On January 25, 2025, I said goodbye to my emotional support dog. She was an integral part of my life, and managing my conditions and losing her hit me hard. As I looked for resources about how to handle the loss, I found that there were a lot of resources for pet owners and a few for therapy and service dogs but not a lot for those that sit in that special place of an emotional support animal. So here are the things I’ve found useful from everything I’ve seen as I mourn my loss of my emotional support animal.

Focus On Self Care

Routines are bound to be changed when you lose a support animal from your life. You may miss cues to your schedule to do certain things and feel a hole every time you remember that a companion you have had is not there anymore. It is important to prioritize self-care during this time, independent of external factors. Make sure you eat, shower, and take care of your body while you feel the pain and grieve. Putting the focus on taking care of your body can help prevent flare-ups and give you the energy to handle the hard emotions of grief.

Remember Them In A Creative Way

A constant thread I’ve found in many of the resources for both pet owners and service or therapy dog owners is to express the emotions you have from losing your companion and create a memorial for them. Engaging your creative energy in remembering your companion helps you to work through the emotions you have around the loss and see a path forward out of the grief towards accepting it.

Don’t Rush The Grieving Process

It is important that you don’t rush the grieving process. You may know from your journey accepting your chronic illness that trying to rush through emotions doesn’t work well. Your emotions have their own timeline and while it would be nice to breeze through the hard emotions, rushing emotions lead to disassociation, which is less than ideal. Give yourself the time you need to work to accept.

Reach Out To Your Support System

Don’t go through the grief process alone. No man is an island and trying to go it alone blocks loved ones from being a part of the grieving process and helping you when you need it most. After my dog passed, I’ve been more connected with my family, girlfriend, and friends as I work through the loss. They have all surprised me in amazing ways that wouldn’t have been possible if I didn’t let them in. Whether it has been a shoulder to cry on or some flowers to fill space left empty by my loss, these surprises have been what I needed. The grieving process is ongoing, but I’m glad I’m not going through it alone.

Have any tips I didn’t think of for mourning your emotional support animal? Leave them in the comments below.