Dog Behavior Change

Question
I have a 2.5 year old Beagle mix (not sure what mix is as we rescued her when she was a puppy - 13 weeks old). She is a dog who ALWAYS wants to be around me and my wife but about 1.5 weeks her behavior chnges. Instead of being with us she sometimes goes in her crate by herself, and instead of sleeping with us she goes in the guest room by herself. We got a lyme screen which was negative. But she almost has a depressed look, or is acting like a dog who is being abused (obviously My wide and I would NEVER harm her in anyway - She is our child essentially). Recently we did have to put one of our dogs down due to age and quality of life. But the dog did not always live with us as it was my mother in laws dog, but the dog was at our house a significant amount. But the two did not really interact as the other dog was gated in a room due to incontinence (we had to limit her roaming so it was easier to clean up. Another ting that we thought was that we have a ig back yard that she usually goes in to run around, but we are having some work done on our house and due to nails and scraps in the back yard she has not been able to go there for a month. Do you think these could cause this behavior or do you think it may be something neurological? The vet said she seems to be a very sensitive dog.

Answer
Hey, Jeff,

She IS a very sensitive dog. And it sounds to me like she's depressed. (Sorry to have to tell you that.)
Look, some dogs are very sensitive to changes in their structural dynamic. All the things we take for granted, the chair being by the window not the fireplace, the backyard always being available, the smell of the old dog's urine wafting from the gated room, mom and dad coming home at predictable times, these kinds of things are the foundation for a dog's life, the bedrock of the rest of their existence.
However, there IS good news: anytime a dog's emotional balance is thrown off by a new move, a divorce, the death of a pack member, etc., the one thing that always helps them adjust is having some play time, where they get to run really hard, chasing a tennis ball or a Frisbee, or better yet, if they get to play tug-of-war, where their owner always lets them win and praises them for winning. Play has been shown to increase the production of certain neurochemicals related to pleasure and happiness, not to mention certain brain growth factors. Plus play requires the dog to adjust quickly to the dynamics of which way the ball is bouncing, how get a better grip on the tug toy, etc. This gives dogs who get a chance to play really hard every day more emotional flexibility.
So if you're not playing with your beagle gal every day, now would be a good time to start. If you ARE, now would be a good time to make the games even more fun and exciting, and give her a little extra play time than she's been getting.
If she's not showing any interest in playing right now (possibly due to her depression) here's another helpful exercise that will perk her up a lot:  http://tinyurl.com/3balu6
                  
And here's an article on the benefits of tug. http://www.tiny.cc/tug


I hope this helps!

LCK