Loss of pet

[jocali]

My grandson who is 4 has had the dog since he was born. It is 11 years old and not well.
Very soon it will have to be put to sleep as there is no cure for him. My daughter and I do not know how to handle my grandson as he is so attached to the dog. What do we do, What do we tell him.
Has anyone gone thru this. Would appreciate any help

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[tngirl]

One thing that you can do is to go ahead and get him a new dog or puppy. This way he won't feel so lonely when his friend passes.

[mommyof1]

Children seem to process loss faster or in a different way than adults. He probably would appreciate a new dog. I would ask him after a period of time.

[moogle]

Tell him the truth about it......don't tell him his dog went to live somewhere
else or that it ran away.....

Does he understand that it's sick? I know he's only 4, but sometimes
a kid that young will surprise you with how much they comprehend things.
I would explain that his dog is sick, the doctor can't help him, and he is
suffering from being sick. Explain that his dog will never get well, and the
suffering will get worse, and you don't want such a good dog to keep
suffering...... This is going to tear you apart, I know.

Tell him all of you will pick out a puppy, not to replace the old dog, but to
be his new friend. Tell him no one expects him to forget the old dog.

I fell for you. Having to have the fog put to sleep is bad enough. Having
a 4 year old to explain it to is really going to make it even worse.

[Willow]

I would tell him the truth. My mother sent my son a book called Animals on the Other Side. It was written by Sylvia Browne and her son Chris. It's a really cute book. My son's rabbit died a couple of months ago. He got it for his 6th birthday and he will be 13 next month so he became quite attached to it. He wanted another pet so we ended up getting another cat.

[ladyfoob]

My grandson who is 4 has had the dog since he was born. It is 11 years old and not well.
Very soon it will have to be put to sleep as there is no cure for him. My daughter and I do not know how to handle my grandson as he is so attached to the dog. What do we do, What do we tell him.
Has anyone gone thru this. Would appreciate any help

I had this dog about 2 years before my son was born. So he grew up with her as well. She died. What we did was after me and my husband burried her before my son came home from school. We all had a little memroil service for her. My son still goes to her grave and talks to her. We have pictures of her around still. Plus, we also watch the videos of her.

[jocali]

Thanks for all you help.

[April]

All I know is, it hurts so bad....there really is no comfort.