HappyChick wrote:I want to talk about Reno grieving. Monday night, Reno was up on the sofa with me, something that seldom happens. He started crying. No tears, but this soft, throaty noise. I knew he was crying for Vinny and I comforted him. Reno has also been laying around a lot more. He didn't want to go out to potty yesterday morning, but I made him go. This morning, there wasn't even any "making" him go. He didn't even get up. Reno is always up and running every morning, but not right now.
G, on the other hand, has seen death before and it doesn't concern him. I think he knows death is just a transition. At least that is what I choose to think.
I have not talked with anybody about Reno grieving until now. I'm sure plenty would think I'm nuts.
Has anyone else here experienced this kind of dog grief?
Has anyone else here experienced this kind of dog grief?
The November issue of National Geographic magazine features a moving photograph of chimpanzees watching as one of their own is wheeled to her burial. Since it was published, the picture and story have gone viral, turning up on websites and TV shows and in newspapers around the world. For readers who’d like to know more, here’s what I learned when I interviewed the photographer, Monica Szczupider.
On September 23, 2008, Dorothy, a female chimpanzee in her late 40s, died of congestive heart failure. A maternal and beloved figure, Dorothy had spent eight years at Cameroon’s Sanaga-Yong Chimpanzee Rescue Center, which houses and rehabilitates chimps victimized by habitat loss and the illegal African bushmeat trade.
After a hunter killed her mother, Dorothy was sold as a “mascot” to an amusement park in Cameroon. For the next 25 years she was tethered to the ground by a chain around her neck, taunted, teased, and taught to drink beer and smoke cigarettes for sport. In May 2000 Dorothy—obese from poor diet and lack of exercise—was rescued and relocated along with ten other primates. As her health improved, her deep kindness surfaced. She mothered an orphaned chimp named Bouboule and became a close friend to many others, including Jacky, the group’s alpha male, and Nama, another amusement-park refugee.
Szczupider, who had been a volunteer at the center, told me: “Her presence, and loss, was palpable, and resonated throughout the group. The management at Sanaga-Yong opted to let Dorothy's chimpanzee family witness her burial, so that perhaps they would understand, in their own capacity, that Dorothy would not return. Some chimps displayed aggression while others barked in frustration. But perhaps the most stunning reaction was a recurring, almost tangible silence. If one knows chimpanzees, then one knows that [they] are not [usually] silent creatures."
Sanaga-Yong was founded in 1999 by veterinarian Sheri Speede (pictured at right, cradling Dorothy’s head; at left is center employee Assou Felix). Operated by IDA-Africa, an NGO, it’s home to 62 chimps who reside in spacious, forested enclosures.
Szczupider submitted the photograph to Your Shot, a magazine feature that encourages readers to send in pictures they've taken. The best are published on the website and in the magazine.
—Jeremy Berlin
TheRedQueen wrote:My last two dogs died at home, and the other dogs all got a chance to say their goodbyes, and sniff the bodies...I think this definitely helped them understand better. Some of them just sniffed and walked away, others really lingered. None of them had any major grieving problems...I don't know whether I helped, or if it would have been that way anyway.
TheRedQueen wrote: I lost my last two years ago, but some days it's still fresh...and I'll find myself crying over some memory.
Marinepits wrote:
HappyChick wrote:
Don't stand by my grave and weep,
For I am not there, I do not sleep.
I am a thousand winds that blow.
I am the diamond glint of snow.
I am the sunlight on ripened grain.
I am the gentle autumn's rain.
When you awaken in the morning, hush.
For I am the swift uplifting rush
Of quiet birds in circle flight.
I am the soft stars that shine at night.
Do not stand by my grave and cry.
I am not there, I did not die.
- Author unknown
iluvk9 wrote:I tell myself I will NEVER allow myself to get so attached to my animals because the pain of them leaving is just unbearable. But, alas, I know that is not possible because that is who I am. I give my all to my dogs because they give their all to me. And I wouldn't have it any other way.
iluvk9 wrote:I tell myself I will NEVER allow myself to get so attached to my animals because the pain of them leaving is just unbearable. But, alas, I know that is not possible because that is who I am. I give my all to my dogs because they give their all to me. And I wouldn't have it any other way.
Brownies Mom wrote:Hi Angie. How are you doing?
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