Dog died - what to tell 2 year old??

pigpen

You don't get him to understand, he is too little.. just keep saying he was very old and his heart stopped working and we can remember him and look at pictures but he can't come back and it has made mummy and daddy and grandparents sad.

Cherry_Bomb

Our cat died was DS was 2. We told him he went to the stars.

To begin with he would ask for the cat all the time so every night we would point at the biggest star we could see and tell him thats Rocky and he would wave.

It was very sweet. He just accepted that's where he was without bringing death or old and sick into it and possibly scaring him.

pinkshoes

I love the idea of a memory book, as we have loads of photos of him! In his younger years, he destroyed an entire sofa! OH came home to find foam and material strewn across the room, with the dog sitting in the middle with that "it wasn't me" look on his face!

Might tell him he's gone to play with all the other old dogs on a farm where rabbits run slowly and they eat sausages for every meal!

pigpen

pinkshoes wrote: »

Might tell him he's gone to play with all the other old dogs on a farm where rabbits run slowly and they eat sausages for every meal!

And then they ask to go visit.

quinechinoise

Keep it as simple and factual as possible. The dog is dead; he was very old ("older than grandpa") and his body stopped working. This has made [daddy, etc] sad for a little while.

There is no point prevaricating - young children don't understand social lies. The only caveat is that anyone over about 10 years old is "old" to a young child - that's why I use the handy explanation of "older than your grandfather".

Pthree

I was told pooch was such a good dog that God wanted him for a star, to shine on brightly forever.

It worked for me at a very young age until I was 6ish, and even a good few dogs later (37 now!) when ever looking at the stars I think about them all, even though I have no religious leanings at all!
If I see a really bright star it can still bring a tear to the eye

mountainofdebt

After the suggestion of Goodbye Mog, I would second it.

This is the blurb :

Mog was tired. She was dead tired... Mog thought, 'I want to sleep for ever.' And so she did. But a little bit of her stayed awake to see what would happen next. Mog keeps watch over the upset Thomas family, who miss her terribly, and she wonders how they will ever manage without her. Nothing happens for some time... then suddenly, one day, Mog sees a little kitten in the house. The kitten is frightened of everything - noise, newspapers, bags and being picked up. Mog thinks the kitten is very stupid. But then Mog realises that the nervous kitten doesn't know how to play and just needs 'a little bit of help'. And so, Mog pushes the surprised kitten into Debbie's lap, where it finds it actually likes being tickled and stroked. The new family pet is settled in at last. But Debbie says she will always remember Mog. 'So I should hope,' thinks Mog. And she flies up and up and up right into the sun.

Seems to fit the bill in my view

Northern_Princess

My daughter was around 3 when our dog died. Meg had been by her side since she was born. Meg was 12 when she died in her sleep I told daughter Meg had gone to Rainbow Bridge where she played with other animals, still woofed at the birds, chased her ball and raided bins. Basically all things that used used to make her laugh when Meg was alive. Everytime daughter seen a rainbow she always said "Meg is there mum". We have lost other animals since then and they all go to Rainbow Bridge. As daughter got older I showed her the Rainbow Bridge poem. Daughter lost her other childhood dog 4 weeks ago. He was the first dog that was 'hers'. She's nearly 18 now and Rainbow Bridge still gives her a lot of comfort. I think it depends what you believe in to be honest on how you approach death with kids. My daughter lost her dad when she was relatively young and the day after his death she said to me "Dad will have gone to Rainbow Bridge mum to collect Meg by now mum". It made me smile (and still does) to think that

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

Another vote for Goodbye Mog here.

It's really, really good. Ever so sweet and gentle, even for a hardbitten old atheist like me. But your OH will probably want to read it by himself before either of you reads it out aloud.

skintandscared_2

NoAngel wrote: »

I was told my dog had gone to live on a farm with the other dogs. I believed it and wasn't too upset and never questioned it again. I was 3 years old.

Yes, I was told that when our rabbit died. Then when I was in my 30's I was watching some comedy programme where an animal died and they said "oh just tell X that it went to live on a farm" and I suddenly remembered .... I felt a complete idiot!