Question: does anyone know of any research-based, non-anecdotal evidence of whether or not dogs mourn each other and...
Question: does anyone know of any research-based, non-anecdotal evidence of whether or not dogs mourn each other and what sort of effects this can cause? Our beagle Austin has not been eating his dog food since his brother Clyde passed on Saturday and he is now having diarrhea (probably a result of us having to give him other "special" food just to get him to eat something). Advice would be appreciated.
Russell Miller, I just said research-based and non-anecdotal because of our tendency to anthropomorphisize. Your advice seems sound. Thanks.
ReplyDeletePoor Austin. I would call the vet but try not to panic. Barring specific health conditions, carnivores like cats and dogs don't need to eat as regularly as other animals, so if he goes a few days without food he'll probably be safe.
ReplyDeleteAs far as serious research, it's a difficult topic because it's inherently qualitative (what defines "grief" in any species?) and perhaps difficult to control for, but there are lots of studies that look at the phenomena: a dog stopped eating because of the loss of the other household dog. I've been meaning to read Barbara J. King's book When Animals Grieve, and there are a few other studies about animals grieving.
Again, not research-based but from personal experience. We had a brother-sister pair of golden retrievers. The brother passed away very suddenly. The sister looked for him around the house for a few days. She was generally anxious, kept wanting to go outside, checking the car, running around the yard to the spots where the brother used to frequent, wanting to come back in etc. until the burial. We let her sniff his body before we buried him and the anxious behavior stopped. She had some eating issues afterwards as well. We started cooking for her (rice, ground turkey, beef, chicken breast etc.) to get her eating and supplemented with vet provided vitamin powders. We gradually reintroduced her regular food and eventually she was eating normally again. The whole process of special cooking and reintroduction of normal food took approximately 2-3 months.
ReplyDeleteDogs definitely mourn the loss of pack mates - more strongly the closer the bond - and it can manifest itself in lots of ways. I grew up with dogs and a professor of veterinary medicine for a dad - which I guess means I could get some research on the topic easily enough - but I've seen it so often that I don't feel like I need to.
ReplyDeleteFor me, I think the best way to approach it is to think of a human mourning. Puts them off their feed, they are lonely, need more support and company, etc.
Sorry for your loss.
This article has some information and points to a book "How Animals Grieve." The animal behaviorist they quote suggests distracting the grieving dog as much as possible.
ReplyDeletehttp://consumer.healthday.com/mental-health-information-25/behavior-health-news-56/dogs-may-mourn-as-deeply-as-humans-do-665737.html