For Paws Hospice Seminar

The learning that you've been looking for!

For Paws Hospice in Clearwater, Florida, is organizing a phenomenal event to guide pet care professionals in the area of pet hospice.  From understanding the elements of pet care in the home to the inevitable death of our precious friends, this full day seminar will be chock full of valuable information for those whose mission is to guide and companion pet parents in the final days of their life.  You won't want to miss this event - for more information, visit http://www.ForPawsHospice.org.  
I look forward to seeing you in Florida in October!

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The Center for Loss - 2nd Pet Loss Companioning Course

Are you a pet care professional wanting to further your skills in working with grieving families? Join us here!

A rich experience!

"What an insightful and interactive experience.  I enjoyed the group current and contributions--which is a great kudo to Coleen and to Alan."
Helen Buchanan was one of the attendees from the first Pet Loss Companioning course held in 2010.  She, like the other attendees, left from a week at the beautiful and serene Center for Loss in Fort Collins, CO, feeling a new sense of passion in this area of pet loss and grief support.
February 7 - 10, 2011, will be the next Pet Loss Companioning course at the Center for Loss in Colorado.  As the class is filling up quickly, visit the website at the Center For Loss for more information and to register today!
I look forward to seeing you there - and if I can provide further details for you on the course, Contact Me for more information!

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The importance of memorialization items for a family

How to help a family with a visual reminder, something to hold on to of their beloved deceased pet

Remembering those paws and that beautiful Golden fur

It's only been a few short weeks since my beautiful Golden Retriever died.  However, I am like most grieving pet parents, I'm scared that I will forget all of the details about him.  
My step-daughter felt the same way - she wanted to remember everything she could about this dog that grew up with her.  This big love that she remembers coming home from the breeder as a bundle of fur, love and joy.  Yes, we all wanted to remember all of the details as they were such a big part of our life, the star of the chapter in our life story with a title of "Mike The Dog."
Having this frame with his actual paw print in clay as well as a snippet of his fabulous Golden hair is so special to both of us,...  Those big paws that we rubbed for him, to initially relax him but then it ended up having the same effect on us as well!  And, that gorgeous blonde/red fur! How many hours did we brush him, how many times did we vacuum our carpet because of him, and how many times did we fall asleep next to him, with that soft fur as a pillow!  So many memories,..
And, then, most importantly, right next to his paw print and fur clipping is a gorgeous photo of him,.. one that shows his smile.  One that shows his gentle personality.  And, one that shows our Big Boy in all of his glory of loving life.
But, all of this packaged together - a remembrance of the most awesome unconditional love that we all still feel in our hearts to this day.
Guide your families.  Educate them on options like these.  Trust me, they will thank you, they will remember you, and they will forever be grateful that you gave to them a memory to hold onto forever.

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Be a "Go Giver"

A good read as you find your mission with your pet loss business

"The Go-Giver" is a quick read - but a read with ideas for daily life that will certainly stick with you.  Starting with the first law, the Law of Value - "Your true worth is determined by how much more you give in value than you take in payment" - the reader learns that in business, families should always come back to us with the statement that we helped them and created more value for them than the price they paid.  This should be a comment that you ask yourself with every experience that is created for a family and a question that every business owner should challenge their staff in consistently.
There are five laws that Burg and Mann take the reader through - each law building on the previous law - until the end of the book when all of the laws are pulled together to challenge the reader to make some life changes.
A must read for those doing some self-reflection on business and life!

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Grieving as an experience?

How are you helping families to create an experience of grieving and honoring their deceased pet?

Honoring My Precious Mike The Dog

It's been a rough week with the loss of my beautiful Golden Retriever, Mike The Dog.  As a pet care professional, I've companioned literally thousands of families through this very event.  However, now, it was me that needed the companioning as I actively mourned my loss of a very special love.
Human nature many times puts us in a situation where we assume that "if we know it - then everyone else knows it."  Or possibly even as we know everything within our industry so well that we fail to see its importance to those that don't know as much as we know.
Therefore, I actively watched as the pet funeral home we dealt with for Mikey's final arrangements carefully guided my step-daughter through her choices of memorialization items to remember her dog.  Choices that in many funeral homes I see them saying "People don't want those things" or "I don't want to offend a family by educating them on their options."  I was so thankful that the pet funeral home said none of these things and walked her through her choices diligently.  
And, even though I, as her step-Mom, am in the business, there were still many items that she said "Wow - I didn't know that I could do that - I really like that and want it to remember Mikey."
Don't assume you know your families - and don't assume your families know all of the information that you know.  Guide them. Educate them on their choices.  In the end, the family will thank you that you assisted in creating this absolutely beautiful time for them with memorialization items to truly honor and pay tribute to the life that was shared together,...
Rest in peace, Mike The Dog.

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Guiding a family through the loss of their pet

Families "don't know what they don't know" when it comes to their options for memorializing the loss of their pet.

An epitaph that truly sums up a life!

As a pet parent, it's so difficult to instinctively know what the options are to honor a precious little pet when they die.  In our North American culture, it's just not natural for us to say "it's a beautiful day today - let's go get educated on our death care options."  We just don't do that.
So when a family turns to you for guidance during this time, don't assume that they know what they want.  Rest assured, they, more than likely, DO NOT have a clue as to what they want nor what their options are.  
When you are guiding a family, don't hesitate to educate them on all of their options.  If your organization has done it's job of having a variety of memorialization items available for a family to see, then take this opportunity to educate them on these options - as well as other ideas for them to consider.  For example, do you point out cremation jewelry and let them know that these vessels are also a good place to hold a bit of all of the pet parent's fur-kids hair?  Or to consider a keepsake urn for a loving grandparent?  Or maybe a large urn that can be used as a family urn - while all of the pets lived under one roof in life, let them rest under one roof, i.e. in one urn, in death.
How are you guiding your families?  Be a resource.  Help them in an area where they truly "don't know what they don't know."
Because if you are like me, a really bad day for me is when a family says to me "I wish you would've told me about THAT - I would've loved to have done THAT.  But now it's too late."
Be their "companion for their journey."  

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