When I told my priest about Sally, he offered sincere condolences. He said that he thinks that one reason he doesn’t have a dog now is because he still hasn’t gotten over the dogs he’s outlived. That’s hard, but understandable.
People hurt by love gone wrong or love lost shut themselves off from other relationships, in an attempt to protect themselves from more emotional pain. Some stay isolated–or at least single–longer than others, but usually someone breaks through and makes them love again. (At least that’s how it plays out in the movies.)
With a pet, though, the decision to love again is usually more deliberate. You come to a point when you decide that you are ready again. Part of being ready is feeling that you have the time and energy to care for a pet again. But a bigger part–especially after you’ve tended to an ailing pet–is being willing to give yourself over to that unconditional puppy love knowing that you will, in all likelihood, outlive that love again.
![The Ultimate Coffee Date](http://got2run4me.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Ultimate-Coffee-Date.png" "The Ultimate Coffee Date")
As painful as it has been to outlive the love of many pets in my life, I will always love more. There were times when it took me longer to get a new pet, and times when it only took two days, and every times it was worth it.
I think it is blessing and curse that we outlive our pets…in our lifetimes, we have the opportunity to care for many of them from cradle to grave (unless you have a bird or turtle that lives 50+ years!) and I think in many ways we treat pets better than people (and have more options) when it comes to end-of-life care. That said, my work at the shelter has revealed that everybody is different when it comes to a new pet following a death…some folks need another dog next week, some wait a year or more….