Scooter, the black and gray Maltese-poodle mix, could never leave his owner alone.
Scooter waited in the bathroom as Lee Rigby showered. He rode around town in her car and stayed by while she worked. He slept with her.
After her son's death, Rigby often sat on her bed and cried. Scooter would place his paw on her face.
"He was just my best friend," Rigby said.
Scooter's eyesight and hearing eventually failed. And after 17 years together, Rigby knew she had to be the one to initiate the separation.
She took him to the vet and told him she loved him before he was put to sleep.
"That did me in, I couldn't go through this," Rigby said. "It was like losing part of the family."
Rigby, who lives in Kaysville, filled her house with animals — dogs, cats, goats, gerbils, hamsters. She felt it taught her children responsibility and about the cycle of life.
The loss of a pet can be especially tough for tender-hearted children who consider the pet their best friend. It can be the first time children experience death, said veterinarian Alan Blain Cunningham.
But children also are free to openly grieve for their pet and often accept death sooner than adults, many of whom consider such grief silly and keep their feelings inside, said the American Fork veterinarian.
"They're so honest. They don't have all the hang-ups," said Cunningham, also a self-published author. "They take things at face value and move on."
Cunningham recently finished "Fragile Tears: Stories and Guidance for Youth on the Passing Away of Beloved Animal Companions" and has mailed copies to all 560 elementary schools in Utah.
There are many books for younger children on the death of pets, but there are not a lot of books for older children.
"I think it validates how kids really feel," said Betsy Hunt, principal at Longview Elementary School, which received the book.
Cunningham was not trained in veterinary school to help people mourn a pet, but when he began practicing, the topic was inescapable.
In "On Death and Dying," a book written about 30 years ago, Elisabeth Kubler Ross identified five stages people experience in grief: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, acceptance.
People move through the same stages when the loved one who dies is a pet, Cunningham said. Cunningham says such grief is perfectly natural because of the bond people have with their animals.
"I think (pets) are genuine, pure, honest. They don't have ulterior motives or agendas. I don't think there's a lot of that in the world today," Cunningham said. "It's pure love there."
He advises children to draw pictures of their beloved pets, sing songs, keep journals and talk with their parents.
"For some people, the grief process can take a lifetime," he said.
Some people feel guilty about getting another pet after their beloved pal dies.
"They need to learn to be able to love another animal. They're not replacing it. They're honoring the memory of that animal by being able to love another," Cunningham said.
Cunningham's most recent book is a compilation of short stories of the lives and deaths of pets. Many stories were written by people who in the past sought him out for help with grief.
When Cunningham lost his Boston terrier — Pug — he grieved through writing his first book on the topic, "Sleeping With Angels."
"Since then I've written four other books about animals that have passed away," he said. "I've been told everyone has a book inside of them."
Cunningham also has a support group that meets to discuss loss of a pet and a hotline to help people cope. For more information, visit www.petangelsutah.com.
E-mail: lhancock@desnews.com