Anyone had this problem! Help!

[caninecrazy]

My lab passed 5 weeks ago and at the time, I was concerned for her best friend, a shih tzu, well she acted fine until about a week ago. Now she constantly WHINES and PAWS at me to hold her?
I have an appointment with the vet on Monday as she is no spring chicken either (12years) but I can't seem to quite her.
She never was a Foo foo type, never a lap dog type, like playing and romping with her sister the lab, during the labs illness and after she slept alot which I chalked up to her age. But now she is just weird, shakes, paws and wants constant attention.
I'm taking her to the vet incase she now has some underlying illness, but has anyone experienced this kind of behavior? Could it bereavement behavior?
I feel so bad for her, she acts almost scared? This is not a quite household, have a 9 year old standard poo we adopted 7 months ago, 2 cats, and babysitting dogs in and out of the house.
She is different and just wondered if anyone experienced anything like this? The lab and her were really really close, but I thought it would have effected her much earlier than this.
Any info would be helpful. Thanks

[Cat Crazy]

I had something similar with one of my cats. He had always lived with at least one other cat. When his "mentor" Ferguson died, little Seymour was the same as your little Shih Tzu. He just wanted to cuddle with me, be carried by me, barely ate anything, walked around crying - non stop. This went on for weeks. I finally brought a kitten home for him. Well, Seymour HATED the kitten, but he did forget to be depressed. They never were buddies, but he did have a distraction and he got over his loss. I guess for him, just being an only cat was too much. Though he got along well with the dog, he really needed another cat in the house.

Good luck with your little girl.

[odette]

Sounds like depression to me, Glad she's going in just in case. Good thoughts for her and you.

[PoodlePal]

I have always been told that it is healthier for the surviving pet(s) to be able to smell the body of the deceased pet. That way they immediately understand what has happened. So often owners take the dying pet to the vet for euthanasia and don't realize how confusing it is for the surviving pet to one day have a member of his/her pack gone without any understanding of what happened.

[Poodlestar]

Somehow I don't think bringing home a lab puppy will impress the shihtzu much. hehe...

Personally... while I do think that dogs grieve, I think they feed off of our emotions more than their own. If you are greiving, then the dog will be more "off" and if you play into the dog's behavior (snuggling and packing, and feeling sorry for her, and being all "poor baby") then she's going to be even worse.

Try to do your greiving away from your shih tzu. When you are around the little one, play the role of a strong pack leader. If the shih tzu starts doing her depression thing, snap a lead on and go for a 15 minute walk, take her mind off of it. Do fun things with the shih tzu, and keep your energy as possitive and confident as you can in her presense. You need to show her that you are her buddy now, and that life can still be great, even without her pal.

I would maybe even talk to a naturopathic vet and see if there's an essensial oil or homeopathis remedy to help her deal with her emotions.

[Poodleluv]

If it is not a medical problem,I do think that your pet could be grieving for her friend. I groom a little yorki-poo called Chico whose older "sister" passed last year. He is an only dog now,and he really misses Tinker. He jumped onto the table ,and insisted on sitting besdie a little black dog I was grooming who looked like her,and he loves to be with other dogs,especially small friendly black dogs. When Hattie passed I made sure to let the other dogs sniff her before we buried her. I learned to do this as my little poodle Cindee was stressed,shaky ,and searching after a puppy died,and then my lovebird boo-boo who was her best friend. Hope your pet is okay.

[RudyRoo]

I have always been told that it is healthier for the surviving pet(s) to be able to smell the body of the deceased pet. That way they immediately understand what has happened. So often owners take the dying pet to the vet for euthanasia and don't realize how confusing it is for the surviving pet to one day have a member of his/her pack gone without any understanding of what happened.

I belive animals grieve. When one of my cats died last year, I had him on a table all wraped up, waiting for my son to come help me bury him. The cats sister layed across his body untill son got here. Guess she was saying good bye too! Hope your little dog is ok.

[Helly]

Somehow I don't think bringing home a lab puppy will impress the shihtzu much. hehe... I would maybe even talk to a naturopathic vet and see if there's an essensial oil or homeopathis remedy to help her deal with her emotions.

I really don't agree that our pets feed off of our emotions more than their own in cases of loss and grief. I hate to say this, but I had a dog that I really could not stand, and when she passed, it was no loss to me. But my Dachshund grieved.

I also don't think we should try to force a grieving pet to "...take her mind off of it." Even dogs grieve in their own way, at their own pace. It's a process, and we should allow them to go through it. And no one should bury their own grief for any reason. That just delays things, and can result in ulcers, among other things.

After my partner died, my dogs went through a process of acting out. Whiz chewed up my phone charger twice, and chewed the plugs off of all my lamps. Oli tore up one of my goose down pillows, and a down filled comforter. I just cleaned up the mess, replaced the plugs and phone charger, made sure such things were no longer in reach, and waited for them to get over it. In time, they did.