Nobody hands you a list when you come home without them.

The house is too quiet. Their bowl is still out. You keep looking at the door.

Here is what actually helps in the first two days:

1. Leave one thing of theirs where it is. The bed, the leash, the bowl. You can move it later. You do not have to "be strong" tonight.

2. Tell one person. Not a group chat. One person who will not try to fix it.

3. Eat something small. Grief makes people skip meals and then crash.

4. Write down the last ordinary thing they did. A nap in the sun. A walk. You will want that later.

5. Do not make the big decisions yet. Ashes, another dog, getting rid of the toys. Those can wait a week.

If you are in that window right now, you are not doing it wrong. You are just in it.

I wrote a short guide for this exact stretch. It is $19 and it lives behind checkout, because it is meant for people who need it, not for browsing.