The Funeral.com Journal

Resources to help you create tributes as unique as the people (and pets) you love. Learn how engraving, photos, colors, and symbols add meaning; discover scattering rituals and at-home memorial ideas. We focus on the details that matter—because small choices can carry a lifetime of comfort.

How to Help a Pet Who Is Grieving a Companion

How to Help a Pet Who Is Grieving a Companion

The first sign is often the quiet. A dog who usually trots to the kitchen when the bag rustles stays curled on the rug. A cat who used to patrol...

Maintaining Bonds After Loss: Continuing Connections and Memory Rituals

Maintaining Bonds After Loss: Continuing Connections and Memory Rituals

The quiet shock of losing a pet is often followed by an even quieter question: What happens to the relationship now? In the days after a goodbye—whether it came after...

Pet Loss and Trauma Responses: When the Grief Feels Overwhelming

Pet Loss and Trauma Responses: When the Grief Feels Overwhelming

There are pet losses that ache in a familiar way—sadness, missing them at the door, reaching for the leash out of habit. And then there are losses that don’t just...

Fostering After Loss: A Bridge Between Grief and Ownership

Fostering After Loss: A Bridge Between Grief and Ownership

The first quiet after a pet dies can feel like a new kind of silence—one that follows you from room to room. You might still pause at the cabinet where...

The Single-Pet Household: Adjusting from a Pack of Two to One

The Single-Pet Household: Adjusting from a Pack of Two to One

There’s a moment many multi-pet families recognize after a loss: you hear the familiar jingle of tags in your memory, but not in your hallway. You look down and expect...

Children and Pet Loss: The "Rainbow Bridge" Explanation vs. Biological Truth

Children and Pet Loss: The "Rainbow Bridge" Explanation vs. Biological Truth

When a pet dies, adults often feel two kinds of pain at once: the ache of missing a beloved companion, and the fear of saying the wrong thing to a...

Pet Loss FAQ Mega-Guide: 100 Quick Answers on Grief, Cremation, Ashes, Urns & Memorial Jewelry

Pet Loss FAQ Mega-Guide: 100 Quick Answers on Grief, Cremation, Ashes, Urns & Memorial Jewelry

In the days after a pet dies, the questions can feel endless and unexpectedly urgent. You’re navigating grief while also facing decisions you never imagined having to make. Even well-meaning...

Do Dogs Grieve? Recognizing Depression in Surviving Pets

Do Dogs Grieve? Recognizing Depression in Surviving Pets

The first thing many families notice isn’t dramatic. It’s quiet. The house feels “off,” even if you’re trying to keep everything normal. You still reach for the second leash out...

Secondary Guilt: When You Cry More for Your Pet Than a Passed Relative

Secondary Guilt: When You Cry More for Your Pet Than a Passed Relative

There’s a particular kind of shame that can sneak in after a loss—quiet, sharp, and surprisingly persistent. It’s the feeling that your grief has somehow “betrayed” your family. You might...

Regretting the Vet Choice: Making Peace with Medical Trauma

Regretting the Vet Choice: Making Peace with Medical Trauma

The regret usually arrives after the hardest part is already over. At first, you’re simply trying to keep your pet alive, comfortable, and close. You’re making decisions in a fluorescent...

Financial Guilt: "If I Had More Money, Could I Have Saved Them?"

Financial Guilt: "If I Had More Money, Could I Have Saved Them?"

If you’ve found yourself replaying the same thought on a loop—If I had more money, could I have saved them?—you’re not alone. Financial guilt after a pet’s death has a...

Behavioral Euthanasia: The Unique Stigma of Putting a Dangerous Dog Down

Behavioral Euthanasia: The Unique Stigma of Putting a Dangerous Dog Down

There are losses that arrive with casseroles and sympathy cards. And then there are losses that arrive with silence. If you have made—or are facing—the decision often called behavioral euthanasia,...

Did They Know I Loved Them? An Animal Communicator’s Perspective

Did They Know I Loved Them? An Animal Communicator’s Perspective

There’s a particular kind of grief that shows up after a pet dies—quiet, sharp, and strangely specific. It’s not only “I miss them,” or “the house feels empty.” It’s the...

I Killed My Best Friend: Forgiving Yourself After Making the Euthanasia Call

I Killed My Best Friend: Forgiving Yourself After Making the Euthanasia Call

There’s a sentence some people whisper only in their heads, because it feels too ugly to say out loud: “I killed my best friend.” If you’re here, you may be...

The First 72 Hours: A Survival Guide for Acute Pet Grief

The First 72 Hours: A Survival Guide for Acute Pet Grief

In the first hours after a pet dies, time can feel unreal. Your body may be moving—making calls, finding a towel, staring at a collar on the floor—while your mind...

The Empty House Syndrome: Coping with the Silence After They’re Gone

The Empty House Syndrome: Coping with the Silence After They’re Gone

When a pet dies, grief doesn’t only live in your heart. It lives in your hallways, your kitchen corners, the spot by the window, the worn path between the couch...