When Dogs Grieve
4 cards · about a minute
Grief looks like flatness
A grieving dog usually goes quiet rather than distressed, off their food, sleeping more, waiting by the door, uninterested in what they used to like.
Keep the routine
Hold the walk times and meal times exactly where they were, because the routine is the part of the world that did not change and it is what they hold on to.
Do not rush a replacement
A new dog brought in to fill the gap arrives into a household still grieving, give it weeks, and let the remaining dog’s appetite come back first.
Rule out the other thing
Grief and illness look identical from the outside, so a dog off their food for more than two days is a vet visit rather than a mood.