I understand dogs grieve when their owner dies, but will it harm him?

Question

My husbands uncle died recently and we were honored with taking in his 4 yr old male lab Scooter along with 2 cats. He is a great dog but I am worried about him. He is extremely attached to my husband(who was very close with his uncle). He follows him everywhere and if he leaves Scooter whimpers, then follows me everywhere. When we left him home alone for the first time since he's come to live with us, he actually moved our dining table and dining hutch away from the wall! Fortunately nothing was broke and no dogs hurt. He did not do this when he was with our uncle. We were thinking about taking him to the vet to see if there's anything that can be done for "doggy anxiety". He hasn't stopped eating or anything like that, but just seems a little depressed. Will he get over this in time or is it something that we should be worried about? (BTW, the cats are adjusting fine)

Answer 1

Yes he'll be just fine. Just like humans dogs grieve in their own way. It could take a long time or it could take a short time. Also it sounds like your dog has developed separation anxiety if he whimpers when your husband leaves and then follows you around and was able to move the hutch when both of you left. He was just trying to find someplace that made him feel safe and secure.

Answer 2

You may need to start a behavior modification program with your new dog because he is exhibiting the signs of separation anxiety. There's no way to explain to the dog that his owner and best friend has passed away, so he is feeling abandoned. The vet could probably prescribe some anti-anxiety medication, but your best bet is probably to bring in a trainer that can help you learn to train him to be okay being left alone.

Answer 3

Dogs are basically like a child... If their dad dies, they may become depressed for a while. Dogs may be depressed, or grieving, for up to 2 or 3 months. I recently had an experience where my entire family left my dog for 2 weeks. Our sitter said he was sad for about a week and a half, but started being more playful. I can imagine the same scenario with your case.

Goodluck

Answer 4

Separation anxiety, my dog has it and those are all the signs of it. What to do with a dog with separation anxiety is take them with you a few times to show them that nothing is wrong, and then when you leave them give them a bone so they can chew on it when they get stressed. This may take up to a year to train them, but its worth it. Good luck :)

And dogs should grieve, but it shouldn't harm them. My dogs original owner died a few months ago and she recently got over it, shes happy now, but she was really sad after he died.

Answer 5

When my husband passed on, my 17- year old westie, Token, stuck to me like glue-her way of expressing her grief-

Even animals have the ability to feel loss and a need to come to terms as much as we do-



As she was so old, her hearing, sense of smell and sight were almost nill but she lived on for more than a year after that despite the fact that she was close to my late hubby-



We all have our way of coping with emotional pain but having Token so close to me at that point in time helped to ease my hubby's passing-



As long as you shower your dog with love, it'll help all around-hope this helps-namaste-

Answer 6

It will def take some time, but as long as he is still eating and drinking, I would probably just suggest doing what you said about going to the vet for anxiety pills. :)