[mv37afnr]

Last night, I dreamed about Tinkerbell... every time I woke up, I kept expecting to stop dreaming.. soon as I am asleep again, they start back.. all morning I've been thinking about her.. I went outside to put something in my van and heard her bark.. I know she's gone, but I looked everywhere for her anyways.. no dog in site!! It's odd because I could feel her there.. I kept expecting her to jump out from somewhere.. it's so stupid, because I know she's gone! even now, as I am sitting here, I got this feeling that I should be outside looking for her..

She's been gone.. gosh 2 1/2 yrs or so.. so why am I still missing her so much that I can still feel her!? There are times when I drive down the road over by my friends where Bandit got hit and I find myself looking for him.. but I understand that because I was not there when he passed.. so a part of me wants to think they just let him go or something.. and lied to me about it (stupid - I know)!! but still, I understand why I feel that way, because I was not there!! but Tink, I was.. There is no way, she is out there!!

[68AttendGem]

You are probably dealing with the same thing I did with my girl Gabby. You didn't have closure.
I did exactly the same thing for nearly 4 years. It was constant. Because Gabby had her vocal chords punched early in her life, she had a bark, but it was very distinctive. I heard it constantly when I was outside.

Once I found out that she had not in fact died after being stolen, but had been found by a rescue and adopted to an awesome home, it suddenly stopped. I have closure. I know where she is and that it is best for her at this point in both our lives.

I wish you well, and do know who it feels. I hope that one day you will be able to come to terms with it so that your mind does not continue to do this to you.

[HornyMolly]

Patches was with me for 16 years and died in my lap with me knowing he was going to pass and I still have a hard time with it. I have dreamed about him, seen him out the corner of my eye for a bit after he passed. I got all emo a couple days ago when I was looking through old pics and saw a couple with him in them.

I truly believe our relationships with our dogs are the most intimate we will ever have. They know things about us that even our spouses don't know. They are with us through thick and thin and provide us with a special closeness that I don't think most of us can feel for another human simply because a human may decide to leave, but we know our dogs will always love us and be there. of course, because of this type of special relationship, it is very hard to lose them. Of course we will be affected by that loss for years.

It's natural to feel the way you feel. Heck, I still feel that way for a childhood dog that passed in 1996. Most of the time I am fine. I can talk about her if she comes up in dog conversation or if I see another of her breed, but then every once in a while I get hit by surprise grief and thoughts of her.