Your Own Perceptions Play a Part
Much of a dog’s behavior can be a mystery to an owner, but there are countless examples that leave us wondering if the unimaginable is actually conceivable. “When someone is inclined to believe in the paranormal, some dogs may exhibit behaviors that make it look like they are perhaps sensing an apparition is nearby,” says Dr. Mary Burch, director of the AKC Family Dog Program and a certified animal behaviorist. “This may be the dog that stops and stands still at a given point in the house, and the owner later finds out someone died there.”
If a dog is standing in a corner, barking at nothing visible, could it be that they sense something out of the ordinary? Or perhaps they stay close to an object that is associated with a deceased family member, whether it be a favorite chair or side of the bed, as if that person is still present.
Dr. Burch points out that when a dog barks at what appears to be nothing, an owner sometimes thinks it’s because the dog is seeing a ghost or picking up on something the owner can’t. “While clairvoyance generally falls outside of what we can prove in terms of science, we do understand and have research on a dog’s basic five senses,” she says.
In addition to the five senses (sight, smell, taste, touch, hearing), dogs also possess a sixth sense—that “gut” feeling we get when something doesn’t feel right. The difference. though, is that dogs are more open to trusting what they feel and acting on those feelings accordingly, while most people’s minds analyze what’s going on and deny the possibility that auroras or spirits exist. “Dogs are remarkable creatures, with senses that far exceed a human’s,” explains Dr. Burch.
When a dog runs and sits by the door waiting for their owner, Dr. Burch explains this behavior could be a habit simply learned through repetition. But if the owner comes home much earlier than usual, and the dog still sits by the door within minutes of the owner’s arrival, that unexplained behavior could appear to be the result of a sixth sense.
Dogs also have the ability to detect impending disasters before they happen, thanks to their powerful sense of smell. “Barometric pressure and all natural phenomena have odors associated with them,” says Hartstein. “They are beyond the capacity of our noses to recognize, but dogs can sense these changes immediately.”
When a dog recognizes that its owner has died, the results aren’t always touching. In 2011, seven dogs lived for more than a week by feeding off of the remains of their deceased owners. Both dogs and cats, in fact, occasionally feast on their owners’ dead bodies. Skeptics point to this as evidence that dogs are quick to move on once they’re certain an owner is dead, but it’s possible that some dogs are simply more attached than others to their owners.
The photograph of Figo, the police dog at his master’s funeral, is relatively weak evidence of grief. Dogs are remarkably responsive to subtle human cues. In a 2005 study, food was placed in one of several opaque boxes. When a human pointed, gazed, or nodded in the direction of the box containing the food, most dogs picked up on the signal and found the treat. (Chimpanzees perform significantly worse than dogs in such tests.) It’s entirely possible that curiosity, rather than grief, motivated Figo to inspect the box that was receiving so much attention from the assembled mourners. His behavior away from the funeral, such as his eating habits and energy levels, would be more indicative of mourning than a single snapshot. Advertisement
Dogs who sit endlessly at a master’s gravesite may be waiting for him to return, rather than mourning his death. Dogs can be very stubborn when it comes to accepting their master is gone. An Akita named Hachiko was renowned in Japan for walking to and from the local train station on his master’s commuting schedule for 10 years after he died. (Apes accept death more quickly: Some have attempted to revive their fallen companions, only to howl and pound the walls of their enclosures when they appear to realize the efforts are in vain.) Advertisement
They sometimes mope, but a dog’s emotions are a mystery. If you’re inclined to believe that dogs grieve over their fallen masters, there are plenty of anecdotes to support your view. Dogs sometimes wail plaintively at funerals, refuse to leave the cemetery, and even track down a deceased owner’s grave weeks after the death. The ASPCA conducted a study showing that two-thirds of dogs experience lethargy and loss of appetite after another dog in the household passes, suggesting that dogs are capable of mourning fellow canines, if not human companions. (Prozac is prescribed to deal with intractable canine grief.) Skeptics, however, believe they can explain these stories without attributing humanlike emotions to canines. Unfortunately, the only way to surmise a dog’s emotional state is through its behavior, which is variable and open to interpretation. How you answer this question has more to do with your preferred view of the inner lives of dogs than the evidence itself, which is inconclusive. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement
How to Help a Grieving Dog
The first step is acknowledging that your dog is in the grieving process. Luckily, there are things you can do to help your dog through this time.