Grieving Dog

Sharon140

My beautiful Sasha was PTS on the 13th November she was 13 and went peacefully at home with me and DH with her. We are totally devastated and miss her so much. The vet who came to our home was lovely and said we would be in for a rough ride which is an understatement. Its so hard we miss her so much.

We also have another dog Suzie who is 4 she is so quiet and not her normal cheeky self at all I know she is missing Sasha she hasn't known life on her own we have had her from a pup and Sasha was her surrogate mother always telling her off and making sure she behaved properly. I am back at work on Monday and although I work part time I worry how Suzie is going to cope. My father will be popping over to see her during the time I am at work but does anyone have any advice on how we can help her besides showing her lots of love

moggymutt

So sorry for your loss. I dont think my greyhound ever got over the death of his 'dad' ( a dobe cross)- new dogs provided a distraction and gave him some company, but I just had to make sure that he got the lion's share of my attention.

I've always had 2 ponies at any one time, and with them they always need another companion straight away.One advantage of living a few miles away from a pony sanctuary is that there's no problem getting a new companion straight away, always seems weird at a time of such grief, but for the sake of the remaining pony, it has to be done. But then equines are different to cats and dogs in that they can easily kill themselves charging around a field when distraught.

Your dad popping over will definitely help her, as will you giving her lots of attention, but as with humans we all grieve in different ways. When my dobe cross's first best friend got killed (we lived in a caravan on a friends stable yard, and his best friend lived in the big house), he was distraught, but he had to wear a muzzle for weeks when meeting the new dog because he could not accept it being where his old friend had been.

Apart from maximising the attention she gets, you will have to play it by ear because all dogs are different. Lots of exercise will help take her mind off things as well.

marmitepotato

Had the same thing happen when I had my boxer boy PTS. The boxer girl who was his constant companion missed him (as did we all).

All I can advise is, lots of walks, and playtime, we also took her where ever we went ( if possible). If it wasn't possible we left her with my Mum and stepdad. Gradually she became her old self again and actually really came into her own, as she was dominated by the boy.


'Time is a great healer'....this is true.


Thinking of you OP.

zaksmum

Sorry for your sad loss Sharon.

This is something I'm dreading. My girl Lucy is ten now and my other dog Jack, 4, has never not had her there. He snuggled up to her when he was a timid little pup just taken from his mum, and she licked him and warmed him till he stopped shaking.

God only knows how he will cope without her when the time comes.

Sharon140

Thank you so much marmitepotato and moggymutt. I think I have been on autopilot the past few days and numb but today is terrible all the feelings of guilt, anger, pain and if only's but I know I have to put Suzie first so long walks and plenty of love and attention is the plan for my girl xxxx

Edit Zaksmum that was just like my two, I knew it was going to happen one day but you can never be prepared for it. I hope you have a good few years left with your Lucy and Jack :heartsmil

Katiehound

Three years ago I lost my trailhound- pts at 9 years old. My old boy (Billy)was 11 years old then, I had him on his own for 4 years before getting a companion so he wasn't used to continuous company. At the start I arranged for him to have play sessions with a friends dog but he was so out of sorts that I got another hound after about 2 months. I had planned to leave a gap of six months but it wasn't to be, he was mopping so much.
The interesting thing was that my new hound was a bouncy 2 year old and gave Billy a whole new lease of life, he still thinks he is the eternal puppy!- he will be 14 next month!