Dogs Pick Up on Our Grief
When you lose a furry family member, not only will your dog experience behavioral changes, but you will undoubtedly feel the devastating loss and behave differently as well.
“Dogs pick up on our mood, odors, facial expressions, and even read our postures,” says Dr. Bekoff. “They read differences in us and can feed off our own feelings, including sadness and grief.”
There have even been scientific studies that indicate owners who are feeling stressed tend to have dogs who are stressed too, according to Dr. Brian Hare, professor of evolutionary anthropology Duke University and founder of Duke’s Canine Cognition Center. “A study in the June 2019 edition of Scientific Reports using cortisol measurements in the hair or fur of people and pets argued that people who are stressed at home have dogs who show signs of stress,” says Dr. Hare. Cortisol is a chemical produced by the body in dogs and humans when an individual is under some kind of stress.
So when you’re feeling sad because you’ve lost a beloved pet, your dog is feeding off your sadness. Because dogs are genetically tuned to bond closely with their human owners, this can, in effect, double up on your pup’s emotional stress.
To avoid contributing to your dog’s grief, offer love and reassurance after the loss of another household pet. “There’s nothing wrong with trying to cheer up your dog,” says Dr. Bekoff. “Give him an extra treat, extra walk, a hug, or let him sleep next to you.”
Clubs Offering:
Grieving the loss of a furry friend? Consider joining the AKC Pet Loss Support Group on Facebook. We hope the community will help you during this difficult time.
Grief, and the whirlwind of emotions that come with it, is something we have all likely felt at one time or another, whether it’s after the loss of a friend, family member, or beloved pet. What’s harder to know is whether grief, as we understand it, is something that our canine companions feel when they lose a fellow four-legged friend.
While we can’t just ask them, we can observe them – and most evidence seems to indicate that, yes, dogs experience grief in some form. In fact, it’s likely that they feel all of the emotions that go along with grief when they lose both human and canine companions during their lives.
There are many instances of dogs grieving the loss of their owners, but there are also several studies that show that dogs grieve for their close canine companions as well. Read on to discover how dogs grieve for other dogs, how you can identify it, and what you can do to help your pup after the loss of a furry buddy.
An article by Barbara J. King in the May 2017 edition of Scientific American revealed how dogs experience behavioral changes after the death of a fellow pup.
King, professor emerita of anthropology at the College of William and Mary, also explored this topic in her 2013 book How Animals Grieve. “We can’t understand how an animal understands or thinks about death,” says King. “We can only evaluate what we can see, and when someone in a dog’s life dies, dogs will react with behavioral changes.”
That includes the loss of another dog. “After a dog dies, another dog in the household may show social withdrawal,” says King. “He may fail to eat or drink, he may search for his lost companion, or exhibit vocalizations that show he is stressed.”
Although we observe that dogs do grieve for other dogs, they may not fully comprehend the concept of death and all of its metaphysical implications. “Dogs don’t necessarily know that another dog in their life has died, but they know that individual is missing,” says Dr. Marc Bekoff, professor emeritus of ecology and evolutionary biology at the University of Colorado Boulder and author of the 2018 book Canine Confidential: Why Dogs Do What They Do. “It’s a situation of loss of companionship where that dog is no longer around.”
Your dog simply knows that their friend is no longer present and may exhibit one or more symptoms of grief including:
If you notice these signs, they are the normal part of the grieving process and shouldn’t be harshly punished. Instead, try to reassure your dog as much as possible with love and praise and gently discourage or redirect destructive behaviors.
Stick to Your Routine
No matter how your dog reacts to the loss of another dog, he is probably feeling some kind of stress over the changes in the household. One of the best ways you can help your dog adjust to the loss, is to stick as carefully as possible to his normal routine. Continue feeding him and walking him at the same time. Sticking to the usual schedule can help a great deal in reducing his stress. Keeping on a routine can also help you cope with your own grief.
Dogs experience a form of mourning when another dog in the household dies
When one of our furry kids passes, it is devastating and heartbreaking for us. Like losing any family member, we feel we have a huge hole left in our lives. Whether it was a sudden death or we had time to prepare, our hearts feel broken for a while as we mourn one of our furry family members.
Many people wonder how a dog feels when another dog in the home dies. Do dogs experience grief like we do? Yes, they do. Dogs can feel things deeply, just like humans. Their relationship with another dog in the home varies depending on the individual dogs.
Just as we feel closer to some family members than others, our dogs experience different connections with each fur sibling. It’s obvious when they are very bonded. They are usually like ‘two peas in a pod’; often snuggled up on a dog bed, play together, and enjoy each other’s company. If one dog is more aloof and doesn’t seem interested in interacting much with another dog in the home, their bond isn’t usually as strong. But despite how bonded they are, dogs absolutely grieve when another dog dies, and the depth of their sadness varies, depending on how close they were.