After Pet Loss, When Is It Time To Get Another Pet?

Episode Title: When To Get Another Pet After Loss (Are You Ready?)
Host: Amy Castro
Guest: Carla Bosacki

Summary:
After losing a beloved pet, one of the hardest questions is whether and when to bring another one into your life. In this episode, Amy is joined by Carla Bosacki, host of A Dog’s Devotion, to explore the emotional, practical, and deeply personal factors behind this decision. From guilt and comparison to loneliness and readiness, this conversation helps pet parents navigate what comes next in a way that feels right for them.

Chapters:

 00:00 When Is It Time To Get Another Pet?
 02:26 Carla’s Story After Losing Max
 07:16 Why Grief And Timing Look Different For Everyone
 10:01 The Guilt Of Replacing A Pet
 12:05 Why Getting A Different Pet Can Help
 14:26 Is There Such A Thing As Too Soon?
 20:41 Questions To Ask Before Getting Another Pet
 26:42 Financial And Lifestyle Readiness
 28:45 Final Thoughts On Guilt, Timing, And Readiness
 31:06 About Carla’s Podcast 

Transcript

Amy Castro, host (00:00)

After losing a beloved pet, how do you know when it's time to get another one? For some people, loving another pet helps them heal. For others, waiting feels right. Today we're unpacking both sides and what may be really driving the decision. And if you found this episode because you lost your pet and you're stuck between missing them and wondering what comes next, you're in the right place.

You've reached the Pet Parent Hotline, your lifeline to practical solutions for your toughest pet parenting challenges. I'm your host Amy Castro, and I'm here to help you cut through the noise and turn expert advice into step-by-step strategies so you can stop chasing your tail and start enjoying life with pets again.

In this episode, we're talking about one of the hardest questions people face after losing a beloved pet. When or whether it's time to get another one. Today I'm joined by Carla Bosaki. Carla is a former national television anchor and the host of A Dog's Devotion, a podcast that celebrates the deep bond between humans and their dogs. For more than 15 years, her voice and presence were familiar to millions of Canadians as an anchor for global TV. But one of the most meaningful chapters of her life began far from the newsroom

with a rescue dog named Max. After his sudden passing, Carla created her podcast in his honor and through it, she explores stories about rescue, health, grief, and senior pet care. So this is gonna be a really honest, thoughtful conversation about loss, readiness, and how to make this decision in a way that feels right for you without guilt and without pressure either way. So Carla, welcome to the show.

Carla Bosacki (01:47)

Thank you, Amy. I'm actually so glad that we finally connected. It took us a little bit, didn't it?

Amy Castro, host (01:52)

It did. I kind of thought maybe it wasn't going to happen, but you were persistent, I was persistent. That's always a good thing. And I think this is such an interesting topic because it's something that I see a lot in rescue and obviously have experienced personally and you have as well. And the big question being when to get another pet after you lose a pet or maybe even if to get another pet. There's a lot of people that I see that struggle with that as well.

Has it been more than a year and a half since Max passed?

Carla Bosacki (02:23)

This August 21st, it'll be two years.

Amy Castro, host (02:26)

Two years, okay. And you still have not gotten another dog.

Carla Bosacki (02:29)

I did, I got one in December.

Amy Castro, host (02:31)

Okay, so it was a good year plus you wait.

Carla Bosacki (02:35)

It was, was

honestly, Amy, I didn't think that I was going to get another one, but I keep looking at all these dog rescue photos and on my Instagram account and there is a rescue here in Miami. And I just thought, you know, I'm just gonna, I'm just gonna go. And so that's how it happened. It wasn't planned. I didn't go out there thinking I'm coming home with a dog. It just, it just happened.

Amy Castro, host (03:02)

Yeah, I kind of want to explore that because I'm one of those people that I'm probably more likely to dive right in, maybe not the next day, but pretty quick. Like, can you talk a little bit about what that process was, you after Max passed? I'm sure it crossed your mind at some point to get another dog, but then it didn't happen.

