Pets - What to Do When Your Child Loses Their Best Friend

Children and pets seem to go together like peanut butter and jelly. Sometimes they grow up together, but normally there's a special bond between them that's similar to what a child feels for their parent or grandparents. When a pet dies, it's important to realize that your child is in pain. Here are some things you can do when your child loses their best friend.

* Children need to understand that most animals have a shorter lifespan than humans. It's important when your child gets a pet to teach them as much as you can about that type of animal, including what their average lifespan is. When the inevitable day comes, you can remind your child that their pet lived a long and happy life because they were a part of your child's life.

* Let your child know that their pet's death is not their fault. Reassure your child that they were not responsible for the death, that the animal was older and its heart stopped beating. There wasn't anything they could have done to change matters.

* When a loved person dies we honor them with a funeral. It might be a good idea to have something similar for much-loved pet. Have your family gather together and remember the good things about the pet. Let the child plan the service to commemorate their pet how they think is best.

* Put together a photo album with various pictures of your child's pet. This will give them something to look at to help them remember their pet when they start missing it. Your child may even want to write a short story or poem to include in their photo album to express how they felt about their animal.

* Make a special gift to help other animals, such as a gift to the ASPCA in the name of your pet. By doing this, your child can feel good about doing something that will help other animals find loving homes to live in.

* Allow your child time to grieve. Don't tell them that it's silly to cry, in fact be honest about how you feel about the loss. It will help your child learn to grieve if they see you do it, too.

* Encourage them to talk about how they feel. Tell them it's OK if they don't want to talk about it right after the pet dies, but that you're available to listen if they do want to talk.

* Wait until your child has had a chance to grieve before buying them a new pet. A new pet can't replace their old one, but it may help ease the pain somewhat. Again, teach your child about the pet and how long it is expected to live. They may have to go through the process of losing a pet again, but there is a lot of love they can enjoy in the meantime.

Losing a pet is never easy because they give us so much unconditional love. How children react to the death of a pet will help them deal with the death of a human loved one in the future. These tips for helping your child when they lose their best friend may give you the information you need to make the process easier for them.

If you enjoyed this article, please visit the The Parenting Magazine for more. The Parenting Magazine is a popular online publication providing useful parenting information on pets for kids, infant care, child care, child safety, child education, child development, child behavior problems, kids activities and even great food recipes for kids!

Great Dogs For Baby Boomers Who Want to Travel With Their Pet

The baby boomer generation has just started to retire. Born between 1946 and 1964, there are approximately 76 million baby boomers in the United States today-or about 28% of the US population. Baby boomers are healthier, wealthier, and better educated than their parents, and they can expect to live well into their 80s. They have raised their children and now they are "empty nesters" as the kids have moved on to lives of their own.

In order to fill the emptiness in the house when the children leave, many seniors get a pet or they inherit one from their children. As a matter of fact, baby boomers are more likely than other age groups to own pets. Yet, according to several recent surveys, baby boomers plan to travel extensively in their retirement, and many of them will face the dilemma of what to do with their dogs and cats when they travel.

Options include hiring pet sitters or leaving pets behind in kennels or pet hotels. Interestingly, however, a survey conducted by a pet product company found that more than half of all older seniors prefer to bring their pets along with them when they travel. Traveling with a pet makes for a more fulfilling vacation for many seniors.

So what is the best breed of dog for traveling baby boomers? It depends on the type of person and the type of travel. Physically fit adventure seekers who enjoy outdoor activities such as camping and hiking might consider choosing a dog from the Sporting Group, which includes Labrador Retrievers, Golden Retrievers, English Springer Spaniels, and Weimaraners. Although these dogs are usually good-natured, friendly dogs that thrive on outdoor family activities, someone considering this type of pet must be ready to devote time and energy to train and exercise their pet.

Traveling with a larger dog is also quite different than a smaller dog. The most comfortable way to travel with any dog over 15 pounds is by car or RV. This allows for frequent stops along the way to walk and hydrate the dog. Of course, the pet always needs to be restrained for safety.

For those people taking extended vacations that require air travel, there are many considerations when bringing a large pet along. Undoubtedly, your pet will have to travel in the cargo hold of the aircraft, and so needs to have an even temperament. An IATA compliant pet crate will be required, as will a health examination by your veterinarian just prior to flying.

