I am so incredibly sorry for your loss. As you well know, we have been through something very similar a long time ago. There will always be two holes in your heart - one Odie shaped and one Archie shaped. Over time, the edges of the holes will become blurred but they will always be there.
When we lost our beloved Harriet so soon after Buffy (7 months between them) even though we had other dogs, I thought my heart had literally broken. I did exactly what you are advised not to do and almost straight away we got Dexter.
It took me a while to fall in love with him.
I liked him - who couldn't like a ball of white fluff who was so cute?
I went through the motions of trying to love him. I cuddled him. I trained him, I cleared up after him and I fed him.
But he wasn't my beloved cockers - he wasn't my girls and I felt so incredibly guilty. He was here and they weren't here any more.
I have no idea why, but one morning, I came downstairs and looked at him. He looked back at me. I fell hopelessly, totally and irrevocably in love with him.
He is my shadow and the early days have certainly not made any difference to the incredible bond I now have with him. I know he will never replace my cockers - but he gave the whole family a reason to smile again.
I really hope that soon, you and your family will feel ready to have a reason to smile.
Take care of yourself and take time to grieve. Even now all these years later, I adore cockers and miss my girls terribly. I can never replace them. But I have new reasons to smile.
Big, big hugs to all of you and I really hope your daughter is ok too.
