Recommended Reading
A collection of works to help you HEAL your heart
We have selected the books listed here for you. You will find books that cater to all age groups and backgrounds as well as professional and educational works.
Please contact us if you would like assistance in choosing a book.
Blessing the Bridge: What Animals Teach Us About Death, Dying...
Like a hospice worker, author Rita M. Reynolds cares for sick and dying animals, helping them comfortably cross the threshold into death. She shares stories about dogs, cats, a donkey, a cow, ducks, goats, and even baby wild mice she...
Adult, Pet Loss & Bereavement
Rita M. Reynolds
Crossing the Rubicon: Celebrating the Human-Animal Bond in Life and...
A gentle, helpful guide to surviving losing a loved animal companion. The interviews with experts, vets and shared wisdom from those who've lost a pet and survived to celebrate their beloved animal's life will help you find validation by knowing...
Adult, Pet Loss & Bereavement, Professionals
Julie A. Kaufman
Death, Society, and Human Experience, 10th edition
This landmark text on the sociology of death and dying draws on contributions from the social and behavioral sciences as well as the humanities, such as history, religion, philosophy, literature, and the arts, to provide thorough coverage of understanding death...
Adult, Educational, Pet Loss & Bereavement, Professionals
Robert J. Kastenbaum
Grief and Loss: Theories and Skills for the Helping Professions
Grief and Loss: Theories and Skills for the Helping Professions, 2/e, allows readers to see how essential theories and skills will enhance their own practice. They will gain the core knowledge and skills needed to work with individuals, families, groups, and...
Adult, Educational, Guide, Pet Loss & Bereavement, Professionals
Katherine Walsh
Grieving the Death of a Pet
Because our relationships with our animal companions are unlike human relationships, the death of a pet is like no other loss that we will experience. In this book, Betty J. Carmack draws on the wisdom of Ecclesiastes, her own experience,...
Adult, Guide, Pet Loss & Bereavement
Betty J. Carmack
Healing A Child’s Pet Loss Grief: A Guide for Parents
Is your child suffering from the loss of their pet and you want to know how to help them? Discover a step-by-step guide to navigating the emotional journey of your child and family when losing a beloved pet. Are you...
Adult, Children, Family, Guide, Pet Loss & Bereavement
Wendy Van de Poll
Healing the Pain of Pet Loss: Letters in Memoriam
This book is a collection of inspiring and often heart-wrenching letters written to the author about their own experiences with losing a beloved pet. Representing a wide variety of grief experiences, this one-of-a-kind book takes an intimate look at the...
Adult, Educational, Pet Loss & Bereavement, Professionals
Kymberly Smith
In-Home Pet Euthanasia Techniques: The Veterinarian’s Guide to Helping Families...
I originally created this book to train my own doctors on the intricacies of in-home euthanasia. Within the first year of writing, I began receiving calls from veterinarians around the country looking for guidance as they began their own similar...
Adult, Educational, Illustrated, Pet Loss & Bereavement, Professionals
Dr Kathleen A Cooney DVM
Just One More Day
If you, or someone you know, have ever had to put a dog to sleep, then you will know the pain and guilt surrounding this most difficult decision of dog euthanasia. Are we playing God, or are we fulfilling a...
Adult, Guide, Pet Loss & Bereavement, Self-Help, Teen, Young Adult
Geoffrey Bain
Kindred Spirit, Kindred Care: Making Health Decisions on Behalf of...
Pets are now considered family members, and at the same time, profound changes are taking place in veterinary medicine. Procedures formerly available only for people are now also options for animals, giving rise to both tougher decisions and higher costs....
Adult, Guide, Pet Loss & Bereavement
Shannon Fujimoto Nakaya
Loving and Losing a Pet: A Psychologist and a Veterinarian...
Michael Stern, PhD, is a clinical psychologist practicing in New York and New Jersey. He is an adjunct associate professor at Teachers' College of Columbia University, and a clinical supervisor in a number of other academic institutes. He has worked...
Adult, Guide, Pet Loss & Bereavement
Michael Stern, Susan Cropper
Made for Each Other: The Biology of the Human-Animal Bond
Nothing turns a baby's head more quickly than the sight or sound of an animal. This fascination is driven by the ancient chemical forces that first drew humans and animals together. It is also the same biology that transformed wolves...
Adult, Educational, Pet Loss & Bereavement, Professionals
Meg Daley Olmert
Pack of Two: The Intricate Bond Between People and Dogs
At the age of 36, Caroline Knapp, author of the acclaimed bestseller Drinking:A Love Story, found herself confronted with a monumental task: redefining her world. She had faced the loss of both her parents, given up a twenty-year relationship with...
Adult, Dog Lovers, Educational, Inspirational, Pet Loss & Bereavement
Caroline Knapp
Pet Loss & Human Emotion
This updated edition of Pet Loss and Human Emotion is a step-by-step guide to leading clients through this special kind of grief. Includes resources and a section on pet loss and natural disasters. As society accepts that grieving over the death of...
Adult, Educational, Guide, Pet Loss & Bereavement, Professionals
Cheri Barton Ross
Pet Loss and Children: Establishing a Healthy Foundation
Explaining the concept of death to a child is a very difficult, confusing, and uncomfortable experience for a parent, educator, or therapist, and it is a topic that is often first introduced by the loss of a pet - sometimes...
Adult, Educational, Pet Loss & Bereavement, Professionals
Cheri Barton Ross
Saying Goodbye to the Pet You Love (A Complete Resource...
From a psychologist with twenty years of experience as a pet bereavement specialist, comes the first title to offer cognitive tools and exercises for validating and supporting the particular grief that results from the loss of a pet. When a...
Adult, Guide, Pet Loss & Bereavement, Self-Help, Young Adult
Lorri A. Greene
So Sorry for Your Loss: How I Learned to Live...
A searching, heartfelt exploration about what it means to process grief, by a bestselling author and journalist whose experience with two devastating losses inspired her to bring comfort and understanding to others. Since losing her mother to cancer in 2018...
Adult, Great Gift, Inspirational, Pet Loss & Bereavement, Young Adult
Dina Gachman
Surviving the Heartbreak of Choosing Death for Your Pet
Adult, Guide, Pet Loss & Bereavement, Self-Help
Linda Mary Peterson
Tails from Beyond the Paw Print: Twenty-two stories of love,...
Since 2009, attendees of Beyond the Paw Print Pet Loss Support Group meetings have found validation of their grief as they shared their stories of love, loss, and lessons learned in a caring, judgment-free atmosphere. It has long been Dr....
Adult, Family, Great Gift, Inspirational, Pet Loss & Bereavement, Teen, Young Adult
Micky Golden Moore
The Grief Recovery Handbook for Pet Loss
If you’ve found yourself almost inconsolable after your pet died, please know that you’re normal. If you’ve found that your family and friends don’t seem to understand the level of your grief, please know that, too, is normal. Without comparing...
Adult, Guide, Pet Loss & Bereavement, Self-Help
Russell Friedman, Cole James, John W. James