Dad Tips – Putting Down a Pet

Hey Dad,

I’m about to do something I’ve never done before…put out family dog of 15 years to sleep. To be honest I’m sad, nervous, and avoiding the day. Thankfully, I’m not the only dad who has had to do it and recently got some advice on what to do. Here are two very thoughtful emails I recently received. I hope they help you do the difficult things dads have to do sometimes.

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“Todd – we just put our dog to sleep last week. Saddest day ever for my family. But the night before we had a celebration of her life! We had a cake which she got to eat. We all made speeches about what a great dog she was and our favorite memory with her. My son made a slide show that we will have forever as a memory of her love for our family. Not that it took away any of the tears (maybe even created more as we shared about her life), but it was a wonderful way to spend her last day.

It was my husbands best friend he cried himself to sleep for the week before! Also will add we had a family sleep over with her the night before. He wanted to be there for her when she was put to sleep and my two oldest boys wanted to as well (11 and 15). They said it was very quick, they took her to a back room alone and put an iv line in her leg then let her in the room with hubby and boys. They laid down her blanket on the floor and they all gathered around her. They all told her what a good girl she was and how much they loved her and they put the meds in and she just laid her head down and went to sleep (like within 5 seconds of the meds). They then gave alone time till they were ready to leave. Some vets do it different tho, so ask how they do it. My children all decided to bury her at home so the dug a huge hole and had a little ceremony. Truly hard but very special day too. ~ Giselle in Michigan

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• I would gather the clan together in one room and explain the dog’s health in terms that the youngest kiddos could understand, i.e. hurts that can’t be healed (cheaply) and also point out that the doggy can’t tell us how much he is hurting because he doesn’t have a voice like you and I – but he is suffering and we need to let him go so that his suffering can stop. Its the most loving thing we can do for him.
• I would let the kids know when you are going to take the dog in to have him put to sleep and let any of the kids come that want to (ouch!). I helped my mom when we took our dog in to be put down and it actually goes pretty fast. They run an IV and the dog goes to sleep in less than a minute. The vet makes sure its heart has stopped and your done. We wrapped our dog in an old towel and took her back home.
• I would plan a simple service back at home, let the kids share there best memories, poems or art work and reflect a few minutes on what they loved about their pet. I wrote a poem about my cat and it helped a ton with the grieving and guilt.
• I would pray together thanking God for the good memories (don’t bring up the bad ones!) and for bringing him into our home. That’s what my dad did and I really appreciated the way he handled it.
• We buried our animals at the house in a spot of no particular importance and made up some makeshift markers.
• Lastly I would pray with them at night that God would heal their hearts.