Carla Bosacki (03:21)

⁓ Let me say that losing Max was the hardest thing I'd ever gone through in my life, ever. At my age, I had never lost a parent. I'd never lost a friend. I mean, I'd gone through breakups with boyfriends, but nothing hit me so hard as losing my dog. Because my dog came with me to work, because my hours at the television station were in the evening. I worked from 3 to 11. I didn't go out. We spent all day together.

We spent all night together. spent weekends together. He came with me everywhere I went. He came to the studio with me. Everybody loved him. Max would sometimes walk across the camera and you would see his little white fluffy tail as I'm anchoring. And so they always would write me and say, can you put Max on TV? Cause you want to see more of them. So he was my life and he died really suddenly. I did not expect it. was the way he passed was horrific. but

⁓ I was in bed for two weeks and I thought there's no way I could ever get another dog. I felt like I was cheating on him. I felt like I was not honoring him. And I felt that there's no way another dog can compare to Max. That's what I thought originally. And it's funny because everybody is different. So I just want to say that some people said to me, Carla, go out there and get another dog right away. It's the best thing for your heart.

You're gonna save another dog. It's gonna give you so much love and so much joy. And some people said, you know, just take your time. Everybody really goes through the grieving process differently. Somebody said to me, why don't you ask Max to give you a sign about when it's time to get another dog? And I believe in signs. believe in the universe. I believe in karma. I believe in all of that.

my place in Mexico City, have hummingbirds all over and they all came after Max died. And in Mexico, they believe that a hummingbird is a loved one coming back into your life just to say, hello, I'm here. And so when I would be sitting outside on my balcony drinking coffee and the hummingbird would come over my head, it would be, ⁓ Max is here. And so I...

I lived a very lonely life without Max for a year and a half. mean, going for a walk by yourself is not the same as walking your dog. Going for a hike in the woods is, I didn't even do that anymore because it wasn't fun. I did it because Max would run and we'd play and we would spend hours in the ravine and I didn't want to do that by myself. So all I did was sit in bed. But a year and a half, I

I got a sign from Max and this rescue popped up on my feed and it was in the city that I'm in right now. And I thought, I'm going to go over there and see what she has. And this dog came out and I picked it up and I phoned my partner and I showed the dog and I said, I got to have them. Can I bring them home? So that was it.

know, Max is always in my mind. He's still on my phone. I still look at his photos every day. I have a little altar for him. And every time I go to the beach, I bring home seashells and I put them on his little box with his ashes and his name on it. I light candles all the time. I say a prayer to him every day. He's in my life every day. But I do believe he gave me.

Smoky, which is my which is my new dog and it just feels right now for me

Amy Castro, host (07:16)

Yeah. Yeah. So that's interesting because ⁓ for me, and maybe it's because I've always had multiple dogs and maybe it's because I've never had my dog. Like the closest I've ever come to having Amy's dog per se was my golden retriever that I had through high school and college. But he was really the family dog, but I'm the one that did all of his training and caretaking and...

He was a super special dog. But beyond that, I mean, I got married straight. I mean, I wasn't even graduated college yet and I was married. And so I've never been alone. So the pets always been shared. And I'm also somebody that's always had multiples. Like there's always been a dog and a cat or two dogs or right now I've got six pets and see,

Carla Bosacki (08:01)

That's a really interesting point, Amy, because it's so different. When I was single, and I had been single for 10 years, except for Max. so he was my whole life. That's so different from you, where you had a partner and you had multiple dogs or cats. That's different. You've got other ones that you can go to for that love and support. I had nothing.

Amy Castro, host (08:29)

Yeah.

