5 Tips To Help Young Kids Deal With Dog Euthanasia

Losing a beloved dog is heartbreaking for the whole family, and knowing how to prepare a child for pet euthanasia can be especially challenging.

As adults, we understand that euthanasia is a kind and compassionate choice when a pet is suffering. But for a child, this concept can be confusing and deeply emotional.

How do you explain that their furry best friend is not coming home after a visit to the vet? How do you help them say goodbye to a childhood pet in a way that makes sense?

This guide offers five practical and caring tips to help your child understand, prepare for, and cope with the euthanasia of a dog.

Kids Take Things Literally - When Explaining Dog Euthanasia, be Honest and Choose Your Words Carefully

When you're explaining dog euthanasia to a child, your language matters. Kids take things at face value and often assume blame when they don't understand something.

You might feel tempted to soften the truth with phrases like “we put the dog to sleep” or “the dog ran away,” but these can lead to fear, guilt or confusion.

Let’s look at why.

Let's look at two examples and explain why it's a bad idea to use them. 

"We put our dog to sleep." 

Think about this one for a second or two…You put your child to sleep every night. In the child's mind, they go to sleep and wake up. So there should be no reason why the dog won't wake up.

Your young child could think the following:

• Does that mean that when I go to sleep, I won't wake up?
• Will I be buried in the ground when I go to sleep?
• Will I ever wake up if I go to sleep when I'm sick?
• What happens if I get sick too?
• Is sleep dangerous?

"Our dog ran away, and we can't find him."

This can create unnecessary guilt and anxiety. Your child might ask::

• Why did the dog run away?
• Does the dog not like us?
• Did I do something bad to the dog that made them run away?
• Does he not love me? Is it my fault?
• Can I go find them?
• Does the dog not love me anymore?

It’s better to be truthful in a simple, age-appropriate way. Being honest helps your child process their emotions and builds trust.

No parent wants to have these conversations with their kids, but it's a fact of life that eventually, everyone does die. Using this opportunity to bring that fact into the child's realm of consciousness is not such a bad thing.

It shouldn't be scary or cumbersome. Learning to grieve and accept loss is a skill worth learning. From our experience, we have come up with five practical tips to prepare your child before and after the process of animal euthanasia.

5 Tips To Help Your Child Through The Process When Euthanizing Your Dog

1. How to Prepare Your Kids for the Possibility of Dog Euthanasia

You may have decided that the time has come to assist your dog to pass away to the next world. To prepare your child for this. A good starting point could be, telling them your dog is very, very, old or very, very sick.

Emphasizing the word very means that if your child gets sick or you get sick, they won't automatically think you will die. They won't automatically believe that older relatives will die because they are ageing.

In future, when you or your child are ill, this will allow you to anchor back to: your only a little sick, not like our dog who was very, very ill.

• 2. Allow Your Child to Say Goodbye to Their Beloved Pet Dog 

  
  Informing your child that the vet may not be able to cure the dog and allowing them the chance to say goodbye is very important.
  It offers them a chance for closure and pre-prepares the child for the news to come.
• Sit with the dog
• Draw them a picture
• Say a prayer
• Leave them a toy or note

What if your child wants to pray in the hope that this will save the dog?

Allow them to do this, but explain that sometimes these things are out of our control. Suggest that they include a request in their prayer for a safe passage across the rainbow bridge and into dog heaven should the dog not survive.

Making that small inclusion is important. When the child learns the dog has died. There is every chance they will blame themselves for not praying hard enough. Including this small add on will give the child some comfort.

3. How to Explain The Final Trip to The Vet 

Whether you take a trip to the vet or use a home euthanasia vet service, it's essential to prepare your child for the experience. 

You can say something like:

“The vet will do their best, but sometimes when dogs are very sick, they can’t be healed. The vet may help our dog pass away peacefully so they don’t feel pain.”

Some families wonder whether children should be present during euthanasia. There’s no one-size-fits-all answer.

Here are some things to consider:

• Is your child emotionally ready?
• Will the experience help or upset them?
• Do you have a vet who is calm and child-friendly?

If you’re unsure, speak to your vet ahead of time. Some children find peace in being present. Others benefit more from saying goodbye beforehand and remembering their dog in a calm, loving setting.

4. What To Tell Your Child When Your Dog Has Passed 

If the dog has passed away from old age

This bit is always challenging, and depending on how much pre-warning the child has had, they could take the situation in different ways.

If you've chosen to euthanise your dog due to old age. You could explain that different animals have different life spans and that dogs only live for a short amount of time compared to humans.

So they get older faster. Attribute the death to their age rather than the euthanasia process. Explain that you took the dog to the vet, but the vet couldn't give them any treatment because they were very old.

If Euthanasia was required due to injuries sustained in an accident

Explain all the facts as they happened. Use the opportunity to teach the child about certain risks involved in the environment around them.

Do this positively and ensure you allow the child to ask questions and answer them truthfully. Again explain that the vet did everything they could, but the injury was too severe.

It is unlikely a child will understand why the dog was put down. You can't blame them. Most TV shows, and books show a sick or injured animal being cured by the vet.

Regardless of the cause assigning blame is not a good lesson for the child. It creates feelings of hate.

If euthanasia was done due to illness

Don't shy away from the fact. Explain in simple words how the illness was very severe. Explain that currently, there is no cure for this particular illness.

Reassure the child that animals and humans experience different diseases and therefore they won't get the same disease.

Although some of the above is not true, it's about reassuring the child that the same fate does not await them in the immediate future.

5. Allow the Child Time to Grieve

Depending on how attached your child was to your pet dog will dictate how long they will greave.

When our beloved pet Freddy, a lovely German Shepherd Husky Mix, passed away from old age, our children wanted to take a bowl of food and place it on the grave. That was their way of saying goodbye.

One of our children even sat by the grave and told Freddy stories for about a week after we buried him. This was her way of grieving and saying goodbye.

The loss of a pet has a ripple effect, impacting not only you and your children but also the other dogs in your care. Pay attention to signs of grief in your dogs and be prepared to offer them the support they need during this challenging time.

Getting Through This Difficult Time Together 

Having to euthanise your beloved dog can be difficult for you as well as your child. Understand they may react and behave differently. Young children do not yet know how to control their emotions.

Be mindful of that and give them a bit of slack, and most importantly, take the time to give them and yourself plenty of comfort and love.

In time with proper closure, you may consider introducing a new dog to your family. We hope this new addition will bring as much joy and love to you and your children as your precious four-legged friend did before.