| Dogs bring a lot of joy into our lives and
within the first two years of their living with us they etch
a nook in our hearts and in our lives. It is not too difficult
to imagine that our dog along with his unconditional love
will always be with us. The death of a dog is a traumatic
experience and one will go through the normal stages of grieving
as one would upon the loss of a human loved one. The death
of a dog will create a hole in our heart and pet bereavement
is more heartbreaking for the elderly as they do not have
much to keep themselves occupied and had probably expected
the dog to outlive them. The death of a dog can invite behavioral
problems or misconceptions in children if you have not considered
a few points on pet bereavement in children.
Upon the death of a dog, dog owners will feel numbness in
the next few hours or days whereby they cannot accept that
their dog is dead. With time, the reality of the situation
will sink in and feelings of yearning will come up. You can
help yourself move out of the numbness stage by seeing the
dead body of the dog as this will serve as a moment to say
goodbye. This is painful but it is important in the healing
process. Some dog owners have a small goodbye ceremony during
the burial which can also help especially when children are
involved. During the stage of yearning, the dog owner may
feel anger towards others and may begin to feel that someone
could have prevented the death of the dog or even feel guilty
for not doing enough to save the dog. The person will then
move on to quiet periods of sadness and even depression. It
is important that the dog owner stays occupied with some activity
or at least be in the company of others so that too much time
is not available for thinking. It is best to get involved
in activities, the dog owner enjoys. This will help one to
move from the period of mourning to normal living although
the memories of the dead dog will be there to cherish.
The elderly will probably need more attention during this
period of mourning which can be given in the form of company
or even activities that are enjoyable. Although it may seem
as though a new dog will help, don’t presume this as
one needs to check that they are ready to accept a new dog
and also capable to take care of it considering their age.
It is best to wait for them to ask for a dog themselves before
you buy one as you don’t want them to reject the dog
or accept it only because it was a gift. This will cause further
problems for the elderly as well as for the dog.
Children need to be spoken to about death especially if this
is their first experience. If children are around 2 years
old they may not be overly concerned over the death of their
dog and are more accepting of its disappearance. But once
they are more aware of their surroundings and as they begin
to form opinions and attachments, it is important that you
tell them that the dog is not just asleep but that it will
not come back. Explain how the dog has died and why, being
careful to emphasize that it had nothing to do with them.
If they begin to nurse feelings of guilt even if they were
indirectly responsible for the death, it will give rise to
such feelings whenever anyone else leaves or dies. This leads
to behavioral problems and some children even suffer from
chronic depression.
Love and support from others is needed by the one grieving
the loss of a dog. This can be shown through cards and flowers
and if possible by spending time with the person. If you can
get the person involved in other activities that they enjoy,
pet bereavement will run its natural course sooner and the
healing process will be faster. Even though the behavior of
grieving dog owners may seem erratic, it is best not to judge
them but give them your love and support and you’ll
find them getting back to their normal life very soon.
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