I found this to be the most helpful, comprehensive resource since Nikko crossed over. I’m posting it for every pet owner who knows or is contemplating that moment…hugs to you, my friends 
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Noooooooooooo! When did this happen? I am so so so sorry, I know how beloved he was. Did you do it in home?
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Yes, at home on October 10th.
And thank you for your condolences and remembering 
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He is so precious! I am so sorry.
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thank you, KC. It’s still not easy. I’ve donated some of his things to a shelter nearby but there’s things I can’t bring myself to let go…and I won’t if I don’t feel like it. I have his ashes.
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Ashes after 4 days? Wow. Mine takes a week.
Please don’t let go of some of the things that means the most to you. I still have and display a few of my babies trinkets.
It is never easy and I know that you wouldn’t have released him until he was truly ready, even if you weren’t ready.
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I’ve had to do it three times in the past 5 or 6 years. It’s never easy, and it weighs heavily on me still but it doesn’t happen to me as often as it used to. It just sucks that the majority of our non-human friends don’t have as long of a life span as we do.
Unless you have a cockatoo or macaw. They may outlive you.
In time the blow will soften. I’m grateful that 2 of the three died at home while being comforted and cried over.
I’ve kept their collars and tags hung next to their pictures on the wall and I see them everyday.
It’s good to know there’s support out there for anyone going through this. Thanks for posting it.
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I was surprised myself how fast his ashes arrived. It was probably a combination of the timing and the fact that the crematorium is not that far away.
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Hello fellow pet lovers. Since Nikko’s passing and starting this thread, I came across a person who specializes in this subject and approaches it from many different angles. She’s written books on the subject and somehow developed the ability to communicate with animals, living and passed. She’s not the woo woo type and worked for corporate America in the mortgage industry for years. She then became a deputy sheriff and that’s when she started getting signals from pets who witnessed crimes. I know, it sounds woo woo 
but after reading her popular book, The Amazing Afterlife of Animals, it helped me tremendously with my own grief. I’ll link you to it below as well as the website for the animal rescue sanctuary that she and her husband single-handedly manage. I hope you get a lot out of it. I did and was touched to the core.
If you check out the entire website you’ll see stories of each animal and how they got there. Warning: some will tear your heart out but it’s relieving to know they are finally loved and cared for. You can even choose one to adopt by sending some money to help pay for their medical care. I’ll probably do that because I no longer have Nikko and want to help in other ways. It doesn’t take much and the proceeds go 100% to the animals.
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Our girl Roxy the Pugalier had a really bad turn the other night where we thought we were going to lose her. The Vet thinks she had a stroke and seizure at the same time. It was definitely touch and go for a while but surprisingly she has made a fairly full recovery.
She is 13 years old, has arthritis in her back and left rear leg and has advanced splaying of the front paws due to a wide chest. She has also been diagnosed with fluid around her heart, abdominal cavity and in her lungs so we guess it is only a matter of time now. She sleeps a lot and is not as energetic as she once was, but still eats and drinks ok so that is something at least.
I hate that our loved ones have such short lives compared to ours 
Thanks for the resources @muth and sorry for your loss.
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I’ve always been on the fence on the subject of the afterlife and/or hanging around after passing, but after seeing something myself recently when a dog sensed the presence of someone who died two years before he was born, well I guess one of my feet are off the fence now. If they can sense the departed, then whose to say their spirit can’t leave something behind as well?
Aww, she looks like a real sweetheart. I’m glad she’s doing better. Dog strokes are scary as hell (a stroke on any living thing is, I suppose), and I’m happy she’s still around providing smiles.
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Thor, aka bubba, has been gone for years now, i dont remember how long anymore. But there isnt a day that goes by that i dont miss him. There are times that we both break down in tears while talking of him and all the stupid shit we did together. And he deserves it, all the tears he licked from our faces, the frowns he turned upside down, the days and years he made better just by his presence…
I consider it a way of honoring him and a way of being closer to him once again as i know he would be licking those tears from our faces and making us happy all over again.
I cannot think of anything more horrible than a loved one being stuck here unable to communicate with us or even to lick those tears. My ideal place for him would be a huge field with lots of other dogs and toys to play with, he loved that almost as much as he loved us. So that is what i choose to believe.
Not bodies of water tho, he was terrified of water bigger than his dog bowl.
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Thank you @lanc13 and I’m glad to hear that Roxy is doing better. She looks so sweet. My neighbor’s German Shepherd recently had a stroke and it took some effort to get her back on her feet. She’s better but also not too advanced in age. All Roxy needs and wants right now is your loving care. You can do all the medical stuff you want and can but in the end, it’s the love that counts and all you’ll remember.
Yes, their lives seem to go by in a flash for us. I was lucky to have a full year with Nikko after his initial diagnosis. It gave me the time to spend with a more deepened appreciation and awareness. He taught me a lot in that last year.
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Though hard to fathom, I’ve always believed that life was eternal (simply based on the fact that energy can’t be destroyed, only changed). But as far as spirits, ghosts or however you want to express it, I’ve never seen one though people I trust claim to have. I have to say that some unusual things happened after both my parents died. Recently with Nikko’s passing, some unlikely events happened.
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Funny, Nikko loved water and sometimes sat in the birdbath. Karen Anderson described crossing over the rainbow bridge for animals like being in a beautiful open meadow with all your loved ones and friends happy and playing. It’s not what she imagines, it’s what animals have shown her. Lol, at this stage in the game, I’m open to anything.
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Same here. Been around long enough to throw preconceived notions aside and see what happens.
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