilt stricken and distraught. I am deeply saddened that she is not with me anymore, but the image I keep seeing in my mind of her death is torturous. I dropped her off at a friend's place because I was heading out of town early Saturday morning. Around 8pm on Friday they called me saying they couldn't find her and she got out when they left the front door open. I spent all of Friday night and Saturday morning combing their neighborhood for her. Mid day Saturday they called me and told me they found her in the pool. She had drowned. Sophie had such a gentle heart and was scared of her own shadow. It is killing me knowing that she spent her last moments terrified and fighting for her life. Even though I wasn't there, I can't get the horrific images of how I know she would have fought out of my mind. I also can't get rid of the image of her lifeless body and eyes when I picked her up to take her to get cremated. I don't want to remember my beloved Sophie like this. How do I get over this?

[Cheryl83]

To Be Frank,

I am so sorry for physical loss of your precious Sophie. What a horrible, tragic accident. And that's what it was -- an accident -- it was in no way your fault. I do understand the feelings of guilt -- it is all part of the grieving process, but we have established on this forum, through reading the experiences of others', that we always feel guilty no matter how we lose our babies. We always think of the "What ifs..." and the "I should haves..." All we can do is acknowledge these feelings for what they are, and then try to move past them. We should take comfort in the fact that, deep down, we know that we loved our babies with all our heart and would have done anything possible in our power to protect them. Unfortunately, these things aren't always in our power.

Thank you for sharing the photographs - she's such a cutie. Keep looking at them as often as you can, so that this will be how you remember her. In time, the good memories will overpower the sadness.

We are all here for you during this difficult journey.

Cheryl x