I am so upset ... what do I do now?

Fluffy - My little girl sleeping with her puppy.. God, rest his soul
United States
June 8, 2007 1:35am CST
My 2 year old daughter received the best Christmas gift ever this past year. A beautiful little puppy. Today, we were getting ready to leave our home and my daughter opened the door to go to the vehicle and he ran out. He does almost everytime. He will go sit at the bottom of the steps and wait for us to come. Today he darted straight out to the road. Yes, you guessed it. It was the most horrible thing ever. How do I tell my baby girl that her best friend is gone. She done everything with that puppy. He even slept with her. Worst of all, she saw the whole thing. She was asking me, "mommie, wuppies got ougie"? which is how she asks if something is hurt. I said yes, but how do I explain that he is gone and won't be coming back? I took him into the back yard where I fixed a "coffin" to bury him and then dug a hole under a nearby tree and buried him. It was the most awful thing for me. My mother in law occupied her while I done this but she saw me take him into the back yard and now she is constantly asking me " mommie, where wuppies" "mommie, get my wuppies peez?" I feel so horrible. She has cried off and on for hours now asking for her puppy which I can't give her. I finally got her to lay down for bed, which brought on more tears because she ALWAYS slept with her puppy. What do I do? How do I explain? I feel like I should run out and get another puppy even though it wouldn't replace her other one, maybe it would help her though. I need some advice.. Can someone shed some insight? I have never had to cope with something like this.
3 people like this
12 responses
• United States
8 Jun 07
Oh no! I am so sorry to hear that! I know that it is tough telling your child that the puppy won't be coming back. With my son, when he was that young he was sad for a while and the only thing I could do was to try to distract him. I would go buy him a new toy or something. I do not know any other advice, but I hope things go well for you and your daughter. Good luck!
@foxyfire33 (10005)
• United States
8 Jun 07
I have a two year old too. I have no idea how I would handle this if it was my own child. Is there any way you can get a new "wuppies"? She's little enough that maybe she wouldn't notice if he wasn't exactly the same. As long as he was close you could just tell her the differences are from his "accident". Other than that all I can think of is to tell her that wuppies has to stay away (maybe at a puppy hospital?) for awhile and will come back as soon as he can. That will at least buy you some time to figure out the best way to handle it. Either you can tell her after awhile that the puppy doctors couldn't make him better or make up a story about him going home with a mommy puppy. You could tell her that he must not have been ready to leave his mommy yet since he didn't know better than to run out in the road. Say that the mommy puppy is going to teach him all the things he needs to know so he is going to stay with her instead until he is a big grown up dog. Little ones don't usually realize that animals grow up faster than people so (for another year or two at least) she'll probably think that as long as she is little and needs her mommy, wuppies is still little and needs his mommy. Whatever you decide to do I really hope your little girl feels better soon!
2 people like this
@jeanena (2198)
• Bucklin, Kansas
8 Jun 07
As young as she is maybe getting her a new puppy would help her.I have had to do the same with my kids. well something close to that anyway. My baby girl had a chihuahua that passed on and she still talks about her even now @ 12 yrs old. But She was able to focus on another dog to help her over her grief with losing KK. Hugs for your little one. I know how bad it hurts losing your pets My Cleo was lost very recently.
1 person likes this
• United States
8 Jun 07
i am very sorry for your loss. you must sit your child down and tell her the truth. explain that that is why we don't play in the road. she will be sad for a little bit, and she may not truly understand, but you cannot try to "fool" her with a similar puppy. take her to your local SPCA or pet shop and look for a new "best friend" for her. involve her in choosing the little rascal. i'm sure she will be fine. if she likes to watch cartoon movies (like, what 2 yr old doesn't} see if you can rent or borrow "All Dogs go to Heaven". It is a very cute movie dealing with pets passing on. good luck to you and God Bless.
1 person likes this
@jeanena (2198)
• Bucklin, Kansas
8 Jun 07
What a wonderful suggestion "All Dogs Go To Heaven" is a wonderful movie. I agree that telling her the truth is best, my little one was the one that found her baby KK "asleep", well that is what she thought anyway. I hated to have to explain that KK wasnt going to wake up.
1 person likes this
• Philippines
8 Jun 07
I am sad with what happened to your little girl. This also happened to me when I was a little kid. I remembered I cried a lot but the pain eventually faded. The amazing thing with little kids is that they can easily move on with their pains. This experience is actually very helpful for your daughter. Give her this opportunity to grieve because this is the best way she can recover from this sorrow. This is just like loosing a loved one, only time can heal our sorrow. This experience will strengthen your daughter and will arm her for greater feats in life. Yes, it will break your heart to see your daughter grieve but this is also a way for her to grow. Just be there for your daughter and shower her with lots of affection at this stage. She is still very young but this will make a big impact on her. More luck to you and your daughter.
1 person likes this
@msvenzon (424)
• Philippines
8 Jun 07
That really is sad. We just lost our dogs this March and April, and although we are grown ups we still cried when we buried them. It's so hard to loose a pet who is also a family member. To be honest, there are still days that when I think of our dogs I come out crying. It will be really hard on your daughter because she is really close to her pet. Maybe, you can explain to her that her puppy when to heaven where it will be happy playing. My youngest brother approached me after we buried our dogs, crying, He said to me "Now Maxtor (our dog's name) will have all the food he likes, won't be sick and will always be happy in heaven." It surely made me cry but I know he that he understands that sometimes there are sad experiences that we cannot control. Now we bought a new puppy, not to replace the pets we lost but to have a new member of the family. I hope I was able to help. =)
@lingli_78 (12822)
• Australia
9 Jun 07
i'm sorry to hear about what happen to your daughter's puppy... the only thing i can think of is to get her another one with the same breed to ease her pain and stop her from asking you where is her puppy... i know puppy is not cheap... even here in australia... it is so expensive for me... i'm really really feel sorry for you and your daughter and hope everything wil be sorted soon... my condolences goes to you... hope you can handle the situation and your daughter will feel better soon... take care and good luck... please update us on your situation... meanwhile, please give my big hug to your daughter as well...
@kareng (54724)
• United States
8 Jun 07
I'm so sorry to hear about your puppies accident. It's bad enough that it happened but to see it happen is even worse. I hope your daughter will accept a new puppy. She is young and I think maybe getting another one for her as a companion will be the best thing. It will be hard for her to understand but try to let her know that your other wuppie was hurt and had to go away. And this new wuppie was sent to dry her tears. Good luck to you and your daughter and your search for the perfect "woopie".
• Canada
9 Jun 07
getting another puppy almost the exact same may work or tell her that God needed a puppy so he asked for hers... I dont know if they will work but my heart goes out to you and your baby
@amjada (379)
8 Jun 07
Dont worry, you,ll be ok. Just stimulates your self.
@KaseyLah (142)
• Canada
8 Jun 07
that is so sad
@palimole (42)
• United States
8 Jun 07
nothing is better than the truth but give her something else she always wanted