For many seniors, and certainly for apartment dwellers and those with physical limitations, a smaller dog may be a better choice. Although they too need to be restrained while traveling in a car or RV, small pets make great traveling companions. Most small pets enjoy the change in scenery and are truly happy to be with you in a new environment. Remember, though, that no pet should ever be left in the car alone.

Additionally, many traveling pet owners also like the fact that their small dogs may be allowed to fly with them in the cabins of many commercial airliners instead of the cargo hold. Snub nosed breeds such as Pugs are not allowed in the cargo hold due to their breathing problems, so be sure and be careful when selecting this breed if you want to travel extensively.

There are other reasons smaller dogs may be a better choice for aging baby boomers. Larger dogs may be intimidating to strangers, and many pet friendly hotels have size restrictions on dogs. Older baby boomers may also have difficulty handling larger, more energetic, young dogs.

Smaller dogs that traveling baby boomers may want to consider are Miniature or Toy Poodles, Chihuahua, Shih Tzu, Pekinese, Maltese, Lhasa Apso, Pekinese, and Yorkshire Terrier. All of these breeds make great lap dogs and wonderful companions.

On a strict budget? Do not forget your local animal shelter!! They have wonderful pets for adoption and many of them have already been trained and are more mature. In many cases, these animals come from loving homes that, for many reasons, could no longer care for them. In most all cases, these animals are very grateful for a second chance and prove to be loving and loyal pets.

Whether a baby boomer favors travel by auto or air, there are few reasons why owning the proper size or breed of pet would hamper their vacation. Traveling with a pet can add dimension to a trip and make it more fun both for the pet and their owner.

For more information on these dog breeds, click here.

Susan Smith has been in the pet travel industry for over 10 years serving people who travel with their pet. Susan built PetTravel.com which is the oldest and most comprehensive website on the Internet for people looking for pet friendly hotels, immigration and airline information as well as information for traveling with their pet on trains, ferries, cruise ships and all sorts of public transportation worldwide. Be sure and visit http://www.PetTravel.com and discover pet friendly destinations, hotels, and services who welcome you and your pet. Traveling overseas? PetTravel.com has extensive information on import requirements. Best of all, check out the travel articles for lots of great tips on traveling with a pet.

People Can Afford Their Pets and Eat, Too, During This Recession

The U. S. has, on average, over 74 million dogs. Many of those are pets, and many of those pets will find themselves homeless, needlessly homeless during these hard, recessionary times. Why, if Fido is such an emotional part of the family, should he be cast into the street? Some might say that the reason has to do with Fido's being a dog, but they might want to reconsider.

The problem is bigger than the plight of pets. Reflect on the choices that some adults in Nebraska make when they abandon their children -all ages (just born to 17) - under the safe-haven law specifying that a child (children) can be abandoned at a licensed hospital without explaining why. So, the answer is NOT because Fido is a dog or Perky is a cat or Cathy is an adorable and easily adoptable human girl or Billy is a troublesome 17-year-old human boy. It is because their adult people are misguided.

During lean times such as this current recession, some of us are finding ourselves short on cash, short on jobs, and short on the basics of life. In desperation, we forget that we are NOT short on basic human values; they came with us when we were born. Sure, trying to get through each day is very hard and becomes harder when the so-called domino principle crashes down on our heads - banks put pressure on our mortgages, wages dry up from lay-offs, and savings dwindle during lay-offs. Money is scarce - cash for food, utilities, medicine. Those clunking dominos hurt when they crash down. We cannot buy anything. We cannot think rationally. We hurt, so we abandon what we THINK we do not need or cannot manage. In other words, our dilemma is all about US.

Not everyone is like this. Some people do stay on a track of minding their values and dependents. Some manage to sustain what they consider important (i.e., roof over the head, food on the table and in the children's tummies, medicine for those who need it). They make choices -give up cable TV, cell phone plans, clip coupons, take on odd jobs, and sell unused items in the household. Their bottom-line goal is to keep the family together, even though some sacrifices are hard such s giving up deeply rooted pleasures like smoking, drinking alcohol or gourmet coffees, all of which are expensive and none of which is essential to life.

Too many, though, try to put their comfort levels before their responsibilities. They might attempt to keep both for awhile before reality sets in. Then, when spending does not match their incomes, they cut out what they consider "safe" buffer payments such as rent or mortgage payments, health insurance payments, credit card payments that allow leniency periods, hoping that the bad stuff will just go away.

