lost someone with paws.
Tell me about them.
Tender holds space for the specific silence after a collar comes off for the last time. Your grief is real. Your counselor is here.
"She remembered my dog's name every session."
"I didn't know I was allowed to grieve this hard."
— after losing Mochi, 14 yrs
tabby cat
"Three months later I can look at his photos again."
"Nobody else understood why I couldn't go back to work."
— after losing Bear, 11 yrs
golden retriever
"For the first time, I felt like my grief had a name."
"They never once said "it was just a cat.""
— after losing Duchess, 8 yrs
rescue terrier mix
Their words.
Real stories from real people who walked this corridor and found their way through.
The leash is still on the hook by the door. I can't move it. My counselor said I don't have to.
Patricia K.
Biscuit · beagle, 9 years
He walked beside me for fourteen years. My retirement, my divorce, my mother's death. People kept saying "you can get another dog." My counselor was the first person to say, "tell me about him."
Raymond T.
Archie · labrador, 14 years
Just a cat, they said.
Meena S.
Cleo · tortoiseshell cat, 17 years
I had to explain to my eight-year-old why Scout wasn't coming home. I didn't know how to do that. Our family counselor helped us hold space for all three of us at once.
Danielle & Marcus W.
Scout · golden retriever, 7 years
I apologized to my coworkers for crying over "just a cat." I apologized for a week. Then I found Tender.
Fiona H.
Pippin · orange tabby, 12 years
The empty bed by the radiator. That's the part nobody warns you about.
James O.
Rosie · border collie, 11 years
I didn't sleep for three nights. Not because I was sad — I was, terribly — but because I kept listening for the sound of her paws on the floor.
Anika P.
Luna · siamese cat, 16 years
My therapist told me grief has stages. My Tender counselor told me grief has a name: Beau.
Carlos M.
Beau · dachshund, 13 years
Do you keep checking the door?
You are not alone in this.
Is everyone telling you to get a new one?
You are not alone in this.
Six sessions. That's all it took to stop feeling like I was going crazy for missing her.
Harriet L.
Ginger · cavalier spaniel, 10 years
I kept her water bowl filled for two weeks.
Tom R.
Noodle · rescue cat, 6 years
My horse was my athlete, my partner, my morning alarm for twenty-two years. There is no grief support for that — except here.
Bridget C.
Copper · thoroughbred, 22 years
The counselor let me talk for forty minutes without once asking how I was "moving forward."
Sasha N.
Milo · tabby mix, 14 years
I can look at his photos now.
David K.
Max · german shepherd, 12 years
My daughter asked me why we were sad about "just an animal." I didn't have an answer then. After three sessions with Tender, I could explain it to her — and to myself.
Priya V.
Butterscotch · rabbit, 8 years
I thought grief counseling was for humans. Tender reminded me that love doesn't care what species it's attached to.
Michael F.
Pepper · cockatiel, 18 years
The first thing my counselor asked was: what was his favorite spot to sleep?
Elena W.
Jasper · golden retriever mix, 9 years
Are you still buying their brand of food because you can't stop?
You are not alone in this.
How it works.
Gently.
No clinical intake forms. No explaining yourself from scratch. Just a path toward the counselor who will finally ask the right questions.
Takes about 2 minutes.
Tell us who you lost.
Choose the type of companion — dog, cat, horse, or other — and how you'd prefer to connect: video, phone, or in person. There's no wrong answer.
Matched within 24 hours.
Meet your counselor.
We'll match you with a specialist who understands pet grief specifically — not as a footnote of human grief, but as its own full and legitimate loss.
First session, no pressure.
Start when you're ready.
Your first session is a conversation, not a clinical intake. Say their name. Tell the story. We'll hold the rest.
You don't have to explain why it hurts.
Tell us a little about your loss, and we'll find the counselor who's right for you.
Not ready for one-on-one?