Pet Loss Grief Support & Resources
Losing a pet can be one of the most painful experiences we face, yet pet loss is often misunderstood or minimized by others.
Whether your loss happened yesterday or years ago, grief has a way of showing up unexpectedly.
This page brings together books, podcasts, crisis resources, and support groups that may help you feel a little less alone as you navigate life after loss.
Grief Resources
Books on Pet Loss
Repairing the Heartbreak of Pet Loss Grief: 3 Phases of Healing After Losing Your Best Friend
Explores the human-animal bond, different experiences of grief, guilt, and self-forgiveness, and ways to cope with life after losing a beloved pet. It also includes guidance for supporting children and other pets through a loss.
When Your Pet Dies: A Guide to Mourning, Remembering, and Healing
A gentle, accessible book about mourning the death of an animal companion and making space for your grief.
The Pet Loss Companion: Healing Advice from Family Therapists Who Lead Pet Loss Groups
Practical support for navigating the emotional, relational, and everyday realities of losing a pet.
Podcasts on Pet Loss
Crisis Support
If your grief has become so overwhelming that you're struggling to stay safe or care for yourself, please reach out to someone you trust or contact emergency or crisis services in your area. You don't have to carry this alone.
Call 988 or 911, or go to your nearest emergency room.
Colorado Pet Loss Resources
Pet loss support in ColoradoIf you’re grieving the loss of a pet, you don’t have to navigate it alone. These Colorado organizations offer support groups, grief resources, end-of-life support, and other services for people coping with the loss—or anticipated loss—of an animal companion.
Pet Loss Support Groups
Human-Animal Bond Trust - Pet Loss Support Group
Free pet loss support groups facilitated by mental health professionals. Meets virtually every Thursday from 6:30pm-8:00pm MT. No registration required; drop-ins welcome.
Denver Animal Shelter - Pet Loss Grief Support
Pet loss grief support and resources for Denver-area pet families. Pet loss grief group meets the second Sunday of every month from 1pm-2:30pm at Denver Animal Shelter (1241 W Bayaud Ave).
Community Grief Center — Northern Colorado Pet Loss Support Group
A free, in-person pet loss support group in Northern Colorado. The group currently meets on the third Saturday of each month from 10:30 a.m.–12:00 p.m., with no registration required.
End-of-Life Care
Caring Pathways
In-home hospice and euthanasia services, along with anticipatory grief and bereavement support.
Humane Colorado
End-of-life services and resources for families navigating the death of a companion animal.
Tools for Navigating Pet Loss
Guilt and second-guessing are incredibly common after losing a pet. This free 8-page worksheet offers gentle reflection prompts to help you explore the what-ifs, regrets, and decisions you may keep replaying—while considering what you knew, what you could control, and the choices you were actually facing at the time.
FREE RESOURCEPet Loss Guilt Worksheet
Guilt is incredibly common after losing a pet. This free worksheet offers guided reflection prompts to help you explore guilt, regret, and the difficult “what ifs” that can follow a loss.
Limited-Time Launch Price of $7!
Losing a pet can affect every part of your life—from your routines and sense of home to your identity, nervous system, and emotional well-being.
This 70-page Pet Loss Grief Workbook offers compassionate education, reflection prompts, coping tools, and meaningful exercises to support you after the death of a beloved pet. Created by a licensed therapist, the workbook takes a gentle, trauma-informed approach to grief without imposing a timeline or asking you to “move on.”
Use the pages in order or return to individual exercises whenever you need additional support. There is no pressure to complete every prompt or work through the workbook at a particular pace.
What’s Inside:
Understanding Grief
Why pet loss can hurt so deeply
Disenfranchised grief
Physical, emotional, and cognitive effects of grief
Acute and integrated grief
Common grief myths
Gentle reminders for grieving pet owners
The Tasks of Mourning
Acknowledging the reality of the loss
Making space for the pain of grief
Adjusting to life without your pet
Staying connected while moving forward
Reflection prompts for each task
Working Through Guilt and Self-Blame
Why guilt often appears after pet loss
Caregiving responsibility
Replaying final decisions
Uncertainty surrounding euthanasia
Financial and medical limitations
Relief after prolonged suffering
Hindsight, control, and self-compassion exercises
Caring for Yourself Through Loss
Nervous-system and grounding tools
Caring for the body during grief
A personalized self-care and coping menu
Self-compassion practices
An optional loving-kindness meditation
Remembering and Honoring Your Pet
Continuing bonds
Memory and reflection pages
A letter to your pet
Understanding grief rituals
Ideas for creating a personal memorial ritual
Living Alongside Grief
How grief changes over time
Planning for anniversaries and triggers
Identity after loss and caregiving
The fear of moving forward
Meaning-making
Carrying love forward
An optional reflection about welcoming another pet
The workbook also includes grief-journal pages and additional pet-loss and crisis-support resources.
You Will Receive
One 70-page digital PDF workbook
Immediate digital access after purchase
A printable resource you can complete at your own pace
No physical product will be mailed
How to Use It
Print the complete workbook, choose only the pages that feel relevant, or use a PDF-annotation app to write digitally.
Some exercises may bring up strong emotions. Pause, skip a page, or return later whenever needed. This workbook is designed to support your grief—not rush it.
Please Note
This is a digital download for personal use only. It may not be copied, shared, resold, distributed, or used professionally with clients, groups, workshops, or presentations without a separate professional license.
Because this is a digital product, purchases are generally nonrefundable after download, except where required by law. Please contact me at hi@therapywithchaucee.com if you experience a problem accessing your file.
Important Disclaimer
This workbook is intended for educational and self-reflection purposes only. It is not therapy, counseling, medical care, diagnosis, or treatment. Purchasing or completing this workbook does not create a therapist-client relationship.
Created by Chaucee Stillman, MA, LPCC
LPCC.0025130PET LOSS WORKBOOKNavigating Pet Loss & Grief
A more comprehensive workbook designed to support you through pet loss at your own pace, with education, reflection prompts, and exercises for understanding grief, working through difficult emotions, practicing self-compassion, and maintaining a meaningful connection with your pet.
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