Yeah. It's a good point. you know, but I also, and I've noticed as I have been slowing down in my rescue work and focusing more on my own pets, I've realized that over the last couple of years, the relationship between my pets and me and the way that I perceive them has been very, very different. Like, you know, Max was your partner, your buddy, your guy, and with you 24-7 kind of thing. And my pets kind of became

especially at the height of the rescue. When you've got 40 plus animals to care for, it's like a herd. And so it's like, okay, all dogs outside, all dogs inside, all dogs, here's your food. And there's no time for that one-on-one relationship building, which I'm kind of now backtracking and doing some. I really feel like over the last year or so, the closeness with my pets has kind of, I don't know if it's come back or has grown.

And it's just a very different relationship. So I can see a little bit of a glimpse of how people might feel when they're one and only, when you're really focused on them. ⁓ So you mentioned some of the things that people have said to you. I wanted to kind of explore some of these thoughts that can, I think, make it harder to make a decision about getting a new pet. So, you know, one of the things that people will say is, well, if I get a pet too soon, then that means I didn't love my pet.

as much. Did you ever feel that or did that thought ever crush you? Yeah.

Carla Bosacki (10:01)

The guilt of, can't get another dog. That means I didn't love Max enough. I can't replace him. The guilt that that thought even came into, I can't even explain it. It's awful. And like I say, this is my experience and everybody's different. Some people get something right away. There's no right or wrong. Everybody's different for me.

I just couldn't fathom.

replacing that dog, I felt honestly like I was cheating on him.

Amy Castro, host (10:37)

Yeah. Yeah, I think sometimes it's that language that we use too. It's like the idea of replacing them. And that's, you know, that's one of the things that I warn people about in rescue is that, you know, there's two sides of that. Number one, you know, the guilt of replacing them. you can't replace something to me with something that's completely different, you know, just because it's a dog, it's not going to be Max. It's not going to be Chester, my baby that I had. ⁓

At the same time, think this idea of replacing them that we think things are gonna be the same with them and it's not. The whole relationship is gonna be different. And I also think too, having fostered, like I've literally fostered more than 5,000 animals over the course of my time in rescue.

Carla Bosacki (11:25)

So you've seen animals come and go into your life a lot.

Amy Castro, host (11:32)

Yeah. And just when you think, like there've been many, many times where it's like, I think I should keep this one. Like this one's super special. I, you know, having had 5,000, there's been hundreds of super special ones, you know? So I think maybe my perspective has changed that, you know, it's not about replacing them because they can't be replaced. They're, you know, they're gone and this is a new animal, but I've got space in my heart for that, for that new animal. So maybe it just kind of gives me a little bit of a different viewpoint on it.

Carla Bosacki (12:02)

That's really interesting, yeah.

Amy Castro, host (12:05)

I of the other things that people I think struggle with is like I'll have people that'll come specifically and they want a certain color cat because that's what their other cat was like. my mind is thinking, I think you should get one that looks completely different than your other cat because I feel like we sometimes want to project like I had this perfect orange cat and now I've got this orange cat and now I'm comparing contrasting all of the time. Do you find yourself doing that with Smokey at all?

Carla Bosacki (12:33)

I originally got Max because I wanted to have a running partner. So he was 30 pounds, he was a good runner. And then I, I ended up with Smokey who's a seven pound Yorkie. I've never had a seven pound dog. I've never had a Yorkie. And what I find is he's lying right beside me actually. He's fast asleep, but a completely different breed. And I think for me,

That's a really good thing because Max was Max. Max was like, I don't know what he was. He was a rescue from La Paz, Mexico. He was white and fluffy and had these big brown eyes and a big brown snout and he could run and walk forever. This one doesn't want to walk more than two minutes and I had to carry him. So I think it's really good for, it was good for me to get something completely different so that I don't compare, you know, it's

Well, Matt, know, Smokey, you do this and Max was like perfect and he would do that. There's none of that. They're two completely different animals.

