[ToeJam]

Not the best picture of her, but closest to hand:



So today, I went numb and despondent. Mentioned before a weird pressure I get at the back of my head that coincides with these moments... the thought of ending it was overpowering, the wife was out and I just curled up on the sofa wanting and holding onto 'this will pass'.

Sadie came over and just kept nudging me to pet her, then sat still and just stayed with me while the worst of it past (was quite a while). I don't know if pets (in this case dogs) can sense something is wrong... but for what is usually a hyperactive mutt, she is a god send when I'm at home during these times.

Wondering if anyone else has experiences of this kind... do you have pets... do you find that they help you in a way people can't with their questions or bewildered looks?

Thought I'd share regardless.

[Fuzzybear]

no pets here, wish I had

[waterknob1234]

I have a lovable 10 year old American Bulldog/Lab mix. He senses when I feel at my worst and that's when he decides to cuddle the most. I do believe dogs can sense when we feel bad or when something is wrong with us. My dog gives me a reason to keep going when I feel like just giving up.

[TheOriginalMe]

My dog is on my lap right now, curled up asleep. I'm balancing my laptop on a cushion on top of her. This is no tiny pooch either, Tessa is a golden retriever x lab.

She's really good at taking care of me and for the past few days she has stayed really close to me. She definitely knows when my moods plummet.

[waiting4]

I have a maltese mix (a rescue) and he has rescued me more times than I can count. The last several months were beyond awful...so much hurt, rejection....I cried at least once a day spontaniously (and often when I thought I was finally feeling 'even')..or I'd just cry all day, everyday for nearly 6 months.

He always knew....I could be morphing my face into a howl of pain--but trying to be quiet so as not to upset him--and he would come running from the other room and would press his face into mine...on more than one ocassion he would literally lick the tears from my face as I bawled, unable to stop crying.

Ultimately, even without that support, he kept me from suicide, for one simple reason...there is no one to take him if I'm gone. And I refused to be the one to deliberately put him back in the shelter where he came from---he'd been there since Feb the year I adopted him in June. He was traumatized. I can't do that to him again.

Pets help....so much.

[greentires4me]

I am going to go get one a cat...but i am waiting to go get one from my mom driving to me to a shelter

[Nammu]

When I was a child I had the most horrible migraines, I couldn't stand to have anything touching me, not clothes, sheet anything. I would often lay on the bathroom floor near the tolet were it was coolest and my dog, a mut that looked like a bearded collie, would come lay near me. She usually preferred to right on top of me but during these times she somehow knew and would always lay a close as she could without to touching me. She wasn't actually allowed in the bedrooms or the bathroom but when someone was sick she would do that belly crawl into the room. After my mother had surgery she would go into their bedroom and lay at the foot of the bed on the floor and only left to go outside and to eat.
Sir, my cat always knows when I'm down and will come snuggle with me.

Yes I believe animals have a way to sense these things, whether of not they act on it depends on the animal its self. Sometimes I think humans would be better at understanding each other if they talked less and used other methods to sense things instead.

My pets help me a lot when I'm really bad. I have a dog, a cat and a hamster. The hamster is very old and wobbly bless him, not got long left but he is a pet none the less and I will be sad to see him go. I am definitely a cat person, I feel so content when my cat is curled up on my lap, what more could I need? my dog takes it to a different level though. Dogs do have some kind understanding of how we feel. He looks at me in such a concerned way sometimes when I'm feeling really bad. And when I cry he will lick my tears away without fail. He lets me just cuddle him and lie on him until I calm down. He's a lab so is big enough to handle it

[ToeJam]

Appears that 3 of us have labs then. The above picture does her no justice as she was upside down in my arms (and not quite the heavy lump she is now) but she's a chocolate lab. They are fantastic dogs, wouldn't trade her for the world.

[SeekerOfLife]

No pets--landlord says no!

Labs are the best, and no not biased

[TheOriginalMe]

Originally Posted by seekersinking

No pets--landlord says no!

What a mean landlord.

[spychic]

i did lots of sobbing today. and last night while on the phone with my mom. my dog bodhi who is 12.7 months old licks my face profusely usually and lets me fall asleep on him. my little girl who is 2 yo just tries to engage me in play or she'll snuggle up and force me to love on her and pet her. she puts her paw on my face to get me to wake up after i have slept all day. but still, i couldn't generate enough energy to walk them. they just got to hang out in the yard a few times during the day. but it's not fair that i cannot be the companion they deserve when i feel this way.

[waiting4]

Originally Posted by spychic

i did lots of sobbing today. and last night while on the phone with my mom. my dog bodhi who is 12.7 months old licks my face profusely usually and lets me fall asleep on him. my little girl who is 2 yo just tries to engage me in play or she'll snuggle up and force me to love on her and pet her. she puts her paw on my face to get me to wake up after i have slept all day. but still, i couldn't generate enough energy to walk them. they just got to hang out in the yard a few times during the day. but it's not fair that i cannot be the companion they deserve when i feel this way.

I've felt the same when I finally slept at 1 or 2am but couldn't get up until after noon the next day...so guilty. I'd force myself up so I could take my baby outside to relieve himself, (silent prayer of gratitude he didn't have an 'accident' and his kidneys didn't explode).....day after day after day after day...always the same. Because of him, I actually did get up. If not for him, I'd have been in bed forever.

They understand. I know it. Trust me, yours understands too. Pets (in my experience dogs, but I'm sure it is with other animals that love a human) know when their human is hurting, and they don't judge or demand...they accept (because they always live in the 'here and now') that things are not good for their human and they do what they can to help (licking faces, burying their nose in the place between neck and shoulder...nudging their person to get up). They have no consideration of what happened yesterday. They only know 'today' and what is happening with their person, today.

I'm so much better now, but even writing this, makes me cry a bit and my baby came over, tail wagging, eyes wide and questioning. So I sit up...wipe tears away quickly, and pat his head.

Humans...the only ones who pretend they're okay, even if the are not, to spare another pain.

You're fortunate....don't feel guilty. If they could talk, they would tell you they don't understand such a concept. To them...love is caring....and they just care....no matter the event, the time, the date, the subject. They just care.

[WhaleCrap]

Pets are very perceptive as to their owner's moods. My late wife had epilepsy, and we had cats that could tell if she was going to have a seizure before she did. Watch your pets behavior--they know more than what you think!

[gayleggg]

I absolutly believe animals since our pain. Some show it more than other. I had a poodle once that would never leave my side if I was sick are depressed. She was the most intuitive one I ever had. I had her for a wonderful 16 years. But the maltese I have now will curl up at my feet when I curl up in bed and don't want to see any humans. She will however leave me for food.

[ToeJam]

Originally Posted by gayleggg

She will however leave me for food.

For what has been a real crappy night... that last line made a laugh escape! Thank you.

Mine is exactly the same... food obsessed (got to be so careful with what's left around... if it can be chewed, it's fair game lol).

I love pets. They help me a lot and making them happy makes me feel better as well.