Understanding Canine Grief: How Dogs Cope with the Loss of a Canine Companion

As Pet Remembrance Day approaches on 5th July, we are even more acutely aware that dogs form strong emotional bonds with members of their human family, and can suffer from anxiety when one of them dies or moves away. But do they suffer the same sense of loss when a canine companion who they’ve lived with in the same home for years, dies?, asks ALISON COLEMAN

Although there is no conclusive research to show that dogs grieve in a similar way to humans, many dog owners who have been in this situation insist that the loss of a family pet can leave the remaining dog feeling disorientated and showing clear signs of distress.

That was certainly the case for Jenni Morley and her husband Damien. When they lost Moby, one of their two beloved Great Danes, their surviving dog Marla struggled to cope.

Jenni said: “We’d had Moby from a pup, but got Marla a bit later when they were both 10 months old. There were only two weeks difference in their age and they hit it off straight away.

“When we first got Marla they played really roughly and wrestled each other. It could be quite nerve wracking to watch, but that was how they played all the time they were growing up together.”

Disaster struck when Moby, then aged four-and-a-half suddenly started vomiting and was clearly very unwell.

“We took him to the vet and they found a tennis ball in his stomach,” said Jenni.

“They managed to remove it, but he went into renal failure.

In fact there were all sorts of strange things going on that they couldn’t quite understand, so we were transferred to a specialist vet practice in Liverpool.”

Eventually Moby’s lung collapsed and the tissue died. The veterinary surgeons tried to remove it, but he didn’t survive. The whole ordeal lasted two weeks and racked up £9,000 in vet bills.

“He would seem to pick up and then relapse; it was an extremely emotional time,” she says.

“Marla’s behaviour had started to change before he died. We weren’t sure if that was because I was so upset, or just because Moby wasn’t there. Every time we got back from visiting him she would sniff us, she obviously knew he was still around.

“On the day he died I spent a lot of time cuddling him. When I got home Marla came and smelled me as she normally did, then her behaviour changed instantly; she just turned around and curled up in a ball, as if she understood what had happened.”

Initially, Marla seemed to be coping with the loss of her best pal, but slowly, over the next few weeks, she became very withdrawn.

“Marla always used to follow Moby, and where they would both run up and greet you when you came in from work, now she just lay on her bed,” says Jenni.

“We tried getting her to run and play and chase, but on her own she just wasn’t interested. When she was with Moby and another dog came along, they would all play together, but Marla doesn’t do that now.

“If a dog approaches her she is unwilling to interact and play and seems to want to spend more time on her own.”

Jenni still felt that deep down it was canine company that she was missing, and human company was no substitute.

“We called on our doggy day care providers, Anna and Dave France of Best Paw Forward, to see if Marla could spend some time with them and the dogs they were looking after.

“They’d cared for Marla and Moby when we were away, or at work, and we felt the familiar sight of other dogs that she knew and had played with would help her to rediscover her enthusiasm and her sense of fun, and thankfully, it did.

“She still isn’t the same since losing Moby, but without the extra walks and the opportunity to socialise I think she would be a lot more down.

“We have thought long and hard about whether to get another dog, possibly a Great Dane rescue that is a similar age to Marla, who’s now five, but we’re not sure if it’s the right thing to do. Losing Moby has been such a difficult grieving process, and the thought of bringing another dog in so soon doesn’t seem right.”

Dog behaviourist and trainer

Peter Archer, owner of Pawsitive Training, says: “All dogs are different, but they are basically pack animals. In the wild, if a dog dies, other members of the pack will often lay down with it.

“In the home, they can react to the death of a dog they have been close to in a number of ways. Some become quieter and less active, others can become dog aggressive, and they can sense beforehand, when the other dog is seriously ill, that it is time.”

Archer says that dogs should be allowed to grieve for a short, before their owners try to get things back to normal.

“Making too much fuss and trying to mollycoddle them can make it hard for the dog to move on,” he says.

“Letting them spend time in places where they can see other dogs and socialise with them is one of the best things you can do for a dog that has lost his or her best pal.”

And on the subject of knowing when the time is right to bring a new dog into the family, he says: “It can be a mistake to rush out and get another dog straight away, and if you do it too soon, it can affect the other dog’s behaviour. If you really know your dog, you’ll know when the time is right.”

@alisonbcoleman.