Amy Castro, host (13:41)

Yeah. So maybe that's good advice is to go for something that's a little bit ⁓ different. Yeah. What do you think about people? Because there were people that advised you, go ahead and get a new one. And I'm sort of of that school, especially if you're lonely and you're really, like your life revolved around that pet. Now what does your life revolve around? But if you had another pet to focus on.

you can fill that gap in your existence, not about replacing the other pet. ⁓ But do you think there's a cautionary tale there too about getting something too quickly?

Carla Bosacki (14:26)

Everybody's different. ⁓ You just have to go with what's in your heart. And I think that when the time's right, you'll know. And I really needed time to grieve and I needed time to mourn and I needed time to cry. mean, to this day, Amy, I still cry over Max. I used to cry myself to sleep every night for a year and a half. You know, now, not every night.

You know, maybe every couple months, I'll cry myself to sleep on the anniversary of his death, the 21st. ⁓ Every month on the 21st is a horrible day for me. And the first August 21st was awful. And that's something else, is the first, his first birthday, the first Christmas without Max, the first year anniversary of when he passed. ⁓ It's all just horrible.

The other thing that was interesting is we're dog lovers. mean, you're clearly well into the dog and animal world with the rescue and the podcast. So you're an animal lover, but not everybody is. And some people don't understand, you know, my grieving over Max for so long. When they hear me talking about grieving over my dog and crying and, you know, my pet altar and, know, I've got Max's ashes that I wear around my neck every day.

that I never take off. Some people think I'm kind of crazy, but if you're a dog person and you're a dog lover, you know where I'm coming from.

Amy Castro, host (16:07)

Well, and I think, you know, I think for some of those things, it's about what brings us comfort, you know, because I'm not really like that. I mean, and it's interesting that you've and I know that with Max, it was a very unique situation, passing. ⁓ But I mean, I couldn't even tell you, I couldn't tell you the date of any of my pets passing. can't? No, I'm just not a date person. it's interesting how some people are really date people.

and those dates really stick in their heads. Because I don't, I mean, I think about the date, even thinking back to when my mom passed away, I don't remember like that date rolling around and having like a bad day because of it or thinking about it a lot. Like I knew it was in that zone. Right. Maybe there's something wrong with me, I don't know. No. a lot of people, know.

Carla Bosacki (16:56)

Maybe there's something wrong with me, maybe I-

to my dog. don't know. Maybe that was my problem was that he was my world. He was my best friend, my boyfriend, my confidant. I could talk to him. He knew when I was talking to him because his head would go back and forth. He knew when I was sad. He knew when I was sick. You have to understand my situation was different because working in media,

I worked all the time and I worked at night and I worked weekends. So I didn't go out. I never had a boyfriend because I was always working. A lot of my girlfriends sort of gave up on me because every time they got together, I'd have to say no because I was at work. Long weekends, holidays, you know, I worked Christmas Eve, I worked Christmas Day, I worked New Year's Eve, I worked New Year's Day. So I think, you know, not everybody

was in that situation where their dog really is their whole life. So for me, it was extremely difficult because I lost my whole life.

Amy Castro, host (18:08)

Yeah, I guess it's like any other relationship in our lives. Some things hit us harder than others, whether it's based on the relationship or the ⁓ situation and how it happened. All of those things can be, ⁓ I think, factors that play into it.

Carla Bosacki (18:25)

There's so many factors and everybody handles grief different.

Amy Castro, host (18:30)

Yeah. And that's, that's an interesting thing because what I have come to realize is that the grief that people experience with a loss, whatever it might be or whomever it might be, is something that is created in their own experience for themselves.

Carla Bosacki (18:46)

people have to remember that that grieving process never goes away. for someone who's listening, who has a friend who's lost a pet, you don't forget about them after a couple months. Just, hey, just reach out, pick up the phone, send a WhatsApp, send a message and say, hey, how you doing? You know? How's everything?

Amy Castro, host (19:07)

Yeah, I think that's a pretty common phenomenon. And I know I've talked to friends about that, whether it's a human death or a pet death, is that it is pretty amazing how quickly people just kind of move on and stop reaching out. They're all in your business in the height of whatever the disaster is. And then it quickly peters out after that, for sure. People move on. Yeah.

