My husband came home last night and told me that my inlaws dog Gizmo had to be put down yesterday :( He was pretty upset about it since they have had her since he was 16.. My MIL is having the worst time since it was her dog. Now we just have to figure out how to tell Kelsay. Gizmo was very protective of her since shes been born. Every time Kelsay would cry Gizmo w/ be at her side no matter where she was in the house. It was kinda cute actually. And since Kelsay is at the age she is at she will definitly notice when she goes down to see them next that Gizmo isnt there anymore. Any suggestions?
I'm sorry that a dear family member is gone. You can only sit down and tell her the truth that life has two parts and one of them is life and one is death. In life we get to enjoy being together. But death is a place of rest for our bodies as they get hold or hurt. But the souls exist still, even for our dogs. And when we step into heaven, then Gizmo will be there to meet you, playful and happy and at that moment it will be as though you were never separated.
It is your opportunity to tell her about death and whatever your beliefs are. Maybe pets have shorter lives to give us the opportunity to tell more children about death before it happens to the grown ups in their lives. As sad as it is for everyone, it would be worse to lose any of the people in your family.
I grew up on a farm that was next to a highway. Almost all of our pets were run over. That's hard on kids. But our parents were straightforward with us about death. We would bury our little pets in a special place and after a while, it was alright.
Dogs' lives are too short. Their only fault, really. Agnes Sligh Turnbull
My daughter is ten and lost a dog at age four 1/2. She cried and was of course sad, but she did recover quickly. Kids are very resillent. Perhaps part of God's plan, is for pets to help children learn about death,to teach them about life and death. I don't know... just tell her upfront and be there for her in her sadness. Grief over a pets passing is very real.
My daughter has since had many more pets, and loves them wholeheartedly. She knows that animal have shorter life spans. We are getting a bunny and she actually googled ..How long does a bunny live? She goes in eyes wide open.
Your a good Mom to be so understanding of your daughters feelings.
This all reminds me of when we had to put down my dog that i had growing up. I had this dog since i was going into 6th grade however old i was lol and we put down our cat at the same time, we had her since i was 4 and they were put down in 2002. It was very emotional putting down both animals, i wa spreggo and it was like amonth before i got married so needles to say my emotions were going crazy. But my little brother was 1.5 at that time and he swears to this day that he remembers that dog it is the funnies thing. and he is your typical boy, army, i dont cry the whole 9 yards well one day he was soposed to be cleaning and my mom caught him in his room talking so someione well whem my mom asked him what he was doing he said that he misses Bailey *the dog* and that he wishes she could come back it was the sweetest thing
GInni- thanks for the sweet thing you said about me being a good mom. kelsay is ALOT like me and very very emotional so it should be interesting on how it all goes.
Boy, this has been a bad start for our beloved pets this year. I'm so sorry toI truly believe that our pets are little angels sent down to teach us. They teach us about unconditional love, tolerance, patience, lighthearted fun, pure joy of life. Our pets don't care what color our skin is, how much money we have, what our sexual orientation is, what political party we belong to, or how fat or skinny we are. They forgive us immediately if we yell at them or hit them. They are love in it's purest form.
They move in and out of our life, but the lessons they teach us last forever. They teach us how to love, how to accept loss, and how to love again. What a blessing they are in this complicated mess we humans make of our lives!
I know it is so hard for everyone when a pet crosses over. The pain never really goes away. I carry each of my pets, past and present in different pockets of my soul, and they comfort me constantly. I hope all of you who have lost beloved pets can learn from them and use the blessings that they brought into your lives to help you continue on and connect with another of God's little furry angels in the future.
[QUOTE=Hillhoney]I truly believe that our pets are little angels sent down to teach us. They teach us about unconditional love, tolerance, patience, lighthearted fun, pure joy of life. Our pets don't care what color our skin is, how much money we have, what our sexual orientation is, what political party we belong to, or how fat or skinny we are. They forgive us immediately if we yell at them or hit them. They are love in it's purest form.
[/QUOTE]
So true HillhoneyMaybe you could explain to Kelsay how sad her Grandma is about this and how she can help her. Our youngest DD was born a month early and my dog was getting near the end of her life, so while I was in the hospital my husband decided to have a friend put the dog down. I had had her for 16 years, our older girl thought of her as a sister and my husband's explaination to her was, Bridey's gone. At 3 years old, she thought that meant the dog would come back. Needless to say, I was devasted about the loss of the dog, about the baby being a month early, my FIL asking me everyday 'Where's Bridey?', he just wanted to torture me about a dog he never liked, I flipped out on him. We'd been home a couple days when the oldest DD asked me, 'When is Bridey coming home?' Man did I lose it. So help Kelsay to understand Gizmo isn't coming back.
Deidre
I think there are more good pets in heaven than people. That suits me just fine - it could not be heaven without them. Maybe our loving animals will vouch for us.
Seriously I am sorry for your loss.
I'm so sorry for your loss, too. I agree with Marian -- there are