Dreaming constantly about dead dog

I used to have a border collie named Chance. We had to put him down almost a year ago.

almost every night I have very very vivid dreams about him. It is just dreams of us doing what we always used to do. Going for walking, playing fetch, snuggling on the couch....
I look forward to going to sleep every night in hopes that I will have a dream about him. They are so real, I swear I can feel his fur. Sometimes I wake up thinking he is still alive, only to be dissipointed when I realize it was just a dream.

Is this normal what so ever? I have a history of an anxiety disorder, but I have not been on medication for 5 years or more.

I LOVE having these dreams alomst every night, and I never want to forget about him... but I am not sure its good for my mind to think about it every night.

Why do you think it's not good to have those dreams every night?

I am not sure why I think that. I just have never heard of someone basically having the same dream for almost a year, nearly everynight (i remember them nearly everynight anyway, I may actually dream it every single night)

I realize I am dreaming, so I control playing ball, walking, petting, and it is very wonderful. But in a way I wish I could start to try to let him go. Not forget about him..... but just not dream of him so often.

Am I having these dreams because something is unresolved? I only had this dog for 6 months. He got sick with an unknow illness. Drained my bank account by thousands, and still no one knew what was wrong and he kept getting worse. Then he got better!! We all though that he would be fine. At least for a while. Him being better only lasted a week, and during that week I was so relived he was going to be fine :)

until of course I woke up to find that he was worse than ever. I feel like I didnt do enough for him... if only I had... say 2 thousand more dollars.... just maybe we could had found or fixed what was wrong. I think that haunts me.

Damn... I'm sorry to hear about your dog. In my opinion there's nothing wrong with always dreaming about him... I wish I could dream of my cat.. =/

Thanks a lot to the both of you.

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Originally Posted by ruckusluvr

Am I having these dreams because something is unresolved?.

I feel like I didnt do enough for him... if only I had... say 2 thousand more dollars.... just maybe we could had found or fixed what was wrong. I think that haunts me.

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You answered your own question.

That was very loving and sweet to spend all that money you could to save your dog's life. You did all you could.

Maybe you could talk to your dog in your dream and tell him how much you love him. You don't need to feel guilty, but you do, so apologize in your dream if you feel the need to, just to release the guilt. I am sure your dog loves you unconditionally anyway.

If you feel you need to let go, maybe tell him that you are going to let him go, but he can visit you whenever he wants.

Your dream dog may be a manifestation of your own mind, or it may actually be his spirit visiting you in the night. Who knows? I have spirit guides that I think may be manifestations of my own mind. I lean more to them being real sentient entities, but I still have doubts. Either way, the interaction feels real, and you obviously need to deal with this to help you move on.

wow, that was so helpful. Thank you so much. Got me all teary eyed.

I will have a talk with him tonight. I never thought of actually talking to him and telling him.

Great post wakingnomad...

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Originally Posted by ruckusluvr

wow, that was so helpful. Thank you so much. Got me all teary eyed.

I will have a talk with him tonight. I never thought of actually talking to him and telling him.

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I had a dog that died before his time by a rattlesnake bite while I was away from home in the military. Instead of guilt, I had anger to deal with, because I felt my parents were not doing the right things to get rattlesnakes away from the property. Then, I realized it was the past, and I just had to let it go. My sisters even did CPR on him on the way to the animal hospital.

Whenever there's a sudden death, blame is always part of the grief process. We feel wronged, but we don't really know what it is we feel wronged by, so we always end up blaming someone else (anger) or ourselves (guilt). It's a natural thing that I have observed in my own life, and I don't think it's "bad". It's just part of who we are.

I am glad I could help you, but all I did is just shine a mirror on your own mind. :)