I. Can dogs be sad?

People are very fond of dogs' stories and are moved by the deep emotions that dogs display. Yet whenever we report such stories, there are always people inside the comments who say that this is just humans putting drama on dogs and that they don't show such emotions as animals. Are these stories really about humans touching themselves? Do dogs feel sad when they lose their long-lived animal companions? We are still, this time, using science to speak.
How do we determine whether the dog has a psychological change? The approach is very simple, dogs are not an animal that can hide their emotions. Even if they do not have expressions that can be easily read, they will show some abnormal behavior. We can observe whether the dog will show some abnormal behavior when they lose their long-time friend together.
Jessica Walker, a consultant for the New Zealand Companion Animal Society, led the researchers who collected data from 159 dogs and 152 cats. Because the situation of this selection is more special, the researchers have no way to artificially create such a scenario in the laboratory. Can only make a questionnaire for pet owners to recall their pets in the face of the disappearance of their companions because of the death of the performance. These pet owners had lost one of their pets in the past five years.

After compiling all the data, we could find that 60% of dogs, after the death of their animal companion, would constantly check the places where their companion was often found. Among cats, 63% of cats also appeared to do so. But more commonly, 61% of dogs and 62% of cats would become nervous as well as clingy. Twenty-seven percent of dogs and 43% of cats will appear to wail continuously. 35% of dogs and 31% of cats will show a loss of appetite. The situation that emerged from the survey results is very similar to the behavior exhibited by a human child who has lost a family member.

Some pet owners are under the impression that if dogs can see the remains of their companions, their grief will be relieved. In this study, 58% of the dogs and 42% of the cats had the opportunity to see the bodies of their companions. Among these dogs and cats, 73% would spend a lot of time sniffing and investigating the bodies of their companions. But unfortunately, we do not have a good way to quantify their sadness for the time being, according to the owner's subjective feeling to judge, if the dogs and cats see the body of their companions, they will become less sad.
Jessica Walker said that the findings show that dogs behave very much like children under four years old because they do not have a way to distinguish the difference between death and permanent separation. The sad behavior they exhibit is all because they feel they have lost a relationship. This experiment can be said to prove that dogs do feel sad because of the loss of a companion animal and that those stories of missing a deceased friend are not wishful thinking on the part of humans. Of course, the results are not quite clear, as humans have so far failed to quantify grief.

II. Do dogs grieve?

On the Internet, you often see news of dogs sitting in the same old places they used to spend time with their owners, listless and sad because their owners or playmates have died. So is it true that dogs can be sad? Or is this sadness just the self-righteousness of us humans?

Can dogs be sad? Of course, they can! These 3 are all signs of sadness in dogs
1, the dog will have sadness
Dogs can indeed be able to feel sadness. Although the dog will not tell us what is happening by talking to us, generally speaking, when the dog has an abnormality, it will change its behavior. the ASPCA (American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) had conducted a study on pet grief in 1996, the study found that more than 50% of dogs, after the loss of a partner, will experience some kind of behavior change, that is, will appear abnormal behavior.

Do dogs grieve? Of course, they do! These 3 are all signs of a dog's sadness
With the death of a family member, the dog's abnormal behavior is usually the same as ours, with loss of appetite, reduced activity, excessive sleep, moping, and not wanting to do the things they normally like to do. The following symptoms may also occur.

1, constantly looking for missing family members

2, will go to places they used to go before

3. Becoming more alert and barking

For example, when a familiar car, is parked on the side of the road, the dog may run out to greet, and when it is not the person or the dog it expects to get out of the car, they will be confused. Another example is that my friend's dog was a good friend of Tart's, but my friend's dog was accidentally hit by a car and killed. When my friend came over, Tart would notice how he didn't see his friend's dog. The tart would also run to the door, sniffing and asking to see if there was a dog's scent, and then finding none, he would lower his head as if he was sighing and come back to his place to lie down, listless.

2銆丠elp the dog to come out
When the dog becomes sad, the owner's emotions and help become very important, if you are also very sad, it is more difficult for the dog to come out. To let the dog out as soon as possible in the sadness, may take the dog together to do these things:

1, take the dog more often to go for a walk
Take your dog for a walk, it will help both of you, more extra time together with each other, and can also consume the dog's excess energy so that the dog is not bored and more easily sad.

2, rule out dog health problems
If your dog is sullen, hiding, not eating, and not wanting to exercise, then it is recommended that you can take your dog to the vet to rule out health problems.

3, do not overcompensate the dog
If your dog becomes clingy or whiny, be careful not to overcompensate to encourage this behavior, for example, by offering your dog more expensive food or treats when he eats, which can make him increasingly picky about what he eats. When appeasing your dog, keep it on track, including its daily diet, meal times, walks, and scooting activities.

4. Don't adopt a new pet right away
Depending on the personality of the dog, it is best to wait until they have experienced grief and recovered before bringing a new pet home. In general, most sad dogs will start to be active after a few weeks but do not exclude some dogs that need a longer time.

5, do not foster dogs
Before the dog's emotional state has recovered, it is not recommended to take the dog to foster care. After all, the dog on the one hand is still in the sad emotions, on the other hand, you have to face the unfamiliar environment, the dog can only keep waiting, one day, two days, five days can only expect you back sooner, it will become more stressful, and easy to cause it is not to be abandoned by you feeling, so in this special period, it is not recommended to take the dog to foster.
Dogs will be sad because they are emotional and loyal to us, so when your dog feels sad, give it a little more patience and let it transition slowly, while on walks and playing, keep encouraging it so that it regains a healthy mental state as soon as possible.