Wheels
???-January 18, 2007
???-January 18, 2007
He had a long, wonderful life and today my dear, sweet husband had to make the difficult decision to let him go (all while I was in the car headed to San Antonio). I post this because so many parents read the blog daily, and I’m hoping for some wisdom in this area.
How do we tell our 4 year old that loyal, patient, old man Wheels is gone?
Right now we are telling her that he is at the vet’s office and is very sick, and once I return home we’ll talk to her about the rest. We have Dog Heaven (knowing this day was coming) and are pulling it back out to read to her. Any other suggestions? Wise words of advice?
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Hi Jen,
I’m so sorry for your loss. It’s a terrible thing to go through and worse when you have to explain it to a child. I’m actually a pet photographer and just put out a newsletter this week on this topic. I had a client email to let me know it had helped with the loss her son was feeling. I hope it helps somewhat at this sad time.
Mia
I am so sorry for your loss. There is a poem called “the rainbow bridge” but it’s not easy to read without crying. It may be nice for a child if you can manage to get through reading it to her. If you google rainbow bridge it’s easy to find.
Hi Jen,
As Tracey Robinson can tell you I have just dealt with this last summer. We also needed to put our dog to sleep. I am not sure of your beliefs so this might not fit…We explained that Jake was very sick and the doctors couldn’t help him, that only God could make him better. So he needed to go to heaven and live there with God and (insert all that have passed…grandparents, aunts, etc.) They will all take good care of him. Some day when we are very old we will meet him again in Heaven. But for now he is run and playing and healthy again. We look at pictures all the time also.
Good luck…and I am so very sorry for your loss. I know have very heart breaking it is.
Dog Heaven is a wonderful book – always a tearjerker – but a wonderful book because it deals with death on a level kids can grasp. Let her know it’s ok to miss him, and maybe make a memorial of some kind as a family to honor what a good dog he was.
Oh Jen….I’m sooooo sorry! I know this was tough for you guys but he’s in a better place.
Honestly, Gracie still gets upset every now and then about Tubbs but I just tell her what the poem says and it brings her some peace.
Hugs to you guys,
Bren
I’m so sorry Jen. It’s so hard to lose a pet. We had to put one of our dogs to sleep when Caroline was 6 months old and it broke my heart.
You’re headed to San Antonio? I wish I would’ve known. How long are you here?