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For instance, a child may resent taking care of the pet and wish – however briefly – that the pet would die. This is also the period when children recognize a correlation between what they think and what happens. As they perceive the trauma around them, however, they may regress in their behavior (e.g., thumb sucking).ĥ to 9 : Children begin to perceive death as permanent, but they may indulge in “magical thinking,” believing that death can be defied or bargained with. They will see death as a temporary state – something like the way leaves fall off a tree in fall but grow back in the spring. A child picks up the stress felt by family members, no matter what the cause.Ģ to 5 : The child will miss the animal as a playmate, but not necessarily as a love object. Under 2 : A child can feel and respond to a pet’s death, based on the reaction of those around him or her. She says that a child’s ability to understand what death means depends on his/her emotional and cognitive development, but she outlined the generally understood guideline of how children perceive death and dying: Tously is a counselor with the Pet Grief Support Service. You do it gently but without confusing what dying actually means.” “That means using the words death and dying, and explaining the permanence of death. They don’t understand that animals run on a different biological clock, or that illness or injury may make euthanasia the best option.Īt all ages, honesty is the best policy, says Marty Tously, a bereavement counselor. After some time, she was able to remember her pet with more love than hurt.īut children younger than Maria often view their relationship with a pet as indefinite. It didn’t make the grieving and sense of loss any easier, but she knew that all living things eventually die. Understanding Pet Death: An Informal Guide to a Child’s PsycheĪt 11, Maria understood euthanasia and the finality of death. Later, her family held a memorial service, and Maria wrote poems about him. The most humane course to take was euthanasia. His quality of life would only grow worse. He might be able to save him, but Feifel was 14 and suffered from several other age-related problems. The veterinarian said Feifel had heart disease. Maria and her mother found Feifel under a bed, breathing weakly.

How we handle this event can have a far-reaching impact on our children’s understanding of death and dying.Įleven-year-old Maria, for instance, was used to greeting her cat Feifel every day after school. Very often, the death of a family pet such as a dog is a child’s first encounter with this immutable law of nature.

HOW TO CHANGE YOUR CURSOR FOR KIDS GOD HOW TO

Clients commonly ask veterinarians about how to tell a child about putting a dog down. How to Tell a Child About Putting a Dog Downĭeath and dying are two of the hardest facts of life to explain to children.

How to change your cursor for kids god