Dog Depressed by Owner's Absence
From LoveToKnow Dogs
A pet sitter is worried about a dog depressed by its owner's absence. Share her story.
Lonely Dog Depressed by Owner's Absence
Hi,
I am house sitting with two German Shepherds, a mother and daughter, and have been here for two weeks now. I came around to hang out with the dogs about five times before their owner left.
Since their owner has been gone, the mother dog has gone gray around her mouth, and has lost a lot of weight. She looks sad, but totally perks up on her runs every day. She will not eat much of her food, and lets her daughter have it. If I feed her in a separate location she will just sit down and ignore the food!
Please help me. I'm worried, but I don't know if she needs to go to the vet. She looks so sad, and appears to look at me and sigh!
Help please~~ Dianna
Expert Reply
Hi Dianna,
When you say the dog went gray around the mouth, do you mean the fur, or her gums and tongue? Grayish, pale gums and tongue can be an indicator of illness.
Have you been able to reach the owner to let him/her know that there's a problem? If the owner left you contact info for the vet, then I think you really should call and tell him/her what is going on. It does sound like the dog is depressed over her owner's absence, but it's the weight loss that truly worries me.
In the meantime, I suggest that you try cooking for her to get her to eat. I'd recommend cooking some ground beef and boiling some rice, then mixing it all together. This will provide her with protein, carbs and fat, and she should find it too tempting to resist. If she does pass it up, there may be something medically wrong.
Hopefully the dogs' owner is scheduled to return soon.
~~ Kelly.
Comments
Hi Kayla,
I think your best course of action is to have your vet examine your dog. This is quite a sudden change, and it could be linked to something that might have happened during the trip to the groomers. It might also be the onset of something age-related that was triggered by the stress of the grooming session. Hopefully your vet will be able to get to the bottom of the situation and help your pet.
Thanks for sharing your situation, and I hope your dog is back to normal soon.
-- Contributed by: KellyI have a 10 year old Shih tzu and recently had him groomed (which I do so every couple of months) but after this visit he has been so different, shaking and starring off at walls or wanting to get under me or he paces around the house all night. Over the past few days he has started to pee and poop in the house which he has not done in years! He doesn't seem to be ill just afraid of something. I just don't know what to do. Any suggestions would be helpful.
-- Contributed by: KaylaHi, My fun loving bichon/...zu has went from wanting to be with us always, to not at all. He stays in my bedroom, in his bed and will not come out for anything. He will come out, if coaxed by a walk, but we have to be incredibly excited to get him to move. We are concerned that he is depressed. He does not show any signs of happiness. I tried to get him to snuggle with me while I watched a movie, but he did not want to stay with me....he jumped off and went back to his bed, in the bedroom. Please help. We want our little fun dog back.
- Hi Joanne,
I found your question first at Sudden Dog Personality Change and answered it there.
-- Contributed by: joanneThis page has been accessed 534 times. This page was last modified 12:31, 2 May 2008.
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