Carla Bosacki (19:28)

⁓ And that's when you need

That's what that's the funny thing is that that's gosh I Just to have somebody reach out and say are you okay and just to have someone to talk to you know, yeah, it'd have been so nice

Amy Castro, host (19:44)

Yeah, that would be for sure. So for somebody that's listening right now that's trying to figure out, you know, is it time? Because I think it's, you know, it's easy to say you'll know or you'll feel it or whatever it might be. But I think there's some questions that we could ask ourselves to kind of gauge where we are. It's kind of like I did an episode fairly recently about having to determine, you know, is it time to let your pet go? And there's questions that you can ask, you know, to try to assess

the bigger picture. And so I feel like when it comes to, you know, is it time to get another pet? There probably are some questions that we could ask. And I came up with a few. just I would be interested to hear your thoughts on some of on some of them and just to go through them relatively quickly. So the first question is kind of goes back to that comparison. You know, can I accept this pet for who it is without comparing it to the other pet? Because I I think that's a challenge for people.

Carla Bosacki (20:41)

Yeah, I agree. think being honest with yourself and asking yourself the question, do I actually want another pet? Do I want to get another dog or cat right away because I want them or just to replace the one that I just lost? Yeah. You know, why am I getting another pet? Am I giving myself enough time to grieve? Because we do have to grieve.

You know, you don't just want to replace something. And another thing that's interesting is I had to learn and to some people they may take this the wrong way, but when you have a dog, it's a big responsibility. So that means you can't leave the house for too long. know, three hours I would come home, you have to take them for walks three or four times a day. And so there was a lot of traveling that I would have loved to have done that I couldn't because I had a dog.

So I had to ask myself, maybe I should take a step back, grieve, and then enjoy a little bit of this freedom of not having to worry about having a pet at home, which is something else somebody should ask themselves before they get another pet. Should I take this opportunity to maybe take that three week trip to Bali that I never did because I had a dog? And so

Yeah, there's definitely questions and that was a really good one for me because it gave me a little bit of freedom and please don't take that the wrong way, but just a little bit of freedom for myself to come and go as I please and not worry about having an animal at home that I had to brush home and take care of.

Amy Castro, host (22:29)

Yeah. Well, and I think especially for people who have, you know, I've talked recently with a lot of people that have seen your pets going through a lot of heavy duty medical issues. And, you you talk about only being able to go out for like three hours. Some of these people don't leave the home, like either their partner is home with the pet or they're home with the pet, but they haven't gone on a vacation. You know, they don't go out to dinner together because they're, because the pet might have a seizure or this, this or that might happen. And it's like,

You know, at some point, I think it's okay to say, I need a break from that, maybe you need some me time. And that's not disrespecting your pet. You gave them everything. And now, you know, maybe you don't have anything else to give and maybe you need to regenerate yourself a little bit.

Carla Bosacki (23:13)

Yeah, I think it's a good question for people to ask themselves. Just give them some, just take a break, you know?

Amy Castro, host (23:20)

Did you contemplate at all before you got smoky, maybe getting a different kind of pet? Because that's another thing that I thought about. No, you were like, gotta be a dog.

Carla Bosacki (23:30)

No, I am a dog girl. I am a dog girl.

Amy Castro, host (23:33)

Yeah,

okay. Well, I would encourage people, because I consider myself a dog girl adjacent, because I'm also a cat girl. I also like little creatures. So I'm open to a variety of pets. And for people who've only had one kind of pet, it could be an opportunity to think about something different. Especially if you think about the lifespan of a cat or a dog, just as an example. If you got a pet as a puppy and it passed at an older age,

That's a huge chunk of your lifetime that you have spent living that, living the dog mom life or living the cat mom life or living the bird mom life, whatever it is. And, ⁓ you know, maybe I'm not the same person I was at, you know, 30 or 20. And so I used to be a big dog person and always loved having big dogs, active dogs, you know, things like that. And as I've gotten older, I see why old people have little dogs.

