My dog is depressed, how do I help him?
Around 3 days ago we found out that one of my dogs had been hit in front of the church and had broken his spine. We had to put him down at the clinic.
We have one other dog that was his best friend. They had gone through a lot together. But ever since we chose to put Sam (the dog who had been hit) down, Yoshi (the other dog) has been really depressed. He's gone from jumping all over the place and barking and just loving every second of the day to laying down all the time, not eating, and ignoring everybody. He's really depressed.
So what can I do? I've been trying to spend as much time with him as I can, but he's not getting better. Would it be selfish to keep him? I don't want to give him away. He's the only piece of Sam I have left, and I'm the only piece of Sam he has left.
Is there anyway I can help him?
Comments
dog do not get depressed
Take him to there and let him have some time with his friend in the clinic.
Dogs will grieve. There has been a sudden change and Yoshi has to have time to adjust. When we lost our first dog, my vet said our other dog would probably grieve and if he acted "off" (inactive, picking at food, not wanting to do favorite things) for more than two weeks to bring him in for a check up. It took about a week for him to get back to normal. Obviously if the dog will not eat or drink at all you need to take him for a check up. My dog got enjoyment from his walks, so we did extra walks. He was old so they were short, but it was good time for us to be together.
I am sorry for your loss.
Added: it sounds like you are doing the right things.
You could consider getting another dog. I have experienced the exact same thing. The people that I live with had two dogs, a Husky and a chihuahua. The chihuahua got out thru the fence and was hit by a car and killed. I noticed right away a change in the Husky's behavior very similar to what you described. My roommate since got another dog and the Husky is back to his normal self.
Maybe a new puppy?