My 2 year old lab is acting so different since my other lab (her mother) died 3 months ago. She had never been separated from her and now is acting depressed. She is being a loner...does not like to hang with other dogs, doesn't want to hang out on the dock as before, just prefers to stay inside and sleep. She also seems afraid of so many things now. I know it is tough on her being alone now, but I thought she would get better by now. We are thinking of adding another lab puppy to the family just to help her. Is this a good idea? Has anyone had this problem?
Hi there, Welcome to the Forum. Dexter is our first dog and he's an only dog so I haven't got any personal experience to help with your questions but I didn't want to just read and pass by your post X I'm sorry about the loss of your older girl,the younger one does sound like she is missing her....having read on here from Members who have been in this situation,it does seem that the remaining dog is certainly affected. If she is generally happy in other dogs company then a puppy may help her ,but I would say it would take time.Puppies are wonderful but don't they just bring their own mix of chaos when they arrive in our lives :: You obviously are experienced with pups though and your dog is only still young,so i'm sure it would help her but it might not be an instant lift for her x I feel for you seeing her unsettled ,I'm sure there will be some more advice along soon x
I'm so sorry your girl is sad. From what others have said I know dogs do grieve and miss their friends when they've gone. I don't have any experience to offer you but I know others have, hopefully they'll be along to share. I would try and take her some fun places, maybe new and exciting ones so that she might come out of herself a little or try and find some games to engage her and get her to play with you. Best of luck
I was wondering if finding something else that she would enjoy...agility, scent work, different places, games. If she is food orientated using that as a basis for some new activities. I would be inclined to wait until you are happy that she is more interested in life and back to her old self, and you of course, before bringing another dog into the family, especially if she seems a wee bit fearful of things. I was also wondering if she is picking up how you are dealing with the loss too, and this is affecting her. Of course nothing stopping you from researching puppies now....sourcing a new puppy can take some time
Getting a puppy certainly made a huge difference to my dog when she was bereaved, she had looked so unhappy, no energy, lost. As soon as the pup came she went back to her normal self.
So sorry your pup is down in the dumps. Dogs definitely can get depressed! I would try some of the other's advice about new places or activities and see if that helps. Certainly others have found that a new dog can lift the spirits of a dog who is feeling lonely. Puppies can be a lot of work and cause their own types of disruptions, though, as you well know. Do you have anyone with a friendly dog whom your pup knows that you could arrange for visits? Even some temporary contact with another pooch might be helpful.
I was in a similar situation we really encouraged the dog that was bereaved to join in and did lots of fun things she enjoyed and made a big fuss of her, this worked and she got better still sad but not so lost and wanting to isolate herself. We also had a 2 year old Toy Boy for her and he helped her cope. We're not out of the woods yet but she is very well now. Hope you can find a way to help your dog its so hard when they loose their life long friends.
Best thing to do is not reward depression type behavior you may think your consoling your dog, your not your actually drawing the process out . We dealt with this a lot actually in my old line of work . Just give them extra attention and they will eventually come around . I've actually seenever war dogs not leave the body of their handler or other war dogs . Dogs are very social animals . If a war dog had to be put down and was close to another dog then they were actually present when the dog was out down and allowed to view the body of the dog that was put down . The surviving war dog would get extra attention and play time for a period but they generally came back pretty fast . If your old dog has any old toys or a bed or anything that it's scent is still on get it out of the house . Don't know how long these scents stay for a dog but I know it makes a difference . For the record I was not a dog handler but we saw this behavior as close as we worked with the dogs .
My understanding is it's not possible to reinforce an emotional state such as fear during fireworks so comforting a dog is perfectly ok. You can obviously reinforce behaviours though so you need to be clear what's emotion and what's behaviour.
Maybe....you perhaps can't reinforce emotions through positive reinforcement, but you can reinforce fear through both positive punishment (and negative reinforcement?) - if a dog is afraid and something horrible follows, it's going to be more afraid next time so you have made fear more likely in those circumstances. I'd say sadness (the closest my dog has been to sadness is closed down, I think) might be similar. His harnesses closes him down. He sees the harness, feels sad, harness gets put on, he feels more sad....gets worse over time. I'd say making a dog feel better by offering it comfort is likely to reinforce the thing you were doing when the dog started to feel better. So if cuddling, paying attention etc to your dog makes it feels better, then that's reinforcing. If it doesn't change how the dog feels, it's nothing. But it's very hard to see how it can make the dog feels worse (unless it doesn't actually like comfort or cuddles etc).
