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So dogs can suffer depression too (if they witness their owner's death)?


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My friend's grandfather passed away 3 months ago. According to her, his German Shepherd (Tiffany) hasn't been the same.

 

She was with him on his last moments and refused to eat anything that entire day. Then when taken to the grave, she stayed there for a week and if it hasn't for my friend and others bringing her food and water, she would have starved to death.

 

My friend explains that Tiffany spends a lot of time on the rocking chair her grandfather used to sit and makes sad sounds, as if suffering.

Edited by MelodyRye
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Of course the dog knows the grandfather is gone. The smells are different. The routine is different. I don't know if it's depression but it is change.

 

Sounds like Tiffany is being very well cared for

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Of course they do. It's important for the dog to smell the deceased person after death so they know they're dead and not coming back. I guess this one knows. Dogs do get depressed. They are not just like people, but they have love and emotions and miss their people. My old dog wouldn't eat at all while I was gone for a few days on a business trip.

 

They have different reactions to their other dog dying. Loretta and Letitia were the best of friends and Loretta was very upset when Letitia was sick and at the vet having emergency euthanization. Then when Loretta died, Myra, the next dog, seemed okay for the euthanization, but afterwards was lost and didn't know when to go to the bathroom or anything. She had let Loretta decide all that and was just lost. My biggest worry in life is I just want to outlive my dogs, especially one I have that would be very difficult to ever be happy without me, a seizure dog. I'm her person. It took a long time to get there.

 

Monday I take Myra, who is elderly, for a sonogram because her liver enzymes are beginning to elevate. She's old but seems fine to me. It's hard to even want to think about that it's the beginning of decline. You always think that as you get older and live through so many pets passing that it will get easier, but it has gotten harder every time, I think.

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