Dream about a euthanized pet

I had the strangest dream about my recently deceased dog last night. I was standing with my dog in front of an elevator in an academic building. She got in the elevator with a woman, & the door closed in my face, preventing me from getting on with them. Assuming she would be on the second floor, I went there & scoured the floor looking for her. I started to panic when I couldn't find her there, so I searched floor to floor looking. I woke up without finding her. It was one of the most vivid dreams I've had in a long time. I wonder what the significance of the elevator & woman was.

I wonder if you believe in God it a higher power.
The woman was this higher power.
The building definitely signifies enlightenment. The elevator is ascending to higher planes of existence.
The whole thing is (adjust here for your beliefs), your dog is moving on to the next step in the afterlife. Be at peace with this. I believe this doggy to have achieved enlightenment at this stage of existence and to have been rewarded.

I'm an agnostic, but your interpretation does make a lot of sense. That's what puzzled me...Since I don't believe (or am a skeptic) why did I dream this? It's kind of made me question my beliefs. Thanks for responding.

The dream mirrors your separation from your dog. It just was your mind processing this. The dream also mirrors your learning in life.

I think it has to do with learning, I could be wrong.

I still have dreams about my cocker spaniel, euthanasized over 20-years-ago. I loved her dearly, she was just a terrific pet, but she had also been a gift from my father, and he died some years before her.

There’s significance, I think, in the manner of your dog’s death and I think that informs the remainder of your dream. The academic building could imply ‘testing’ or ‘learning,’ and the elevator is certainly the location of your dog’s death. (Were you present during the procedure? Did the procedure take place at a vet’s office?) Did a woman assist in any way with the euthanasia? She could be a assistant of some kind. I think that you’ve not yet accepted the fate of your dog, the reason that you keep searching floor to floor; but you know that she’s dead, that she cannot be found.

So, my interpretation: the elevator and the woman represent the place and agent of your dog’s euthanasia. The disappearance of your dog means that you intellectually recognize that she’s dead but your search means that you’ve not completely accepted her death.

I believe that dreams have meanings although I’ve had some shrinks that dismiss the idea, fearing it “too Freudian.” Bollocks.