Our Greyhound Died & Other Grey Is Depressed

[Guest Iris]

A few weeks ago, we lost our 11 year old grey, Sophie, to cancer and our 12 year old grey, Kate, is so depressed. She is not playing at all and barely eating. We don't want to adopt another dog at this point as we are heartbroken.

 

We have been spending a lot of time snuggling Kate.

 

Any suggestions?

[TheFullHouse]

Try taking her for walks and keep her occupied. That's pretty much all you can do at this point. These guys have to grieve in their own way and their own time. I know when we lost Emmy, Andy was inconsolable. He took his time, we were there for him and finally came out of it on his own.

 

If you have any friends with a greyhound, see if they won't come over with their grey and have a play date so to speak.

[Guest Iris]

Try taking her for walks and keep her occupied. That's pretty much all you can do at this point. These guys have to grieve in their own way and their own time. I know when we lost Emmy, Andy was inconsolable. He took his time, we were there for him and finally came out of it on his own.

 

If you have any friends with a greyhound, see if they won't come over with their grey and have a play date so to speak.

 

 

Thank you. We have a friend with a grey but their greyhound gets snippy with Kate. I have been taking Katie out for rides in the car (big distraction) but she won't go out for a walk without Sophie. It's heartbreaking. I wish I buy a big baby pouch and carry her around with me.

[45MPHK9]

no advice just hugs for you, your family, and kate at this sad time. we are very sorry for your loss.

[greytlucy]

My 9 year old went through this when our 14 year old died in early June. He'd actually been depressed for most of the last year as she was having health issues and their interactions changed as she became more ill and less active. I tried to spend a lot of time with him, walk him more, and get him out of the house more. It helped some. New activities and routines seem to help him. (do you have a place you can take her to run?) My vet told me that dogs can grieve for a matter of months not weeks so it may take a while for her to feel better.

 

We did get another dog. We weren't dying to have another dog but I felt badly as we adopted him as a young puppy, he was very attached to our old lady, and he'd never been without canine companionship. I'm home for summer right now but will be back into a busy schedule in the fall and felt guilty about leaving him alone so much. If I were going to be home more I probably would have held up getting another dog however. After about a month he was starting to feel a bit better.

 

Condolences on the loss of your pup.

[Tallgreydogmom]

Can you take her to a meet and greet just to visit with other greyhounds?

[cleptogrey]

"We did get another dog. We weren't dying to have another dog but I felt badly as we adopted him as a young puppy, he was very attached to our old lady, and he'd never been without canine companionship. "

 

this is exactly the situation w/ both willie and felix. after willie wonka lost velcro it took me nearly 9 months of a having a really depressed dog to finally get our first greyhound. willie came back to life. felix was alone for a short period when emily died, he too was brought up w/ emily showing him the ropes. with another dog in the house he is back to being that wild and crazy felix we all love so much. i fostered first, wanted to continue doing a good service for the dogs by fostering, but felix bonded with our new gal and that was it!

[rycezmom]

Put Sophies collar on Kate to wear with her own. That seems to have helped several of our hounds through their mourning. It worked well with Gustopher P when he lost his sweet little Miss Rose. I also kept her blanket on his bed for a couple of weeks. Time and love will pull them through.

[Wonder]

I'm sorry for your loss

[Guest PiagetsMom]

I'm sorry.....it's hard for everyone. Just give her a little time

[robinw]

I'm so sorry for your loss. The same thing happened to Phoenix after Loca passed away. I hadn't planned on adopting another onbe but after 1.5 months I adopted Treasure because we were both feeling down. It's a tough situation, isn't it?

[Hubcitypam]

I'm sorry for your loss. Could you maybe foster? Fosters really are one of the hardest things for adoptions groups to find.

[FountainLady]

I agree with Pam - could you consider Fostering for your group? It will help you both with some of the emptyness you feel right now. And you would be helping a needy hound in the process.

Edited July 20, 2010 by FountainLady

[Guest PhillyPups]

I am so sorry for your loss.

 

When I lost my Runner I almost lost SugarBear to depression. She did not eat for 3 days - when I brought Stepper in (I got him for her) she ate and returned to herself. Their bond was different.

 

Fostering may be the key. They become heart healers for every being involved in the mourning.

