I think my dog has a broken heart.

[giddyup]

My 1 year old little poodle/schitzu cross had a little chihuahua friend that used to come down and visit, but only touch noses through the gate and she's accompany us when I walked my dog around the village. The chihuahua had free run of the village, I guess because she was so small the owners had a problem keeping her in. Anyway, as was inevitable, 4 days ago she got run over by a motorbike, which broke her leg and may have done some damage internally. So, she hasn't been to visit for a few days and our dog just spends his time at the gate waiting for her, and at night he wants to be outside (normally sleeps inside) where he's started to howl, something he's never done before. He's also not eating, so all I can put it down to is a broken heart.

[lopburi3]

Very likely - if chi is just recovering and limited to stay at home perhaps could take yours on leash to visit home of other dog - we have a large chi who is friends with a mixed chi on another soi and he would run out to visit but as long as take on leash each day happy to just touch nose for a few seconds and if friend not allowed out not an issue to wait a few days as long as he has a chance to visit its home gate.

[giddyup]

Very likely - if chi is just recovering and limited to stay at home perhaps could take yours on leash to visit home of other dog - we have a large chi who is friends with a mixed chi on another soi and he would run out to visit but as long as take on leash each day happy to just touch nose for a few seconds and if friend not allowed out not an issue to wait a few days as long as he has a chance to visit its home gate.

Good idea. Try and see the owner so my dog can come and visit. My dog obviously can sense something is wrong with her and is fretting, he's very intuitive.

[meatboy]

our boy still misses his best friend who passed away on june 28th.he was the only one he would let in through our gate,and they would have their dinner together every day. he sits by the gate looking across the road where he lived and when the wife takes our boy passed the gate he will stop and look for him.

and yes they can sense when something is not right,and they also have more feelings than most humans.

[chrisinth]

Guys, without being too blunt about it, these are dogs you are talking about and not children. They live for the now and not in the past. That said, if their behavior is left unchecked they will continue to display symptoms that can be interpreted as grief.

Snap them out of it; at the minute they are to an extent controlling you by your inaction.

BTW, I am a long term dog owner myself and have been through similar to what you both are seeing.

I also watch the Dog Whisperer, which I have no shame in admitting...........

[isanbirder]

Guys, without being too blunt about it, these are dogs you are talking about and not children. They live for the now and not in the past. That said, if their behavior is left unchecked they will continue to display symptoms that can be interpreted as grief.

Snap them out of it; at the minute they are to an extent controlling you by your inaction.

BTW, I am a long term dog owner myself and have been through similar to what you both are seeing.

I also watch the Dog Whisperer, which I have no shame in admitting...........

I think there is plenty of evidence that dogs do 'miss' people and other dogs. Whether it is really a 'broken heart' or a 'broken routine', I wouldn't like to say.

We all have our stories of this, I suspect. In my case it was a big Alsatian which palled up with a little scruff off the streets; they lived in my flat, and were inseparable. One day the scruff got poisoned (and the Alsatian probably saw her die). For the next three months the Alsatian spent long hours just watching our front door, and it looked as though he was waiting for her to come back. Grief, or what?

What I would be pretty sure about is that dogs cannot envisage the future. That is why a sick dog looks as if it is at death's door; it can't envisage a future when it is NOT sick.

[meatboy]

pass us the hankie love.

[Youaredoomed]

I was going to suggest the same as Lopburi3. Why not take your pooch for a home visit to see his pal?

Both my dogs have 'pals' mainly dogs of mates of mine or the wife's who regularly 'visit' each other. Hope the Chi makes a speedy recovery and is quickly at your gate again.

Maybe you could also recommend a fine mesh wire to his owners to prevent further wanderings in the future.

[giddyup]

I was going to suggest the same as Lopburi3. Why not take your pooch for a home visit to see his pal?

Both my dogs have 'pals' mainly dogs of mates of mine or the wife's who regularly 'visit' each other. Hope the Chi makes a speedy recovery and is quickly at your gate again.

Maybe you could also recommend a fine mesh wire to his owners to prevent further wanderings in the future.

The Thai owners of the Chi aren't what you call responsible people. We expressed concern to the owners before and they just shrugged and said it was too hard to keep her in. Our dog is quite small as well and we put up plastic mesh on places we thought he might get out. Never has yet.

[Scott]

Whether you attribute it to grief or some 'human' type emotion, dogs, like many animals do have feelings. Dogs are pack animals and this dog is probably a part of the dog's pack, even if the pack is limited to touching noses.

My dog had a similar type of friend that came by twice a day. When the dog disappeared, there wasn't a big issue, but my dog did insist on sitting by the gate for a very long time both morning and night waiting.

[dageurreotype]

Guys, without being too blunt about it, these are dogs you are talking about and not children. They live for the now and not in the past. That said, if their behavior is left unchecked they will continue to display symptoms that can be interpreted as grief.

Snap them out of it; at the minute they are to an extent controlling you by your inaction.

BTW, I am a long term dog owner myself and have been through similar to what you both are seeing.

I also watch the Dog Whisperer, which I have no shame in admitting...........

The names 'Hachi', 'Greyfriars Bobby' mean anything to you?

[sunnyjim5]

The word which should be used here is "Anthropomorphism"

Dogs and other animals do not suffer "broken hearts" !

[isanbirder]

The word which should be used here is "Anthropomorphism"

Dogs and other animals do not suffer "broken hearts" !

Of course our attitude to our pets is anthropomorphic, pet dogs, pet cats, pet birds, pet pigs, even pet rocks.

That does not mean they (not the pet rocks) do not experience the same feelings as we do, or something similar. The way we talk about them does not affect the question one way or the other.

[AyG]

The names 'Hachi', 'Greyfriars Bobby' mean anything to you?

Well, Greyfriars Bobby was a business stunt. The legend isn't true at all.

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-greyfriars-bobby-scam-odd-idUSTRE77347H20110804

[Youaredoomed]

The word which should be used here is "Anthropomorphism"

Dogs and other animals do not suffer "broken hearts" !

You are utterly incorrect, don't post <deleted>.

[Nienke]

Oh yes, grieving and mourning is not only a human trait. It's been found more widely in animals, including our four-legged best friends.
Barbara J. King has done research on that:
http://nypost.com/2013/04/28/how-animals-mourn-their-dead/
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/grief-creature-compassion-how-to-identify-grief-in-animals/
and by Marc Bekoff: http://bioscience.oxfordjournals.org/content/50/10/861.full

Also, dogs can and do make best friends and form deep bonds with other dogs or animals species. I have seen this happening several times at the kennel and way back, during my childhood, our family dog's best friend was a boxer living around the corner. She would come and play with him every time she had a change to escape her owners' garden.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/07/20/can-dogs-have-friends_n_5601345.html

[dageurreotype]

The word which should be used here is "Anthropomorphism"

Dogs and other animals do not suffer "broken hearts" !

Stupid post. Why are you even bothering with this particular forum? It's obvious you know sod all about animals. Quite possibly including yourself.