Explaining (pending) loss of pet to 3 year old?

[kthompson]

Thats always a hard thing to do, sorry your going to have to deal with it. I suggest the simple truth ... children are very smart.

yes. You will be amazed how well they will remember and one day no longer.


Not aware of any Bible that supports animals in Heaven but hard to imagine not.

The part about the loyalty of your dog is so true. Yet the love of God outshines even that.

Grace to you in your loss.

 

[dmccarty]

... We currently have two cats, a house gecko (not a fun pet at all... it is too fast to let out of the cage ) and some tropical fish. I won't miss that gecko when its time is done.

Our Golden Flirt loves to catch lizards. The lizards hang out around the house due to the heat gain on the brick and gravel. Flirt goes out and hunts them all of the time. Dang dog has knocked over planters and my edger blocks going after lizards. Suprisingly the lizards are still around the house even though we have had temps down in the low 20s.

Later,
Dan

 

[N80]

Not aware of any Bible that supports animals in Heaven but hard to imagine not.

There is no direct reference to animals in heaven or having souls. Just a thought by Lewis. However, the Bible does describe the final times as being composed of a new heaven and a new earth. And the earth is hardly the earth without the living part of creation. So I'm hoping that animals will be there too since they were originally part of the perfect creation before the fall.......for those of us who believe in this sort of thing.

In any case, it gives me a lot of comfort to think that my old Dash (ugliest and smartest Lab in the world) will be there when he finally moves on.

 

[czechsonofagun]

We lost two dogs in a row. First an Aussie run after a cat and got hit by a car, he was only 6 month old and 5 month later we had to put our Airedale down at the age of 13 month due to liver cancer.

Kids (6, 4 and 2) took it as well as they could, makes no sense not to tell them how things are.

And dogs go to the comet, don't you know that? The star with a tail that runs all over the space

 

[N80]

And dogs go to the comet, don't you know that? The star with a tail that runs all over the space

Sounds like dog heaven to me!

 

[czechsonofagun]

Not my idea at all, it is from a book Dasenka: The Life of a Puppy .

But I agree with the idea, of course.

 

[scott_vt]

Good Evenin Haz,
Im really sorry to hear about your good friend !

Just reading your post, I somehow feel that you are uniquely qualified to answer your own question ! Just by seeing your compassion towards this pet Im sure you will have the right words when the time comes !

 

[Sigarms]

Sorry to hear about your dog.

My wife has a yellow lab that she had for five years before she met me. The dog is now 10, and we both know the time is coming. The hardest part is that dog helped my wife through some very difficult times before she met me. I know my wife will be devestated.

There is no animal that shows such unconditional love as a well taken care of dog. As I've said before, throw both your wife and dog in the trunk and let them there for a day. Open the trunk, and see which one is glad to see you.

I think Will Rogers put it best when he said "if there are no dogs in heaven, then I want to go where they go"

 

[ragkar]

The traditional explanation to a child is 'Wilson was sick and the vet said that we had to send him to live on a farm in Connecticut. He'll have lots of friends there and will have lots of things to do. He'll eat and sleep well and when he gets better he'll come back to live with us.'

 

[MossRoad]

Kids (6, 4 and 2) took it as well as they could, makes no sense not to tell them how things are.

That is so true. When my grandmother passed away, we had a nice funeral. My nephew was 5 or 6 I suppose. He went up to the casket at the funeral home with his other grandmother, who was probably in her late 70s at the time. They were looking at her lying there. His grandmother, in an attempt to say something nice said well, I guess you could just say she's sleeping. To which my nephew replied softly and sincerely, "Or you could just say she's dead, grandma."

Kids are pretty smart.