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we have a lovely dog he is 12 years old. I am just wondering if he is sensative to what happened since wednesday 20yh june. you see my husband lost his dad he had been ill. ever since this has happened the dog hasn`t left my husbands side do they pick up on this
Condolances on the loss of your father-in-law.
Your dog has sensed your husband’s upsetment and is staying with him. This is particularly true if your husband had praised or thanked the dog for his attendance, which your dog will obviously see as his reward for a job well done.
This phenomenon can also occur with cats. My mother had brain surgery and her cat, an enormous male Maine coon who was definitely NOT a lovey-dovey guy suddenly sat by her side for hours without moving.
She would reach down and pat his head and tell him what a good boy he was for ‘guarding’ her and he would literally sit at attention until someone else came home to ‘relieve him’ of his duty. She was never alone while he was ‘on patrol.’
Once she began to recover, he returned to his former, more distant self, but he was beside her when she was at her most vulnerable.
Once your husband’s upsetment subsides, the dog will probably resume his former behavior.I agree that your dog wants to be with your husband because of what happened. Dogs are great at picking up on our emotions and they react accordingly.
After a friend was in a car accident last October he was in bad spirits for a few days. His dog Sooner would not eat his food for three days and would not leave my friend alone.
I have also seen dogs with good temperaments go to a home where the husband is an angry drunk. The unstable environment these three dogs live in has made it unsafe to put them in the same room together because they will fight. These dogs are obviously stressed out and have an unstable pack leader.
I’m just starting to read a book entitled Dogs Never Lie About Love by Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson. It looks like an interesting book regarding the emotional lives of dogs. Perhaps you may find it an interesting read.
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