I have two Cavalier King Charles Spaniels, who are greatly loved and who greatly love, and I feel that I would like to introduce a third member to my 'pack' as they are inseperable, and if the worse happened they would be alone. Do dogs know that a member of their 'pack' either human or canine has died or do they feel deserted and wonder where they have gone? Would a dog have a greater understanding of loss if it came in contact with the deceased, again whether it be human or canine, would it then realise that nature has taken its course, rather than wondering what happened and accept the situation better? I realise a dog can sense illness and never really understood the whole death part. I would be extremely interested to hear your views on this.
Clare Reynolds, by email
For many years I have been priviledged to be an Accredited Pet Bereavement Counsellor for The Blue Cross/SCAS. From my experience I believe that, just as with humans, grief is a very individual emotion/reaction. Whether animals actually experience a feeling akin to what we know as 'grief' - well we will never really know - but clearly many animals react strongly to changes in routine, loss of a companion etc and of course we know that some are also very sensitive to our own emotions too. As humans it is easy to interpret this behaviour as grief but it could be anxiety caused by the sheer dynamics of the household changing. Could the pets apparent 'saddnes' be the owners grief? Does the pet really miss his/her chum because he/she was the 'pack leader'? Clearly many animals enjoy the company of their own kind - we see this through displays of affection and play but we will never really know how/if an animal percieves death because there seems to be no set pattern of behaviour. I hear about dogs who lay beside a dead companion and dogs who seem to have no idea their chum has gone. I have experienced this with my own dogs too - the vet euthanased 'grandma Poodle' at home and the others just walked past the dogbed as if she were invisible - but I have heard stories of dogs who have even put toys into a basket alongside a departed chum. The most important point to remember here surely is that we interpret the behaviour as humans -applying human rationale but that also gives us the compassion to be able to help any pet we percieve as grieving.
ReplyDeleteHi Clare
ReplyDeleteI don't know about dogs feeling grief, although I suspect they may well do, but I've found that if two dogs get along very well, it's a bit like with humans - two's company, three's none.
I read something recently - perhaps it was in Dogs Today! - about this very subject, saying that dogs were happier when they were kept in even numbers.
What you could do, I suppose, if you wanted to try out having a third dog, would be to foster one and then keep it if they all got on.
I have heard, however, that if you have two and one dies, the remaining dog gets closer to the owner - presumably because he or she is no longer distracted by his former dog companion and gets more attention from the owner.
I've never had two dogs at once but I do know that my single dog has a really intense friendship with another dog, who she meets regularly.
Interesting subject.
Julia Lewis
ahh, but we have always had 3 and it works very well as we can alternate giving them some additional one-to-one time whilst the other two still have each other.
ReplyDeleteHaving just lost the pack leader of my three cocker spaniels, I would definitely introduce another to my remaining boys. Kiah, the bitch and pack leader, after a long battle with cancer, died last week and the boys are both quiet and there has been a real change in their behaviour. Both quieter than normal and Harley, the most independent of the pack is now quite clingy. Whilst JJ who is the youngest and used to follow me around has become isolated.
ReplyDeleteI feel that a 3rd would be a good thing and that they sort themselves out into the natural leader etc.
Go for it. Although nothing van take away the pain of loosing a dog there is always enough love for another, who will bring their own personality and style to your and your dogs lives.