From Outside Magazine, this is the Outside Podcast.

We publish a lot of stories at outside.

On our website, it's dozens every week, and the truth is, we're never really sure which

ones are going to take off.

This is Michael Roberts, and I can say that historically at least survival stories perform

well for outside, same with articles about major controversies in the outdoor world.

And then there was that time when everyone on the internet seemed to be reading a column

we ran about a better way to cook chicken.

But of all the recent stories that we've published, perhaps none was a more surprising

hit than a feature-linked essay by Colorado-based writer Annette McKivney about saying goodbye

to her beloved yellow lab, titled How to Grieve for a Very Good Dog.

It ran last September, and it quickly became one of our top five most popular stories

of the year.

This is partly because Annette is an excellent writer.

She's a veteran journalist in her 2018 book, Pure Land, when the National Outdoor Book

Award.

But her essay also tapped into the powerful feelings that people have about their pets.

Because while Annette and her lab had shared all kinds of adventures together, their bonds

ran much deeper, than being hiking companions and playmates.

As a net detailed, in a follow-up piece that we published this April, she had long ago

come to depend on dogs for healing that she desperately needed.

For today's episode by producer Patio Connell, Annette shares the very personal story of

...