dog in mourning

Question
Dear Alan please help me as I m at my wits end .I have a 6 year old bull terrier/jack russell cross named Shags.He has spent his whole life with our other dog Zoe who recently had to be put to sleep due to incurable illness. Zoe was 10 yrs old.Since this happened on 4th Sept. Shags has behaved very strangely.Shags has a very outgoing and friendly personality, absolutely loves his food and anyone elses and has always been bouncing off the walls with zest and energy and a general love of life.However since Zoe left us he has completely changed. On consultation with my vet he was temporarily put on a 2mg dose of valium for 2 weeks to try to lift his depression but I dont believe its helped any. I have tried to set new routines and a different direction when we walk as well as new games to try to distract him. My biggest concern is his lack of eating. You need to understand that in Shags entire life he s only missed one meal and that was when he was desexed.Now its a trial to get him to eat his usual food or anything else. He will generally go a day or two without and then maybe have a little food on the third day. I dont know wether hes playing on me or not,as I do tend to fuss over him if he doesnt eat normally. Although everyone says he looks better than he has in a long time because he has lost 1.2 kilos since Zoe died I am worried. Can any one please offer some solution. Thanks Lorraine Vic. Australia

Answer
Dear Lorainne,
Thanks for the question- sorry to hear of your troubles. Environmental enrichment is a good suggestion- new games, new places et cetera. Dogs mourn just like we do (my opinion-to my knowledge not proven by science) I have seen dogs behave as if they were mourning. Shags, I believe, is mourning.

I'm sure you have tried different foods. Since he doesn't eat much, he needs to get lots of nutrition for what little he does eat. I am not a dog nutritionalist, but I have opinions based on articles I've read. Choose a food with no by-products and no corn. Look at the first four ingredients. If you see the word corn or by-products, it is not considered a quality food.

Food dispensing toys can be stimulating. Get a kong, place a bit of duct tape over the small hole. Fill the kong with nutritious treats, baby food or dog food - about one half way to the top. Fill the kong with water - not quite all the way. Place it in the freezer in a dish or glass to hold it upright. Get it out in the morning and add some baby food to top it off. Take the tape off and give it to Shags.

Get a clicker and start clicker training. Besides giving the dog more information about his environment, clicker training stimulates his brain. Check out the books, Clicking With Your DOg by Peggy Tillman or Click Here: For a Well Trained Dog by Deborah Jones. Both are good books, the first is an "illustrated" how to - the second is good too. You don't have to go nuts with training, just learn how to do it and try a few tricks. Shags will like it.

Tell Shags you miss Zoe and you know how he feels. You and Shags and Zoe were very connected. Part of his grieving is due to your grieving or lack of grieving. Both of you must heal together.  

Keep trying, but don't fuss over him about the food thing. If he chooses not to eat every day, so be it. I wouldn't feel like eating if my best friend was gone and neither should he. Dogs can go days and days without food, so don't despair when he chooses to skip a day.

Talk to your vet. Perhaps he or she has information I don't. From what I understand, valium is not really a good choice for depression. If you want to introduce drugs into the treatment, an anti-depressant would be better suited to the task. If I were to seleect a drug, it would be amitriptyline.

Take care of yourself. You can't help Shags if you are not totally in sync with your own needs. Eat well, no junk food, eat fruits, nuts vegetables, fish - you know the drill. Exercise. As you get more involved in your health, so will Shags. Believe it or not, how you respond and handle the loss will directly affect Shags. Take care, I'm sure Shags will get better. We all grieve in different ways, but we all grieve. Take care, I wish you success!

AT

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