First time i'v posted. Apologies to people on here with bigger issues than mine, i'm just hoping that writing/posting it, it will perhaps help me come to terms with it. Here goes, tomorrow morning I have to say goodbye for the final time to my 14 year old pet dog, and i'm in absolute bits. On top of this, I will then have to inform my 10 year old son what has happend to our dog (who he adores) and also then have to attempt to try to explain it to my other son, who isn't quite 3 yet. I have a couple of days off work, and i'm considering taking my son out of school for 2 days aswell. But this is also for selfish reasons, as i'm dreading being in the house alone.
Anyways, there it is.
Cheers.
Hi mate, sorry I'm late into this, apologies.
We've lost two dogs in the past two / three years and my eldest lad is of a similar age to your lad.
The first dog we lost was 14 and had to be put down due to ill health, the second was 10mths old and got ran over nearly a month ago.
My lad was very uspset when the old dog had to be put down, but he understood that she'd been ill ( cancer ) for quite a long time and it was her time.
( I was more upset tbh, as she helped me through some really bad times when I'd suffered from a prolonged period of depression - she was what got me out of the house everyday and she was always there for me )
When the pup got ran over, he handled it much differently. He shut down, cried himself to sleep every night for three weeks, made himself ill ( tonsillitis) and withdrew from pretty much everything that he previously enjoyed - sport, going out with his mates etc.
I reckon it was because the death of the pup was out of the blue and he believed that the pup was " his dog ", rather than the family dog, like the old one. He just couldn't cope with the grief and we were genuinely starting to get worried about him. ( we got another puppy last week, which seems to have stopped his grieving )
When the old dog was put down, we buried her in the local woods by us, which is were we walked her everyday.
That way he knew that she was still there and he could see her when he wanted to. The pup is buried next to her now, so he can see him when he wants too. ( He goes once or twice a week and tidys the graves up )
I think the dogs having graves that he can visit, has helped him come to terms with it mate and may he something worth considering ?
People who've never had dogs won't understand how much you can love an animal so much, but when they go it's like losing a family member.
I hope this helps in some way and my heart goes out to you and your family x