Marine Staff Sgt. Steven Smith was serving his fifth deployment, this time on a fire base in Afghanistan, when he says he was "adopted" by an 18-month-old black Labrador retriever named Miranda.

She had recently lost her litter of seven puppies to illness. The days were heating up, and Smith began to allow Miranda to cool off in his room.

"When you're living in the conditions that we're living in over there and you have a dog that lives on that base, it brings so much joy to people that are there," he says. "It's just you, and you're out in the middle of nowhere, and you got this one dog that, you know, runs around and barks at everything."

Turning Point
The relationship between Smith and Miranda changed one day when the dog went out on patrol with the Marine and came under Afghan attack. As a result, the pair would form a bond that set in motion a new future for both soldier and canine -- as well as Smith's wife, Vanessa, and their dog, Irwin.

"We did a patrol outside of our fire base," Smith recalls, "and she stayed the whole time with us. We actually got in some serious confrontation with the enemy. She stayed there the whole time as everything was going off, explosions and machine gun fire.

"She walked off and I lost her. And we had to go back to the base. She showed up a day later, just skin and bones. She had been beaten up and came back severely traumatized from the event. But she found her way back to me. That was the big deciding factor. I told Vanessa, 'We gotta bring her back. There's no way I can leave her there after this.' "

His wife went to work on a plan to bring Miranda to the States and quickly realized it was going to be expensive.

You just returned from the vet's office where they told you there was nothing more they can do for your dog and the time has come to put him down. You may be in shock, you may feel numb or maybe you've already been upset for days and this news is nearly unbearable. Moments later, one overwhelming question takes hold: "What am I going to say to my child?"

As a marriage and family therapist in private practice, I have helped many people deal with issues of grief and loss. The death of a beloved family pet is certainly a major life stressor. It is important to honor this event by giving it the time and attention that it requires in order for the family to heal. Here are some guidelines to help you and your child deal with this event.

1. Communicate honestly and clearly. Children need to be told what has happened or what will happen to their pet. Talk in clear, direct terms that do not create confusion. For example, many people use the term "put to sleep" in lieu of euthanasia. It is important to use direct language to describe what is happening so that the child does misinterpret this information and think that when he goes to sleep he may die as well.