According to a recent study, our pets can experience heartbreaking reactions after losing a canine friend.
Recently, I attended a small housewarming party where a tardy, stressed-out guest arrived. She explained that her second dog, Penny, was having a difficult time because one of her dogs, Max, had recently passed away. Although Penny had always had anxiety, she had made great strides in the past few years with consistent care and training. She was returning to her previous behavior now that Max was absent. She was having accidents in the house, eating less, playing less, and interacting less with the other dogs at daycare. (Penny’s mother was running late because she had to tidy up one of these mishaps before she left.) ).
Penny’s behavior is not unusual, according to a recent paper that was published in the journal Scientific Reports. The study examined data from 426 adults who owned multiple dogs as pets and discovered that dogs who survived the death of a canine companion displayed “grief-related and emotional patterns.” Attention seeking (67%) was the most frequent behavior noted by owners, followed by playing less (57%) and a decrease in activity (46%) as well as sleeping more (35%), becoming more fearful (35%), eating less (32%), and using more vocalizations (30%). Â.
About a third of participants who observed a negative change in their surviving dog’s behavior said it persisted for two to six months after the passing of their friend, 29 4 percent claimed that it only lasted two months or less, and 24 9 percent said it lasted over six months. Â.
The study also discovered that the time the dogs had spent together had no bearing on whether the surviving dog would behave badly. They discovered that the relationship between the dogs’ quality was a much more effective predictor. If their relationship with the deceased pup was described as “friendly,” as opposed to “agnostic” or “mutual tolerance,” dogs were much more likely to play less and exhibit disrupted feeding patterns. â.
The Sound of Her Car Caused a Frantic Search
Scooter first became aware that his former master had passed away on that chilly March day. Scooter ran frantically to the door and barked loudly to greet his good friend as the car pulled into the driveway, as was the custom. Scooter didn’t realize there was a problem until my brother appeared on the other side of the door rather than my mother.
My brother’s pant leg was sniffed by Scooter, who then scooted past him because he thought our mother must be approaching from the walk. Scooter was unfazed when he arrived at the front porch and discovered that my mom wasn’t there and immediately sprinted into another area of the house in search of his friend.
My brother and I weren’t sure what was going on at first, but after Scooter started running around the house looking nervously and barking, we realized what was going on. Scooter was looking for our mom. He had no idea that my brother now had the mother’s old car in his possession.
It’s not unusual for dogs to grieve the loss of a person they’ve bonded with who is no longer present. While they might not understand the full extent of human absence, dogs do understand the emotional feeling of missing someone who’s no longer a part of their daily lives.
While we can’t say for sure whether the feelings a dog has when experiencing an emotional loss mirror that of a human’s, Dr. Marc Bekoff, professor emeritus of ecology and evolutionary biology at the University of Colorado Boulder, says there is now solid evidence from brain imaging studies that similar areas of dogs’ brains light up when they’re feeling parallel emotions to those of humans.
Certain indicators, such as a change in routine or the absence of their owner’s senses (sight, sound, or smell), indicate that something is different because we cannot explain to our dogs when a loss occurs.
“When an owner passes away before her pet, it can be a confusing, sad, and difficult period, even if arrangements have been made for the animal to be taken care of by someone else,” says Russell Hartstein, a certified behaviorist and dog trainer based in Los Angeles.
Dogs are regarded as man’s best friend for a variety of reasons. Anyone who has ever developed a special bond with a dog can attest to the symbiotic relationship between humans and canines. They offer love, loyalty, and companionship. What transpires, though, when a dog loses his best friend?
Dogs and Humans Influence Each Other
These results are important because there is still a lot we don’t know about the inner lives of our furry friends, despite the fact that most dog owners have spent hours observing and analyzing our dogs’ tiniest behaviors, preferences, and quirks. As Dr. According to Stefania Uccheddu, one of the study’s authors, the study was motivated by a desire to shed light on an important but understudied aspect of dogs’ lives: their complex emotions, particularly grief. Â.
Generally speaking, emotions are arguably the most enigmatic aspect of animal life and the most challenging to explore, according to Dr. Uccheddu explained. She claimed that because of this difficulty, they are an especially compelling project for scientists. She continued, saying one of the results that surprised her the most was that if a dog’s owner was also showing signs of grief, the dog was more likely to eat less. This could be as a result of “emotional contagion” between humans and dogs, or as a result of a dog’s capacity to detect their owners’ negative emotions. Â.
Dogs are now extremely perceptive to human communicative gestures and facial expressions, particularly those that convey emotion, according to Dr. Uccheddu said. In fact, the study discovered a link between the owner’s own level of suffering and rage and the surviving dog’s increased level of fear. As two social species, Dr. According to Uccheddu, both humans and dogs are extremely sensitive to the emotions of those around them.
FAQ
How long do dogs grieve the loss of their owner?
How Long Do Dogs Grieve? Of the participants who observed a change in their surviving dog’s behavior, about a third said it lasted for two to six months after the passing of their companion, 29 4 percent claimed that it only lasted two months or less, and 24 9 percent said it lasted over six months.
Do dogs know if their owner dies?
It’s common for dogs to feel sad when a person they’ve developed a bond with is gone. Dogs do understand the emotional feeling of missing someone who is no longer a part of their daily lives, even though they may not fully comprehend the extent of human absence.
How do dogs react to losing their owner?
A dog grieves and responds to the changes in his life when he loses a companion, whether they are two or four legged. Similar to how people behave when they are grieving, dogs also change their behavior. They may have a decreased appetite and decline to play.
What are the signs of a dog grieving?
- Withdrawal from people and other pets.
- A lack of appetite.
- Lethargic behavior and sleeping more than usual.
- Unusually aggressive or destructive behaviors.
- Inappropriate elimination within the home.
- calling out or making unusual vocalizations for the deceased dog