Charlie Mourns the Loss of LuLu

Question
Our Charlie Brown, 6yr old large standard, is not the same
guy he was before we had to put LuLu down 6wks ago due to an
inoperable tumor in her spinal canal.  LuLu was 7yrs old and
a beautiful playmate for Charlie.  Since her death he is not
eating, mopes, has a completely different personality.  He
will only sleep in my Honda where he and LuLu rode with me
as I did my business route every day for years.  Their
blanket is in the back seat and he will cry and bark and
growl until I take him out to the garage to sleep in the
Honda.  This has been going on since a few days before she
had to be put down - he knew she was sick, I think.

Is this the result of grief?  Or, should we be looking for
another problem.  He is perfectly normal in terms of his
running and walking - but not the same old wild, running a
hundred miles per hour Charlie.

If you could get this out to some Poodle experts, my wife
and I would really appreciate it.   We would prefer not to
get another companion for him.  Thanks very much.  Roy
Tinder - Gig Harbor, WA

Answer
Hello Roy,
This is just a side-effect of him missing his buddy.  This is common in animals when they lose a companion.  You can do some of his favorite things with him or feed him his favorite food to help him, but he is just going to have to get over it in his own time (and for every animal it is different).  

Try taking his blanket out of the Honda and moving it inside.  If he has trouble adjusting, try moving the blanket to the garage for awhile, then moving it to the door of the house, then seeing if you can move it just inside the door.  Talk to him and tell him that LuLu is still with him and is watching him.  Talk to him about her and try to comfort him as best as you can.  He needs your assurance that everything is alright.  Spend extra time with him when you are relaxing to help him feel better.
You should see him start to slowly show interest in things that he has put off since she was put down.  

If you have a dog park in your area, think about taking him to the dog park to let him run around abit, or take him to a park so he can see other people and dogs.  
You may also think about putting him into an Obedience class or something, that will take his mind off thinking about LuLu.  Obedience is great, as is Agility or even something different like a Tracking class.  It will be a good distraction for him and will give you something fun to do with him.  

Give this a try and if you have other questions about this or other Poodle questions for me, please feel free to ask.

Thanks for using AllExperts.com,
Kim