Perhaps the BEST B1G Forum anywhere, here at College Football Fan Site, CFB51!!!

we recently had to have our dog of 13 years put down due to cancer/internal bleeding. happened very suddenly for us (on 4th of july, no less). didn't know he had cancer until it was hemorrhaging.

we just told them the truth. we gave our kids options on how "involved" they wanted to be. they all chose to be in room for a long while, but not while he was given shot/passing. we let them grieve for a long time, but at some point it became clear it was enough. we didn't just cut it off cold, but we started steering the thoughts/discussions away from wailing/grieving.

tbh, i think it hit me harder than them though. we had a burial/funeral for him the next morning. the night he died, i couldn't sleep, so i made him a casket (do some woodworking on side/hobby). all weekend i could only think 2 things: 1 - i missed my dog, 2 - i don't know how people who lose children survive.

sorry about your dog, btw. it sucks.

Ed Zachery

All 3 statements

Definitely agree, which is why I just offered up how we handled it.  

Nobody has any business telling others how to raise their children. All I can do is give examples of how I chose to soothe my own kids.  Like I said, they're resilient, they bounced back.  I spent a lot more energy and angst worrying over how they were taking it, than they spent on the actual event.  Which is what parents do.

Definitely agree, which is why I just offered up how we handled it. 

Nobody has any business telling others how to raise their children. All I can do is give examples of how I chose to soothe my own kids.  Like I said, they're resilient, they bounced back.  I spent a lot more energy and angst worrying over how they were taking it, than they spent on the actual event.  Which is what parents do.

What if it's painfully obvious that they shouldn't have had children?

How come you need a marriage license, but not a children license?

As to the topic, I have no experience with it. Like MH, I'm a "no pet" person. I guess if I had to do it, I'd just be honest and hit it head on. No fluff.

What if it's painfully obvious that they shouldn't have had children?

How come you need a marriage license, but not a children license?

As to the topic, I have no experience with it. Like MH, I'm a "no pet" person. I guess if I had to do it, I'd just be honest and hit it head on. No fluff.

Ha!  And who gets to make that determination?  I'm fine with it, as long as it's me.  Which is of course the way everyone feels.

What I find most hilarious, is when someone with no children, tells someone with children, how to raise children.  That's genuine LOL funny right there.

well, parents that leave their children in a locked car, no matter the temp or season, obviously need some pointers

there are many other horrible examples, but that should make the point

i talk a lot of shizen, especially in a51... rarely do i reveal something that is absolutely how i figure something to be... Pets, and pets passing in something i do take serious and don't BS about... 

the way i think is gonna be different than most, and i don't mind.  here goes:

we don't 'own' pets.  we coexist with them, just like we do people.  the way we treat them reveals the way we would treat the world if given the opportunity and less the social constructs that are the sole factor that keeps some people in line.  Pets, especially, represent 'experiments' where we can actually observe the entire lifespan and in a short (relative) period.  Like anything else on this planet, they and everything else are temporary- it's up to you how you interact with them while they're here.  you can offer them a better life than they would have had, or you can make them miserable.  You can build a relationship, which all things should enjoy in some way while they're here, or you can ignore them.  all the while, you aren't going to stop the cycle of life, and, you are 'practicing' how you interact with those having their own independent experience- and influencing, however slightly, how they move forward in their own interactions after you're absent... you can do it kind, mean, apathetic or with empathy.... you reveal yourself whether you know it or not, and people notice (the most important person noticing ought to be you). 

it's in this vane, however uncomfortable, that you gauge how you're helping your child develop.  

while the pet is passing, the take away is an evaluation of the relationship- and the most important is if a person is proud of that or not... sad, yeah- it's also an experience we should all have- and often enough to remind us how important relationships are (hopefully).  pets, in particular, are a great way of isolating our own God complex- "did i give them a good life, mistakes aside?"  life and death is out of our jurisdiction (hopefully), but the value of our interaction is on display when something or someone passes.  pets passing is but full contact practice and ought to put those emotionally entwined on notice of what they are or are becoming.      

Hear, hear.