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We almost always had 2 or 3 dogs, so it wasn't as hard of a decision to make (there was usually a pet left behind when one died).

some losses were easier to get over than others though. There was one dog in particular who was so beloved, it was probably several years before we rescued another one.

When my dog was hit by a car and died I was traumatized. Full blown hysterical tears for a few days. He was mine and my husbands baby at the time. I was in love with that dog. But we got two new dogs less than a month after, and we both started to move on, and feel a bit better. I really don't think I would have been able to accept my dogs death as quickly if I didn't have the new ones to look after.....

My parents' dog died last April and they were heartbroken. They both said they would never get another dog because they didn't want to go through losing one again. They're getting a new puppy on Saturday I think after a while they just couldn't stand being at home without a dog in the house.

I'm the type to want to move on, so I would get one pretty quickly. My mom's dog died almost 10 years ago, and she's only just now ready to even consider getting another. So we're very different there. I feel like the emptiness of having no dog would be harder than not having my old dog that I had loved. She felt the opposite.

My DH's dog got hit by a car in front of him when he was around 6 or 7, and he carried it home. He was so traumatized he was never interested in another dog until I wanted one when we got married, when he was 23.

With my parents last two dogs they've waited about a year between. If it were up to my mom it would've been sooner but it takes my dad longer to get over things.

We had a dog and cat and our dog passed away in July a couple years ago. He actually passed away about a month before our wedding, so DH and I didn't really have time to think about getting another animal. In addition, we had changes in our job that made it so we were away from the home longer than we did before and getting another dog didn't seem realistic.

We ended up getting a second cat in October, three months later, but what prompted it was our cat got really depressed after our dog passed away and needed a companion. Now our two cats are BFFs. I miss our dog every day, but not enough where it prevents us from getting another one.

We had two dogs when our cat died. DH was all for getting a new cat, but I kept saying "the next creature that enters this house is going to be a human." We knew we would be TTC soon and I thought three pets and a baby would be too much. I absolutely would have gotten a new cat if we didn't have the dogs.

We lost our dog two years ago, and I'm just now (within the last six months) feeling pretty confidently ready to look into getting another one. DH still isn't there. Right now isn't a great time for us, but I'm hoping in a few months we can start to foster dogs who are waiting for adoption. That seems like a way to ease back into ownership (we already dog sit every chance we get).

Right now we aren't in any position to get a dog, but both my parents and ILs lost dogs that were 15+ years old in the last few years. They've had opposite reactions; my ILs (who always have multiple dogs) got a new one immediately, and I really don't think my parents will ever get another - she was really special and my dad says it was just too heartwrenching to open his heart up to a new dog and go through all that again at some point.