I've spent most of my adult life caring for other people's dogs. I know the particular love that lives in that work — and I know the particular grief that follows it. His name was Chance. He was seventeen and a half years old, and for most of those years, he was the first thing I saw in the morning and the last thing I checked on at night. This is the story of losing my own, and everything I learned along the way. I keep rehashing the last 72 hours of my sweet boy's life. It'

The death of a beloved pet brings with it a complicated set of emotions: sadness and grief, of course, but also, in the case of euthanasia, guilt and anxiety that you’ve done the right thing, and regret if you feel you haven’t acted quickly enough to spare your pet some suffering. Add to that the anger at those who, even if they mean well, minimize or marginalize your grief because your pet is “just” an animal, and the plain old anticipatory grief that comes with watching you

I love your dog. I love all dogs: big dogs, little dogs, goofy dogs, barky dogs, snuggly dogs, working dogs, good dogs, "bad" dogs, and soulful senior dogs. And as the human caretaker of a beloved rescue dog, I know the joy of watching your pup frolic freely. But when you walk your dog off leash in the city, it no longer is just about your dog. I'm out with my dog and my clients' dogs in Los Angeles every day, and more and more I'm noticing people walking their dogs off leash