My Dog is dying.

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My Dog has cancer and he's being put down soon as it has spread to his brain and the radiotherapy didn't work. My question isn't about how I can cope but quite the opposite. I was told he was being put down today and despite having him for 14 years I felt normal. My siblings are crying at the moment and my mum said she was unhappy as I asked whether she was happy because she wasn't crying so I wasn't sure how she felt. Has anyone else had a pet or person die and not feel anything because I feel as though I should be sad but I'm not and I think that if I tell my Mum I feel nothing she will be angry.

I hope this made sense,
thanks.

I have had the problem where it just does not compute. The fact is just not getting through to me. When it does get through, for me, it is despair.

That happened when my first dog died. I felt really numb to the whole situation. I also remember feeling a bit guilty that I didn't cry like everyone else. Even though it seems so ridiculous now, back then I was convinced I was a psychopath.

I think it will be different when it's time for my current dog to die. The emotional connections in my brain have sort of strengthened with age. Plus all the cognitive behavior therapy that I've been receiving seems to help.

Of course. Sometimes it just doesn't hit you the way it does others. Happened to me several times.

Except for 3 of them, I bawled my head off when the dogs I had growing up died. I wish I had a dog now, but the landlord doesn't allow pets.

When my father and step father died I felt numb too, I didn’t really have any emotions at all. My mom now has terminal cancer and I don’t have any negative feelings or grief about it. I do wonder sometimes if something is wrong with me, or if it’s just my way of dealing with it. I can’t express way one would feel like this I only know that grief to me is a private matter and the individual should be left to deal with it in their own way unless it’s unhealthy.

I am so sorry to hear this =( I have been through it with my beloved canine daughter, Boo. She passed away 6 months ago. We delayed moving from up north, as we had a good vet up there who was treating Boo with chemo. It did help it yet unfortunately after we moved several months in Boo started not doing well again. I am greatful for the time that the chemo was able to give her. I am actually crying for you as it's sad. I love dogs, and have been in the similar situation.

It depends on how close you were to your family dog. My dog was like a daughter to me.

Yet sometimes when people or animals we love pass away its like the emotions just aren't there.
Is there a possibility that the mind can blunt emotions for us so that we don't suffer through emotions longer than necessary?

I've had a lot of relatives die and i did not show emotional at all. I may have cried one time very short and been done. It doesn't mean i don't mourn or care it just seems a reaction how i react.
Some people don't show emotion or cry until a month later or whenever it hits them if it does. Like a delayed reaction type thing.

Everyone shows emotion differently. When a loved one dies, obviously people expect us to be sad and upset by it.
I know it's a family pet, i'd probably be crying with your siblings, that just me though.
There's been family funerals where i didn't shed a tear at all i wouldn't have been capable. Not for lack of caring, its just not there.

Its OK to not feel sad. The main thing is to understand that others may and be respectful of their feelings at this time.

I've been in similar situations. I handle grief differently than most people. When something like this has happened to me I just feel numb and I don't cry.
Don't worry about it, it doesn't mean you don't care.

I always had problems with certain breeds in the past mom and dad had to put down. My best friends I had (in no particular order), were collies, Shelties (my best friend from high school till I moved to Chicago in 1986. Mom had to put her down 2 weeks after dad died. I definitely lost it, especially since I was working for a major library automation firm at the time. Thank God the president of the company lived in the same town I was living in at the time. He had me come up to his house, and bawled right along with me. That dog was estimated to be 25 when mom put her down.), basset hounds, border collies, and bloodhounds.

One of the guys here at the townhouse has his wife and 2 kids staying here. They have a French Bulldog. That dog hasn't quite figured out yet.

Sweet Pea hugs