Strange behaviour

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filly190

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We have recently lost a dobbie and our rotti bitch is beside herself. She does not want to eat her normal food and I have tried various samples of other foods to no avail. She normally lives in the house and refuses to come in. When she does come in after lots of patience and coaxing she then crys and scrables at the kitchen door to come through to the longue. We let her in the longue and ask her to go out for her wee's and she wont budge, she just lays there.

She has never climbed onto the furniture but when we ask her to leave the room, she gets on the settee and will not move. She has not been aggressive, but I would not like to push the issue. She is really disturbed.

I took her to the vet, which again was really hard as it took half an hour to get her in the car, which she would normally jump straight into and nothing medically is wrong with her, when home, she point blank refused to get out of the car and we left her with the door open for two hours before she decided to come out.

From a happy responsive dog that would do anything on command she has completely changed and we are running out of ideas of what to do for her. She is never left alone, my hubby is at home all day with her. She is taken for walks, when she decides she will go! meaning that she will just lay down and refuse to move.

It feels as if she has just given up on life. Any suggestions would be gratefully received.
 
Your poor girl sounds as if she's in the depth of depressive grief. I do think you have to give them time to get over what's happened. How long ago was her friend pts??
 
Bless her, how tragic. She sounds typically unsettled and lonely after a bereavment but I guess she will get used to being on her own, unless you get her a new companion maybe? It's one of the reasons I have 3 dogs, so if one goes there's always another one for company.
 
I had the same sort of thing when my collie had a stroke (went blind and deaf) and the basset went to pieces as he had lost his support. Was the dog that died the top dog?, if so your other dog that is acting strange may be because it doesnt know what to do with itself and aslo the grief of losing its companion.
I do have to say keep a close eye on her as due to the stress of my collie being so ill the basset stressed out to the point where he got bloat and died, to which i blame myself as he was showing very disturbing behaviour which i put down to the way he was coping with my collies illness, i dont mean to frighten you with that but my advise would be go back to the vet and maybe put the dog on something like clomacalm untill it adjusts to the loss. Hope that helps a bit.
 
We lost our rottie very suddenly last June and the Ridgeback was beside herself. Holly had always been top dog and poor Matty did not know what to do with herself. Nothing like your dog though but it does sound as if she is grieving. We were offered another Rottie to rehome which we did and the transfromation in Matt was amazing. She was back to her usual self almost straight away. We now have three dogs in case it happens again.
 
Have a look at Bach Flower remedies, there are some parlicularly helpful for grief and loss. The basic Rescue Remedy may be of some use.
 
Thanks to everyone that has replied. It is not possible to buy another dog as we are in the process of moving house.

Its breaking our hearts to see Megan like this and yes the top dog was the one we lost. We are trying everything to engage her interest but she would rather just lay down where ever she is and refuse to look at us or move.

Food is not working, there is nothing she wants at the moment and it has been 5 weeks since we lost the other dog. I have cooked for her, bought sausage which is her favourite and there is no interest. Her eyes look dead and it seems as if she is lying down wanting to die. Obviously we are getting food into her, but only when she is desperate to eat.

Any more suggestions would be gratefully accepted.
 
Is there a dog behaviourist you can get to look at her. They can be quite helpful. It is heartbreaking when you lose a dog. They are a big part of your life but at least we understand where they have gone. Megan doesn't. It would be worth a try.
 
i would still consider the vet to see if there is anything that can help with the anxiety like clomacalm although im no vet, poor pooch she must be really feeling it.
I found rescue remedy work for me but not for the dog but you could try it as it does take away some of the anxiety feeling.
 
When I lost my old GSD her daughter became very depressed. Although she is 6 years old I started to take her to training classes as she lost all her confidence. It did help (helped me too to focus on her and take my mind off losing her mum). I would have a word with your vet to see if they have any suggestions. Bach flower remedies are good, I swear by Rescue Remedy, for anything from dogs fear of fireworks to daughters uni exams! It is so hard seeing your dog grieving when you are going through it yourself too. Hope she starts to pick up soon.
 
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