My dog is grieving.

Dr. Marie replied:

Oh, I am sorry to hear of the loss of Lucy, and also that Abby is not doing well with this loss. Hopefully I can give you a few ideas of things that may help.

My first suggestion would be to have your vet examine Abby and if possible, do a senior blood screen. Dogs generally tend to get over grief relatively quickly and when I have a dog who is not coping well I often wonder if there is a medical problem. The fact that she is eating well is good, but it's still worth checking into.

To tell a story that relates to this, three years ago my husband and I had a baby girl. When we brought her home, our dear little dog Joey did not adapt well. He became very withdrawn and didn't want to go for walks. I figured he was upset at the changes involved with having a new baby in the house. But, it turned out that he had leukemia.

Now, in Abby's situation, she is still generally perky and has a good appetite, so hopefully there is not a medical condition there.

This may sound silly, but have you tried getting Abby a stuffed animal? I know that no stuffed animal can ever replace Lucy. However, we find that in our hospital, when an animal is stressed they will often calm down when we put a stuffed animal in their cage.

Another thing that may help is something called a DAP collar. Here is an article I recently wrote to describe DAP Collars. They release a pheromone which is a very safe chemical that helps to relieve stress and anxiety in dogs. There are a good number of studies that show that they work and there is no harm in trying one. You can buy one online here. They work for about a month. But, in Abby's case, if we can relieve her stress for a month this may be enough time for her to get over her grief.

If you can't get another dog, how about joining up with a local dog group at a park? Perhaps she would enjoy some social time at a doggie daycare? You did mention that you have a dogsitter though, so this may not be that helpful after all.

There are medications that vets can prescribe to help dogs with anxiety or grief. But I usually reserve these for very intense cases.

The other thing that I can suggest is to be sure that you are not overly encouraging the clingy behavior. It may be that she started to be clingy when Lucy died and then realized that she gets a lot of attention when she does this. Often when dogs show fear or anxiety behavior we tend to coddle them a lot. This can create an unhealthy bond where the dog actually trains us to do more coddling. It's just a thought, and may not be correct, but I thought it was worth mentioning.

I wish I had more advice for you! If this is because of grief though, she will get over it in time.

I hope things are better soon!

Dr. Marie.


Do you have a pet website? Interested in learning more about SEO for Wix?

---

Check out our dog age calculator and cat age calculator.

Dr. Marie replied:

I totally understand not wanting to get another dog....and we don't even know that a second dog would actually help Abby. I've seen some dogs that don't adapt well to a new addition.

Hope she improves soon!