Bad choices do not go away, though. In the end, 1 + 1 still equals 2, and if we do not have 2, we add it to next month's bills when it becomes 4, and so on. Bad choices add up to more bad choices.

Do the math. How many of our choices are based on habit, doing just what is familiar to us, not right for us? While indulging in habits of eating chocolate, smoking, drinking gourmet coffee is arguably fine during prosperous times, now during this now-declared recession, money could be (should be) put to better use, but we do not make that choice...out of habit.

Let's say that someone hands you a check for $1,000 just when your rent payment is due, your electricity payment is overdue, and your family is very tired of Dollar Store macaroni and cheese? Would you

(a) use the money to pay for your family's needs, or

(b) light a match and burn the check (in other words, buy $1,000 worth of cigarettes)?

If the choice MUST be either A or B, most people would select A and relinquish the cigarettes in order to support their families. Now, take this illustration to the state or national level.

There are approximately 733,100 smokers in South Carolina and 44.2 million smokers in the U.S. At a cost of nearly $40 per carton per smoker (approximately 20-25 cigarettes in a $3.50 pack), that would be about $1,000 per year per person times the number of smokers comes to $442,000,000,000 nationally and $7,331,000,000 in South Carolina. Let's use that $442 BILLION (over $7 BILLION in South Carolina) to help the abandoned animals and children and anyone else cast out from families who believed that THEIR smoking was more important. Billions. Figures just as high as the federal government's national bail-out figures, yet we do not see them on the nightly news because ....

At this point in your reading, you have probably begun to wonder what all of this has to do with pets. The point is this. What if the money used for smoking (i.e., burning money) were used to help pets or anyone in the family who is abandoned because their people cannot afford to feed them? While about half of the owners of the nearly 74 million dogs buy their animals gifts during the holidays, too many others go the other extreme of abandoning their pets (or children or elderly) when times get rough to pay bills. Why? The loved ones are a part of the family, aren't they? Casting Grandma , the kids, pets, or the roof over their heads in favor of menthol light cigarette does not make sense.

The point, then, is for us as a nation and as individuals to make wiser choices!

Sure, you can say. "I don't have a pet, so it's not my problem." So, we hope for new adoptions. We entreat animal-less homes to adopt one, perhaps two, of the abandoned pets. Grand Strand Humane Society and the North Myrtle Beach Humane Society (both under petfinder.com) desperately need holiday angels either adopt pets or support pets with their great program. Just in October alone, the Grand Strand rescues took in 2,000 animals, compared with about 1,800 taken in for the entire previous year alone. The new adoption program allows either a real adoption or an "angelic" adoption where both people and businesses can help care for homeless animals without actually having to bring them home. For more information call 843-448-9151 if you are interested in this great program!

However, the issue is larger than adoptions! The issue is HOW to persuade people NOT to abandon their pets, their children, their elderly, their disabled in the first place. Is our society so pitiable, so wretched to have evolved DOWN to a dog-eat-dog world? If so, let's get over it and move up!

Let's rethink our values and our choices and figure out what the responsible thing is to do. It's not just about the pets. It's not just about smoking.

S Duncan, Marketing Specialist at Myrtle Beach Seaside Resorts in beautiful, downtown North Myrtle Beach on the balmy coast of mid-Atlantic USA.

How it Affects Your Children and What You Should Do When Their Pet Dies

Many times the first contact with death for your children happens when their pet just died. Most of the times they can't comprehend where their pet has gone and why is not back yet. The children need to be explained a few things, however they also they need extra love, support, consolation and a display of deep affection. They won't understand many things at a tender age and particularly if they are up to 5 years old only, they will think that the pet will return to them eventually.

Between the ages of 6-8 they will start to somehow grasp that the pet might not come back afterall, and they will realize to a lesser extent the seriousness of the subject of death and dying. Only a bit later on, from around the age of 9-10 they are fully aware that death is permanent and once gone, the pet will never return.

Many parents face the difficult decision on having to tell their kids that the pet diet. They find it quite hard to express their words in a way that the child will understand. This is why it is useful to get the kids quite comfortable by using a soft and kind voice and hug them, make them feel loved at all times. One thing you need to do is telling them the truth. No matter what, you can't lie to your kids. Even if you think you are protecting them by lying, it is wrong and it might backfire by creating mistrust, anxiety and unneeded panic.

Of course there will be many questions asked by your child, such as 'Why did the pet die' and 'When is coming back', and 'When will I see the pet again' and some children might also feel that it's their fault somehow that the pet is gone. You have to make sure that any feelings of guilt are immediately put to rest by the children, else they might grow up with that feeling inside them and that might cause them harm in the long run.

