Is my dog depressed?

PinkFairy

PinkFairy

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Hi all, not been on here in ages!

One of my staffie girls is not herself lately, she's normally full of beans and when I call her or try and play with her, she usually throws herself into it and gets really excited.

Recently she's been so miserable and doesn't bat an eyelid when I try and play with her, if she does, she's nowhere near as excitable as she used to be.

I have 3 dogs, they all managed to get fleas for about 2 weeks, eventually Frontline did its job and got rid of them, the dog I'm speaking about had probably the worst itches of all 3 dogs and she had small patches of red skin where she'd been biting/scratching on her belly and her legs. This has more or less gone now though but she's now balding around her tail on top of her bum and patches on her back legs. She's not constantly rubbing against anything or scratching so I don't know why she's suddenly getting bald patches. :confused:

She's eating and drinking normally, always first to come in the kitchen for her dinner so no change there.

I had her on my bed the other night and normally when I call her and pat the bed, she comes leaping over but she just lay there looking at me, I encouraged her to come up to me so I could pet her and pulled her up, she literally just flopped onto my arm and didn't adjust herself which she normally would. Then my first dog came over and sat on her, usually she'd move but she let the dog sit on her which I thought was strange and it's just worried me more. And last night, I called her to my lap so I could make a fuss of her which usually perks her up but she just laid there, like a limp rag doll.

My husband and I are talking about taking her to the vet if she doesn't perk up a bit. I feel so sad that she's acting so miserable. :(

Does it sound like she might be depressed??

Sorry for the long post, any advice is greatly appreciated.
 
It's possible-my Lab showed signs of depression when I was going through a very bad time a few years ago. I took her to the vet who diagnosed it, said she was sensing how I was feeling.
 
I thought it might have had something to do with 3rd dog's arrival but that was nearly a year ago, I'll explain anyway..

Basically we'd been trying for a baby since we got married, we had a miscarriage last March and 3rd dog arrived a few days later and I can't quite explain it but I seemed to latch onto her - I felt maternal and I was devastated at the miscarriage, I needed to have an outlet for that love if that makes sense and I guess I gave the new dog a lot of attention because she arrived right at the point where we lost a baby which meant the other two got pushed out a bit.

But for the last few months I've been working hard to stop that and I don't allow them to sit on the sofa with me, if they do then I let them all up so it's equal. I don't give treats very often, but when I do I leave the 3rd dog til last (my husband told me I should cos she's lower in the pack or something) and I do the same thing when I feed them.

I include them ALL when I play with them and I try and show them equal attention. But with the way the 2nd dog has been behaving, I've tried to give her some extra attention incase she was all of a sudden feeling left out which she shouldn't cos I'm nowhere near as bad with the 3rd dog as what I was when I got her, I feel terrible about the favouritism I showed but I really couldn't help it. :(

As soon as that light switched on, I tried my best and still am to turn it back round and make sure I treat them all the same as much as I can.

With regards to her sensing how I'm feeling, I think she still does this, when I moved in with my husband, she became very attached to me very quickly - folliowing me everywhere, sitting by my feet or on my lap, sleeping outside my bedroom etc and as we've been trying for a baby (unsuccessfully at the moment), whenever I've gotten upset she's always come running over and stayed next to me. It's been slightly more stressful in that we've been referred to an infertility clinic for tests cos we've been trying for nearly 2 years, I don't know whether she would be sensing my worry or anything and reacting to it?
 
Just thought I'd quickly update.

I've spent alot of time tonight making a fuss of her and giving her extra attention and she seems to have perked up quite a bit, she's even come running over and jumping up on my lap a few times which she hasn't been doing lately so it looks like she's coming back to her normal self.

I'll still try and book her in at the vets cos of her bald patches though.

Will keep you all updated as much as I can. :)

Thanks for suggestions. x
 
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Update..

She's definitely cheering up and coming back to her usual self. Her balding patches are still there, I know they won't change overnight but I'm going to see if her changed mood improves it. If not then we'll be off to the vet.

:)
 
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