Dead dog guy made me remember the DISer on here (years ago), whose MIL had the same problem with letting go of her dog. She wrote that her MIL loved the dog very much, but it eventually died. The DISer was visiting her in-laws with her family and went to the freezer to get some ice for her drink and the dog was in there and freaked her out. She talked with her DH and he shrugged it off. He said at Christmas, his Mom would take it out to be with the family and put a Santa hat on it. It would go back into the freezer before it thawed too much.