German Shepherd dog

I was at a friend's when the vet came and put down one of her five dogs....  the other dogs were loose and did not seem to care about going near the dog after it was euthanized or about any of the activity at all.  they went about their own play.  It seemed kind of weird.

iIam dealing with this soon as well.  If it works that my vet can come here, i will have one of my males get to see her if he wants, after it is done.  The two of them are very close.  I have two males and one female and the boys don't seem to  even know she is dying? 

Darcy

Dogs and Death. Do They Really Mourn?

here is a viewpoint. Not sure of the correctness

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/109087/dogs_and_death_do_they_really_mourn.html

We've always had multiple dogs and every time one of them has died, one or the other of the remaining pack would get depressed, depending on the relationship he had with the departed one.  Our vet comes to the house and we take the body to his office later that day for cremation, after we've done our death rituals. We've kept the other dogs in the kennel during the euthanasia. It was only with the last dog who died some years ago that w allowed the remaining one to see the body. He sniffed him but didn't seem anxious in any particular way. Which is good because it fits with our personal philosophy that dead is dead.

I agree with Molly. I think remaining dogs miss the presence and they definitely see the change in our normal routine. The story about your mare and her foal is interesting, something to think about.

No wonder your wife and kids go away for a week  :)

Aye! so one day me was sailin' t' sloppy seas with me GSD, Jack. Atop me shoulder me parrot named Biscuit. Thar be some heavy waves that day an t' boat was arockin. T' wind whistlin in me ears and Bisquit screamin' profanity like Two Moons with "turrets". Jack leapin' and playin' in t' breeze. T' rockin got worse as time went on and Jack lost his footin', knocked me cane out o' me hand and me fell t' t' side.  Biscuit went whirrlin' into t' air and ye could faintly hear him ",,cacaw....cacaw....cacaw" His feathered body hit t' ground hard splashin' water into t' air. Jack sat in fore o' him tears awellin in his eaye as Bisquits eaye began t' close. Jack's paw went fore and layed atop t' bird as he began t' whimper. Biscuit's body girated and jerked until he finally flared his wings t' t' side and took his last breath. Jack threw his body atop t' bird and began t' cry hysterically. me had t' push him off o' t' body after a few hours so that me could throw t' bird into t' sea. Jack ran t' t' other side o' me boat and me went into me cabin t' rest. Me layed down on me bed and went t' pull me curtains shut aye. But when me reached thar was no rope. Me looked around t' bed and t' room and found nothin'. Me went up on deck t' look for a rope for me window when me saw t' site no Captain should ever see. Jack had hung himself on t' sails with me very own lamp rope. Arrrgh!

 


 

Mine have not seen the their pack member dead. But on bringing home a euthanized dog(s) in my van, the next time the crew gets in it, nose to the spot. Might describe it as a vacuuming... I also have seen changes in the pack. Females usually trying to figure out rank. When my male passed ( dam I still miss him everyday) one female went to licking her feet until they swelled and she had never ever showed a sign of allergies before. When I finally got it under control, she never did it again. The other female who does have allergies went to itching all over. (both were spayed) I had switched to a raw diet at that time, my boy had a huge tumor so my way of fighting cancer, and by the end of the summer she finally quit with the itching.  I think they missed him the same as me.... but I didn't lick my feet or itch, just cried alot.....

I do believe that dogs greive to a certain extent, although I certainly cannot prove it. We know they have the emotions of joy and anger, so in order for those emotions to exist there must a capacity for the emotion of sadness as well.

I alway try to have all of the dogs present when an older one has to go away-perhaps moreso for my benefit. I do not think they really understand the passing of life but they are busy for many days later "looking" for the missing dog. I am sure it depends how much the dogs are bonded with each other. It is never easier for me-no matter how many years pass.

Regards,

Bob-O

Dogs do grieve and  I wouldnt have knowledge of that if the events of one of my females in Galveston had not proved it.. THe female died on Friday of  one month and she and her male companion , another  of my gsd,,,had been together for 8 years...He was 7 years old and in good health...THe day she died , he just changed his mood, his temperament , his eating habits declined and he was not the same for the first three weeks...After about a month , he was still moping around,, only went to potty and back inside with a long sad face. He didnt want to work nor go outside . He quit any kind of alertness.  THe owner had always thought that he was protecting her when they went to the schutzhund meetings, and  any time they were in vehicle together, he would bark at anyone that came near the car. After the females death , the male no longer barked at anyone coming near car or yard..It was obvious, the male was protecting his female companion,,,the dog.

This male  died  four months later of a horrible skin eating disease..His immune system gave way and he no longer cared about living..The vet had not seen a case like this ever. but had read of such cases on record in the vetininarian logs.

They had tried every thing they could to get his mind off of his friend and they even got another female who he wanted nothing to do with....Besides being a high drive male,,he had a lot of compassion and was the kind of gsd that loved to sit in the swing with you and go inside and lay at your feet.. He was very loving and showed his love by his wagging of tail and excitement when you would walk in a room or come home...He would beg to ride in the car and loved to go . I guess ,if we could get inside the mind of our pets , we might hear some great things.

I miss both of those kids and I have their daughter who is the same loving , very possessive and shows her love and excitement .and wants to be right under my feet all the time.  she is a very vocal dog also. and bounces everywhere ,does not walk.. I dont do  "goodbyes"  very well.

My male cried for atleast a month and a half after my female passed away infront of him!

Aqua- Has your lovely old male passed? If so, my condolences to you & yours; he's very handsome, & sweet. Your other dogs are also quite beautiful. My best to you & your family, & thanks again for your help. jackie harris

Hi Jackie,

no, he's still with us but his life is coming to an end this year due to the kidney failure, and much as I hate the thought, our other old dog, 14 years now, will likely also move on. Not an easy time for us.

We have decided not to let the dogs be in the room while the vet does what he does. We don't want them to associate the vet and his assistant with death. Whether they would or not isn't even the issue. That they might, is. GSDs are smart. They do know how to draw conclusions - we see it in training each and every day.

We will bring them in after the vet has left to do whatever it is they want to do. They can just be dogs and let us cry into their fur, that would be good.

I have been dancing past this thread for a few days.Now I know why.My heart has sank into the depths remembering my friends of the past.We all lose pets at some point and our pets lose there friends and pack mates.You know that they all mean something to you but there are those special dogs that you just will always remember the most.I know when those times come how you seem to almost mourn more than if a person dies.Weird huh.Then one day comes and we move forward.I  struggled in getting my next dogs and fault getting close again.Now I feel like crap  sometimes because I did move on.Here's a shout out to all our buddies looking down at us .Deacon,Onyx,Coral,Dusty,Bandit my favorites.

I don,t know if dogs morn but i just put my first dog down this evening suffering from cancer and my chest hurts so bad ... I,m going to miss him so much... God i loved that old dog

Bob, my deepest sympathies. The pain we feel at their loss is sort of a tax we pay for having loved them. You'll miss him always but that deep sorrow eases a little as time passes. It may help you to know that you're not alone in your grief. Take a look at our Website ellerbach.com/In_Memoriam/index.html and read some of the words people have written about their dogs. What connects all of us is love and loyalty.

My deepest condolences Bob.  I don't think anyone on here has not been thru the same thing.  When I got my pup less than two years ago I fell in love with him almost instantly.  All the while, tho, in the back of my mind is this is this gut wrenching feeling of "i know how this ends".  They are with us such a short short time. 

Aqua,

Yeah I guess I did.    Happens a lot these days.   Time is no longer my friend I'm afraid.