Explaining death of a pet to pre-schoolers....

So my parent's elderly dog passed away last week I am heartbroken, remembering her as a puppy and even taking a pic with her on my wedding day

The worst of it is CJ LOVED that dog. We don't have a dog so he took great joy in visiting my parents.

Any tips on how to tell him before I go over to my mom's on Sat? He's very bright at 4.5 so I know he can understand a lot, but don't want to scare him.

DD is 2, but also really loved the dog.

Thank you.....I feel so sad that they will realize loss at this young age

Re: Explaining death of a pet to pre-schoolers....

Our cat died when my son was about 3, and we were just honest. We told him that her body wasn't working too well, and when that happens sometimes we die. It happens to every living thing, but most of the time they are elderly when they die, so its not going to happen to Mommy or Daddy (or whomever) soon.

Deal with any questions from there! Losing a pet is hard, I am so sorry!

Re: Explaining death of a pet to pre-schoolers....

Well my girls were much younger when we had to put our sick cats to sleep. It was very sad, they both loved the cats - luckily DD#2 was a baby and really didn't remember much. DD#1 was 2.5 at the time. I simply told her that they were very sick and that they died and went up to heaven where they aren't sick anymore and they can run around and play with a lot of toys and are happy and not in pain and are loved up there.

Re: Explaining death of a pet to pre-schoolers....

We haven't had to explain the death of a pet, but we have had to explain the death of a Grandparent.

My DD (who is now 6) lost her grandmother before she was born, and we just lost my Dad this past October.

It isn't easy to explain it to them. I am thankful that we have a certain belief system in this family and so I used that to help. I explained that now Pop is in heaven, and that we will see him again many many years from now when we are old and go to heaven also. She was very upset about not being able to see him again, and so the thought of seeing him again one day was a comfort to her. She was also happy that he is kind of like a guardian angel now and a lot of times throughout the day when something good happens, she looks up and says "Thank you Pop!"

We also had to explain it to the 3 year old that I babysit for. He wasn't her Pop but my dad visited us here often and so she knew them well. We've been watching her since she was 6 weeks old so she is practically part of my family. Once in a while she tells me that she misses Pop and so I tell her that she can talk to him whenever she wants, and so she does just that.

Re: Explaining death of a pet to pre-schoolers....

Message edited 12/5/2011 10:52:19 AM.

Re: Explaining death of a pet to pre-schoolers....

My brother lied to his daughter about the death of their cat. He told her that their cat was too sick so she went to live with the vet.

2 weeks later, their daughter came home from school and announced that the class hampster was gone. SIL asked what happened and Lily said, "Oh, she died and went to heaven."

I think kids understand more than we think. Just be honest and I think he'll grieve in his own way.

I'm sorry for your loss.

Re: Explaining death of a pet to pre-schoolers....

Thank you so much.

I googled pet loss and became a weepy mess at work

I balwed at My Dog Skip and never saw Marley & Me because I knew I couldn't handle it.

Thank you for the advice...it's really helpful

Re: Explaining death of a pet to pre-schoolers....

My brother's dog just recently died unexpectedly and DS loved her so much. I told him that Spinkle was sick and needed to go live with God. He said that "Uncle Mark and Aunt Brooke are sad" and I told him yes, they are sad, but they know that Sprinkle was tired and sick so God was going to take care of her.