How will my dogs react to this?

Question

I have three dogs. one is about 3 or 4 years older than the other two and she is getting very old. her health is declining quickly and we are ready to put her to sleep if she starts suffering.

the other two dogs look up to the oldest because she is like the pack leader. considering their entire lives have been spent looking up to my oldest dog how do you think the younger dogs will react when she is gone?

Answer 1

I have seen it go both ways. Some dogs don't even realize the other is gone, while other dogs do realize the other dog is gone and will get depressed. The depression usually only lasts a few days to a week, they eventually get over it.

I truly believe dogs mourn when they miss their companion. When I was younger and we lost our 14 year old Sheltie my other two shelties looked for him constantly for about a week straight. They would search the house, bark outside in hopes they would hear his bark, and look at us like "well, where is he??". Eventually, they stopped looking and moved on. It made the loss of my beloved dog that much harder watching them try to find him.

For this reason, many clients opt to have their other dogs present when we euthanize. We do a lot of home euthanasia's for clients who have a multiple dogs they wish to witness the euth.

As far as the whole pack leader situation, they will figure out their new roles... just like in good ol' mother nature.

Answer 2

I had a situation like this. I had a 6 year old White Lab and 2 four year old Alaskan huskies. The 2 huskies adored the lab. When the lab passed on the 2 huskies sat near the door all the time. they NEVER did that before. Both of them were still very active and never seemed hurt. but when they slept or were relaxing they were always by the front door. I let them dogs out to go potty through the front door. It almost seems like the 2 huskies are waiting for the lab to come back inside. sadly she never will. a year later both huskies continued to do this. I recently purchased a chocolate lab. The huskies are now 4 and the lab is 1. The huskies look up to the lab as the leader despite her age. They also no longer sit by the door. I hope this helps. goodluck.

Answer 3

Whenever possible we've let the other dogs see the deceased, sniff, etc. Afterward they react differently, some are confused, some never seem to notice. This is a good time for you to reinforce you are the pack leader. Do this by spending more quality time with them....not on the couch, but rather take them for walks....on leash!! You don't want them wandering off looking for the deceased. Do this as often as you can. Don't change the feeding, sleeping, etc routines, just show them you are still in charge and still love them. They will work out the rest themselves knowing you are still the leader. I've had some dogs mourn for weeks, one even died suddenly not too long after her companion--we figured "broken heart." Others have thrived, showing us sides of themselves we never knew existed.

Answer 4

I had three dogs two German Shepard's and a Cocker Spaniel. We needed to put the oldest German Shepard to sleep (cancer) and the other two layed around and cried for two weeks. Our vet said we should have let the others see and sniff the older one so they would except the fact he was dead. The Cocker was next, she just died one night and the last dog was fine, he knew what happened and that was a part of his life. He took it much better then I did to be honest!

Answer 5

Interesting dynamic, these dogs.

We've got three dogs as well.
7-year-old male (our Alpha male), 5-year-old female and 2-year-old male.

The Alpha is always on alert when we go outside.
It is very clear that he is the self-appointed protector and watch dog.
The other two just let him be boss.

The last couple of years, when I go outside with just the female, she automatically takes the lead role in watch dog.

Already the younger male is competing for the Alpha spot.
I have noticed that when the two older ones are inside and he is outside, he is on the watch.
When the other two come outside, he resorts to his goofy-puppy status.

So.....chances are good that when your oldest passes away, one of the others will assume the role.
Nature is pretty handy in creating order where none is apparent.

Answer 6

Your canine will possibly act in a diverse way if the different canine isn't around. you will possibly be able to desire to ascertain to furnish it greater advantageous interest yet yet save up a while-honored habitual. Years in the past I had 2 canines, one enormous one and a tiny one. I had to place the small one to sleep. My enormous canine saved looking down the stairs waiting for her to return up, or he'd pass to the front door and seem out. He went exterior ok, yet he grew to grow to be very gradual, drained and did not do a lot of something. So, a pair of month later we went to the canine pound and have been given yet another canine (one which grow to be 3 months old). He fell in love with him and now they are pals. i'm sorry on your loss. i've got been with the aid of this many situations. They turns into kinfolk, and it is not straightforward to enable them to pass.

Answer 7

They grieve but it's a short period of time. When JoJo died, Gus and Maggie looked for her for about a week. Talk about breaking your heart. But now they seem normal. They probably know more than we give them credit for. Seemed strange but when JoJo was close to the end, she would not come in the house. I still haven't figured that out. Maybe she wanted to choose where????

Answer 8

The younger dogs will probably spend some time feeling lost without the older one, but they will eventually re-establish the pecking order and one of them will become alpha.

Answer 9

One of them will become the new pack leader. I can imagine that at first they might be a bit distraught.

Answer 10

you're dogs will mourn her loss, they will be sluggish and appear depressed, it will pass. I have even heard of some dogs refusing food to the point of hospitalization when they lose a friend.