Of course the children will feel anger, sadness, pain, grief and that is normal. Take note that they might even feel jealousy towards other kids that have pets, so watch out for any such signs. But usually these will pass eventually.

One of the best ways to help your children heal is to let them help in your search for the best pet urn. If needed be, go online, search at Amazon and go with them through the various pictures of the displayed urns. This way they will feel that they have contributed somehow to keeping alive the memory of their most beloved pet, and will start to heal faster.

To learn more about urns for pets and how to find the best ones online, visit my website at urns for ashes.

Children React Differently When a Pet Dies, Based on Their Age

Many factors can contribute to how a child will feel when a pet dies. The child's age and maturity are important factors. As with older people, the relationship the child had with your pet, the circumstances of your pet's death, and other events or losses the child has experienced will influence the grieving process. The ability of the parents and others to provide support will also play an important role in helping the child work through the grief.

Some generalities on how children may respond or experience their grief around the loss of a pet, as related to age are discussed below.

Infants and Children up to two years old: Infants and very young children may not understand the death of a pet, but they are very aware of the tension and change in emotional state of those around them. Reassuring them by hugging and holding them, and keeping the household routine as normal as possible, will definitely help.

Toddlers and Pre-school Children: In general, children under 7 years of age do not understand that death is permanent. They will need help in understanding that your pet will not wake up or come home. Do not try to hide a pet's illness or death from a child; they are often the first to sense that something is wrong. Trying to isolate them from a pet's death may cause them to feel abandonment or betrayal, and takes away their right to say good-bye. Help them to know it is okay to ask questions (they usually have many) and okay to be sad. Even children at the age of two can experience feelings of grief and sorrow. Underplaying the significance of a pet's death may result in a child feeling that no one would care if they were to die.

School-age Children: Children between the ages of 7 and 12 do experience grief and do understand the permanence of death. They may ask many questions about how and why your pet died. Children over 12 years of age (adolescents) may have a very difficult time recovering from grief and may not be open about how much emotional pain they are experiencing. Adolescents should not be put in the position of having to take on extra responsibilities, such as caring for siblings during this time of crisis.

Euthanasia: Euthanizing a pet can result in considerable confusion for a young child. In explaining euthanasia, simply explain that a painless injection of a powerful medication is given to your pet, which allows your pet to die and not suffer. In general, children under the age of eight are too young to be present when their pet is euthanized. Euthanizing a pet is difficult -- if a child is to be present, it is best to have a pre-euthanasia session with the veterinarian to explain what will happen.

At this point, it can be determined if it is better for the child not to be present during the euthanasia, but instead, to be invited into the room immediately afterwards. The words 'put to sleep' or 'went away' should not be used with young children, since it may cause them to feel even more confused. They may fear falling asleep themselves, because they think they may not wake up. Some children become terrified if they are told they are going to be 'put to sleep' before surgery. Or they may feel abandoned and that their pet did not love them and therefore ran away.

If financial considerations played a role in euthanizing a pet, the child may believe her parents would not be able to take care of her if she became ill. In these situations, reassure the child that she will always be cared for. The child should also be told that the injection your pet received is not the same as what they receive at a doctor's office.

Expressing feelings: Young children are less able to express their feelings in words and are more likely to 'act out' what they feel. They may show anger or aggression in various situations that do not seem connected to the animal's death. They may start displaying regressive behavior such as bed-wetting and thumb-sucking. They may experience separation anxiety or complain about not feeling well. Activities such as those described above may help the child work through their feelings. Children of this age may think it was something they did or thought that caused their pet to die, and blame themselves. Even if they do not express it, it is often helpful to reassure the child that he or she was not responsible for the death of your pet.

The bottom line is that pets are part of our families - and the space they leave is palpable. Our kids are not immune to that space and its grief, or the change in routine and the loss of the love that your pet brought into the home. Creating the support that our kids (and we) need to grieve and say good-bye is vitally important.

Finding rituals (such as those found at http://www.peternity.com) may make this process easier and may help with their grief as well. Letting them know, in your words and your actions, that your family remains intact, despite the loss, is the best remedy for everyone in your home.

Colleen Mihelich
Owner, Peternity . . . honoring your pet for eternity
http://www.peternity.com
colleen@peternity.com
877-PET-PEACE