- Hey playa, have you ever had a pet dog or cat,
or some other animal that you grew up really loving,
only for one day that pet to die?
Well, that's the question that lolzorman123456
asked me when he said, "Could you do a video
"on how to deal with losing a pet?"
Absolutely man, cuz I've been there before.
I know how tough it can be and I wanna share my advice
for anyone out there who loses a pet that they love.
♪ This is The Josh Speaks ♪
♪ You're watching the Josh speak ♪
For those of you who don't know, my name is Josh.
And every single Monday through Friday
I make videos here sharing tips, ideas, and stories
teaching you how to be your best self.
And today I wanna really talk about
how to deal with those emotions you may
be feeling if you lost a pet recently.
Now if you've never had a pet before,
it might be hard for you to understand
the type of connection a person can
have with an animal like that.
But let me assure you that
that type of love that they share is real.
Pets become members of our families,
and they develop individual connections
with each and every single member there,
which is why it makes it so much harder when they do pass,
because every single one of us has our own
grieving process to go through.
Growing up, I had a black Chihuahua
that wasn't always the friendliest dog,
but he was fun to have around.
And as the years went on, he got older and older,
until eventually it was at that point where he passed away.
It was a pretty shocking and traumatic moment
because it was my brother's birthday at the time
and we were all celebrating, only to find out
that my dog eventually was dying of old age.
In those moments it's totally normal to feel sad,
or angry, or hurt, or not even know how you feel.
To be in a state of shock where
the emotions haven't hit you yet.
Because just dealing with that
is a tough thing to go through.
One way that people choose to handle losing a pet
is by going out and getting another pet.
Now that's not to say that the
new pet is replacing the old one.
No new pet can ever take away the feelings
that you had for that old one.
But having a new pet now allows you to continue sharing
those feelings of love and kindness over to this new animal.
Animals, in a way, are just like people.
They each have their own unique, individual personalities.
So as you bond with this new pet, learn what they're like.
See what their personality is,
and see how you two can connect.
Now I'm not trying to say once one pet goes
just immediately replace it with another.
Everyone has their own time length
to their grieving process.
For you that might be a year,
it might be a few months, it might be a few weeks.
Figure out what works for you.
But take the time to really process the feelings
that you have deep down inside.
And like I said before, everyone had their own
individual connections with that pet.
So a good way to kinda help understand
your own feelings is to talk to other people
that can relate to you in some way.
Share those moments and feelings
with your other family members.
Let them know about that time that your pet
did something really silly, or that time they
were really loving and caring and there for you.
It can also be really hard to experience
observing that animal get older
to the point where it is gonna pass away.
It's hard to just sit there and watch it happen,
but it is a natural process of life,
and it is something we have to come to terms with.
I also had another dog that was a miniature
Doberman Pinscher, and as she got really, really old,
her eyesight started to go, her hearing started to go,
and eventually she stopped eating as much.
And she started walking around her cage over and over
because she couldn't really sense what was around her.
It was so hard to watch.
I just wanted to let her know that we were there for her.
So I would pet her, I would talk to her,
I would just spend time around her
so she could feel my presence just there being with her.
Other times, though, we lose pets unexpectedly,
or tragically, and it could be super heartbreaking
to experience those type of moments.
The shock of the experience can really get to you,
which is why it's so important
to talk to people about how you feel.
Now, you choose when you're ready to do that.
You don't have to immediately start sharing how you feel.
Take some time for yourself, think things through,
but make sure at the end of the day
to talk about your feelings.
Losing a pet is not easy.
It can make you go through a whole range of emotions.
So I really wanna know, what do you think?
Have you ever lost a pet before?
Or are you scared that you will someday?
Leave your comments down below and we'll talk about it.
Before you head out, if you don't feel
comfortable leaving a comment down below,
you can always also shoot me a DM over
on Snapchat or Instagram, just to talk.
I do my best to answer as many messages as I can.
Thank you so much for watching.
If you wanna learn a little bit more
on dealing with those negative feelings or hurt emotions,
definitely check out the playlist
I have over there on the side.
I think it'll be super helpful for you.
Otherwise, I'll catch you guys next time.
As always: love, and peace.