When our family dog died a couple of weeks ago, we had to deal with the loss with great difficulty. After all, he was the sweetest, most loyal and compassionate dog we ever had. And we had quite a few. None of the others could compare to him. After being done with the problem of burying him, it was time to deal with pet merchandise that we collected in the 17 years that he lived with us.

Some of his things were buried with him, like his towel. His bath basin was thoroughly washed and put in storage. When we find it in ourselves to get a replacement for our lost pet, it will come in handy. His cosmetic things like soap, shampoos and powders were collected together with left over vitamin supplements. They were given away to relatives who had pet dogs. What I kept as a souvenir was a designer dog collar and leash which was hardly used.