How will I get over the loss of my best friend? We in AHELP have come to know that you don’t get OVER a loss; you get THROUGH your loss…

We commonly hear, "what can I do to feel better?" In this post we offer a few practical tips that can be "a Help" to you and your family during the hospice period and after their passing.

A ceremony at your companion's favorite spot can be a valuable in helping you get closure after their passing. Michelle Nichols and her daughter Zoe sprinkle Sora's cremains at the beach she had loved. (Photo: Chris Nichols)

Caregiver's Tale: Tracy and Misty
AHELP Project's Animal Caregiver Support Program can be "A Help" to you when considering your choices for care, building a plan for comfort and contentment, and then empowering you to make the best decisions when the appropriate times come. One caregiver tells her own story of following her friend in the hospice journey with AHELP walking beside them.

Misty in her golden years while under Tracy's care. (Photo: Mark Campion)

Michelle Nichols, MS
AHELP Project Director and Co-founder

Most of us don’t wish to think about the approaching death of our pet. How many of us have tried to conveniently forget that it won’t happen (denial) or that NOT thinking about their declining health will make the reality go away (avoidance)?

Elaine Lam and Mone Mone enjoy quiet time together. (photo: Elaine Lam)

When a multitalented group of seven, from veterinarians to senior care pet sitters to spiritual counselors, sold out a one-day workshop at the Kirkland Women’s Club on a crisp fall day in 2010, it became clear that other animal lovers wanted to know more. Following the “Introduction to Animal Hospice and End of Life Home Care,”  we recognized that animal hospice awareness should become a nonprofit mission. However, we weren’t clear about how to accomplish that. So we would become a “Pet Project” until we finally landed on the looong name that would grow with the organization. But it was begging for an acronym, and AHELP Project was the perfect choice.

Thanks to our community supporters and sponsors, we realized our mission to promote human hospice ideals in animal care through community awareness programs. Sponsors assisted us to get our 501c(3) status in 2013. We held Open Houses featuring practitioners whose services contributed to comfort, an animal hospice certification program, and mentorship and training for volunteers at the Seattle Veterinary Specialists-Blue Pearl Kirkland. To keep up operations and contribute to our “Help for Animal Hospice Caregivers Fund,” we held FUNdraisers at pet-friendly venues such as Northwest Cellars (Kirkland) and Norm’s Eatery and Alehouse (Fremont, Seattle).  Local artisans taught us to use hands, hearts, and minds to create memorials to remember our pets at our art therapy-inspired Creative Healing Workshops. These principles inspire us today.  

In time, AHELP became an animal hospice resource for pet parents in greater Seattle, and families began reaching out for individualized caregiver support. Pet parents found solace in our Animal Caregiver Support Circles led by AHELP Co-founder Diane Dyer. Michelle Nichols assisted caregivers solve homecare challenges and companioned them to ensure they could comfortably follow their pet's care plan Comprehensive Care Home Visits. AHELPer volunteers with skills and talents in animal massage, aromatherapy, and energy work contributed to comfort for the pets. Active listening was and still is a guiding principle of any AHELP Care Team Member, and our pet parent mantra is “we get it!” 

In 2024, we are modernizing our programs to meet more pet parents where they need help the most, in the home. As an animal hospice resource that extends beyond greater Seattle, we offer our coaching over videoconferencing, are developing an online class to reach pet parents more affordably, and look toward launching the "Animal Hospice Podcast" in late 2025.

Core Values

Respect

Compassion

Teamwork

Community

CLICK to meet Michelle Nichols, AHELP Founder and Animal Hospice Coach.

CLICK to learn how "Partners to the Bridge Coaching for Pet Parents" can help you and your animal friend.

CLICK to get our newsletter, with pearls of wisdom and animal hospice stories from our "Caregivers' Tips and Tales" blog.