Carla Bosacki (24:30)

If you got a dog now that's a big dog, say you got another golden retriever, that's 14 years.

Amy Castro, host (24:39)

Yeah, that's a dog. Although by the time the doggy has to be 14, they've slowed down quite a bit.

Carla Bosacki (24:45)

down and you've slowed down a lot too.

Amy Castro, host (24:48)

Yeah, for sure. But I've seen people that are in their 70s going to get a... That's a whole other episode, but going to get a puppy or whatever, large breed puppy.

Carla Bosacki (24:57)

Yeah,

don't get me started on that one. Yeah.

Amy Castro, host (25:00)

So yeah, so I think asking yourself, do you have the physical, emotional bandwidth to manage the pet that you're considering? Because not only are sometimes people dog people, but they're very tied to a particular type of dog, big dog or a certain breed or whatever it is. And it's like, again, you know, maybe that was a great dog for you when you were 40, maybe not such a great dog when you were 60 plus. So something to consider is another type of pet.

I think you said a key thing too is like, you really want a pet right now or is it really just that you miss your pet? Because I've seen that too, where people have adopted from us and I kid you not, sometimes it's 24 hours later. They're like, yeah, no, no, thank you. I forgot what it was like to have a dog or like, well, I forgot what it was like to have a puppy. They're regretting the decision of taking on that commitment of a pet. ⁓

Carla Bosacki (25:51)

So did they bring the pet back?

Amy Castro, host (25:53)

yeah, I've had people bring them back. ⁓ I've had people bring them back after 24 hours and I've had them bring them back after two years. ⁓

Carla Bosacki (26:03)

my gosh that just kills me.

Amy Castro, host (26:05)

Yeah. mean, sometimes there's a valid, like one that was recently returned. As a matter of fact, the cat that we just adopted out that was just returned had been adopted out two years ago. And it was a situation where they had a child and the child had allergies. So they didn't have the child when they got the cat and now two years later. It's understandable. You can't control that. but yeah, people are...

I think it's just a good thing to ask yourself, you know, and maybe assess your readiness before you jump in with both feet. So emotional readiness, could be financial readiness, you know, whatever it might be.

Carla Bosacki (26:42)

that because as you know, having a dog or a cat is not, they're very expensive. mean, Max, especially as he was getting older, arthritis pills and heartworm pills and going to the vet and it's, it's not cheap going to the groomers. If I broke up with a boyfriend, would I turn around the next day and go find another boyfriend just because I wanted a boyfriend? You know, some people just don't like being alone.

And so, you know, I could sort of compare it to that, although that's kind of a funny, funny thing. I certainly wouldn't go find another boyfriend just because I didn't want to be by myself. I'd wait until the time was right and the universe gave me the right person.

Amy Castro, host (27:24)

Well, and I think finding the right pet too, that's another thing. I mean, that's a whole episode in and of itself, the idea of, even if you decided two weeks later after your pet passed that you were wanting to get another pet to bring into your life, to really do some homework as to what you were, where are you getting it, what kind of pet are you getting, et cetera, and not just dive.

Carla Bosacki (27:45)

coming

from? Is it a rescue? You know, what's his background? Because you don't know what they're like. Is it an energetic dog? Is it going to sleep all the time? Is it trained? know, sometimes I love the fact people adopt seniors because they're already trained. You don't have to train them. they just want love. I always, know, Smokey is seven. So I always

kind of veer people towards getting dogs that are a little bit older that are in shelters. you'll know, think anyone who's lost a pet or their pet is getting close to the end of life. You'll know when the time is right in your heart, when it's time to get another pet. And if you ask your pet, like I asked Max, give me a sign, just give me a sign when it's time for me to get another dog. You will get it.

