Re: Grieving dog

Celine — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 16:07:56 GMT

Agree with above BUT

Just remember that the owner sitting watching the dog constantly for any drinking is going to stress it out!! And generally make the situation worse, giving the dog a whole lot of "Something is terribly wrong and you should be very very worried" cues! Unless its a very very insecure dog I'd be very surprised if it doesn't drink / hasn't already been drinking.

Maybe doing something cheerful (as Jo says) - go for a walk, nice sunshine, throw the ball, then come home and let him off the leash and DONT FOLLOW HIM TO SEE IF HE DRINKS and I'm sure he'll be fine. Best of luck

Re: Grieving dog

Jo Mackenzie — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 10:24:50 GMT

I would agree with what youve said, sticking to the usual routine and trying to carry on as normal. The owner will be grieving herself and the dog will be picking up on this which is likely to be making the problem worse, so as difficult as it might be she should try to be cheery and upbeat whenever she is around the remaining dog and hopefully it will follow her lead. Giving the dog plenty of attention will help, but be careful that it doesnt become too clingy and reliant on her, as this could cause her problems later down the line. Ive also found that Zylkene and/or DAP can be helpful.

Its difficult to say how long it will continue as its a very individual thing. If the remaining dog has spent all its life with the other one then it will be feeling a bit lost without him and it might take a bit longer than it would if the dog had spent some its time without the other dog.

It may be drinking small amounts of water without her realising, but if the dog has genuinely not been drinking anything at all for a few days then it will be getting dehydrated pretty quickly, so she should try to encourage it to drink by dribbling a little bit of water into its mouth with a syringe, and definitely think about taking it to the vet. They wont just tell her its grieving and send her on her way, they will be sympathetic.

Hope that helps