I do believe that.

Amy Castro, host (28:45)

That was actually going to be ⁓ my final question, is, any final thoughts?

Carla Bosacki (28:51)

I think you honor your dog when you have them. When you have them, you give them as much love. And the other thing I have to say is that what I went through after Max passed was the guilt of what did I do wrong? I should have done this. I mean, we were on a plane and there wasn't much I could do, but what could I have done before? What didn't I see? Should I have taken him to a vet?

When you first lose your pet, you blame yourself. And so I just, the other thing I would want people to know is don't blame yourself. You didn't do anything wrong. You gave that dog or a cat all your love. You gave them the best life ever. It was just their time. And just remember that. And that's a hard one to learn. That was a really hard one for me to learn.

Amy Castro, host (29:43)

Yeah. No, I agree with that 100%. And I talk to people a lot about pet loss and grief, and it's natural for people to want to blame themselves. At the same time, too, being a very realistic person, the one thing I would say, too, is if there are lessons to be learned from the process, then learn those lessons and then make it your mission to move forward with those lessons to the next pet.

Because there's always things that we see or we learn after the fact that we could have done different, I shouldn't say always, but sometimes there are things that we see that we could have done differently. so if that's the case, then you learn those lessons and move on. But, you know, I think my final thought would be the fact that your pet had a great life with you. They knew that they were loved. And I feel like if our pets wanted anything for us, they would want us to A, not be lonely and B, give a chance to another pet.

to have that experience that they had of having the unconditional love that we gave them. So that's kind of the way that I look at it. I feel like all my past pets that have gone across the Rainbow Bridge have always been like, okay, know, great, take that one. Take that one in and give it some love too, it's okay.

Carla Bosacki (30:56)

That's good too.

Amy Castro, host (30:58)

Well, Carla, thank you so much for being here to talk about your story and your experiences. Before we finish up, tell us about your podcast a little bit.

Carla Bosacki (31:06)

started the podcast in honor of Max. So after Max passed, I was trying to think of a way that I could honor my dog. And coming from a media background, it seemed fitting that I start a podcast. And I came up with the dog's devotion because I wanted to talk about the special bond between humans and their dogs. And I talk a lot about

What like you do, know, dog loss and dog grief because people don't talk about it and they have to because it's going to happen at some point. And us having this conversation, I think will help a lot of people understand what the process is like after. So it'll give them some help and warm their heart a little bit. But I did that for Max and I continue to do that for Max. And I have learned so much and I've spoken to so many rescues and

know, ⁓ Plumes, the man that plays a guitar and sings for animals in France, and Eddie on wheels, and I've these great guests who love to come on and talk about their dogs and their stories. And there is a huge dog community in this world. And dog people are dog people, and to me, they're the best. And so to share dog stories with other dog lovers and to keep Max's memory alive.

is all I want to do. So that's what that podcast is for. If you're a dog lover and you want to hear stories about dog rescues, you want to know how to keep your senior canine healthy, what to feed them, know, chiropractic care, everything. We cover everything. Anything I can possibly think of, I'll talk about. I love talking about dogs.

Amy Castro, host (32:32)

Yeah.

I can tell. And we'll definitely put a link to the show in our show notes so that everybody can check out your show because it is really good. And thank you again for being here. If there's one thing I want you to take away from this conversation, it's that getting another pet does not erase the one you lost. And waiting does not automatically mean you're doing it the right way either. What matters is being honest about what's driving your yes or no or not yet.

Carla Bosacki (33:04)

Thanks, Amy.

Amy Castro, host (33:22)

This is one of those decisions that deserves honesty, not pressure. Thanks for listening to the Pet Parent Hotline. If you enjoyed the show, don't keep it to yourself. Text a friend right now with a link and tell them, I've got a show that you need to hear. And ask them to let you know what they think. And remember, your pet's best life starts with you living yours. So be sure to take good care of yourself this week and your pets.