[cello]

You might want to try driving her to somewhere new, and then getting out and taking her for a walk - some place that she does not associate with her lost sister.

 

Many hugs for you both.

[Guest zoolaine]

When Sunny lost his battle with cancer last month Luna was quite depressed and hardly ate for about 2 weeks. But she slowly came along and is back to her normal self now. Her, Briley, and Sunny are litter mates and have only been apart a few nights so I knew it would be hard for her. I had to try a lot of different food to see what she would eat. Welcome to Grey Talk by the way

[Guest Paige12]

First, I am so sorry for your loss of Sophie. I will say that even though we had 2 other young greys, when we lost Cha-Cha last month, Henry who was his buddy, has moped around ever since. Henry is 7 and the two of them tended to hang out together. We just try to give Henry extra attention, which sounds like what you are doing.

[Guest kydie]

I am so sorry for the loss of your friend,,,my neighbor just lost one of her 2 dogs,, and the other girl left behind was so sad,,, she too placed the collar of the girl that passed on the girl left behind, and a blanket of the girl that is gone, in the bed of the girl still here,,, did it help,,, hard to say,,, I think when they live in a pack the loss is felt more than we know, a pack, even a small one,,,, provides security,,

Edited July 22, 2010 by kydie

[Guest DoofBert]

Our Bert had a really hard time after we lost Sir D, his littermate and alpha. We spent time with him, took him fo rides..... and fed him extra special meals in the van.. You see, Bert was afraid of the van. Afterall the last time he saw Sir D was when we took Sir D in the van.

 

Bert became comfortable in the van once again for short trips but

For the longest time Bert didn't want to go to M&G and didn't seem to enjoy long trips. He was quite happy at home with the stuffies and the rest of our pack (and any friends that would come for visit) This past spring, we had opportunity to run Bert on a farm with a group of other retirees. Ever since then, our Bert is back!

Edited July 23, 2010 by DoofBert

[IndyandHollyluv]

I am so very sorry about Sophie.

 

I lost my Indy in February. He and Holly had been together for eight years. She was so lost and blue without him. She ate but just stayed in her bed all day. It broke my heart. I didn't really "need" or want another dog but thought Holly wouldn't want to be alone. I was wrong, I think.

 

I underestimated her grief and the time she needed to mourn. I adopted a new dog about one month later. I wish I would have waited.

 

So last week, I adopted a third dog, as the chemistry between Holly and the "first new dog" is not all that fabulous. I am hopeful the third will bridge the gap - I think he will.

 

I guess it depends on the dog(s). In a way, I wish I had not adopted again at all, but then Holly would have been sentenced to a rather lonely existence for the rest of her days. It seems the presence of the newest family member has perked her up - which is good.

 

Without a crystal ball, it's not always clear what is the right thing to do and when.

[greytlucy]

I am so very sorry about Sophie.

 

I lost my Indy in February. He and Holly had been together for eight years. She was so lost and blue without him. She ate but just stayed in her bed all day. It broke my heart. I didn't really "need" or want another dog but thought Holly wouldn't want to be alone. I was wrong, I think.

 

I underestimated her grief and the time she needed to mourn. I adopted a new dog about one month later. I wish I would have waited.

 

So last week, I adopted a third dog, as the chemistry between Holly and the "first new dog" is not all that fabulous. I am hopeful the third will bridge the gap - I think he will.

 

I guess it depends on the dog(s). In a way, I wish I had not adopted again at all, but then Holly would have been sentenced to a rather lonely existence for the rest of her days. It seems the presence of the newest family member has perked her up - which is good.

 

Without a crystal ball, it's not always clear what is the right thing to do and when.

 

Adjustments take time. I mentioned above we actually preferred not to add another dog when our older dog passed in early June...however the younger dog had grown up with her from a young puppy and was lost on his own. Knowing come fall we'd both be out of the house again, we went ahead and adopted another dog. We were unable to find an adult rescue for the breed we weanted and couldn't wait as we needed to bring the dog home during the summer if we were going to add one(i'm home during the summer to help the dogs acclimate) so we ended up with another young puppy. I wouldn't say that original dog is thrilled with our decision right now....however just having anotehr dog around HAS helped him. He's more interactive with us and interested in what's going on in the house rather than staying on his own in a back bedroom as he was. Watching us work with the puppy, he's seeking out our attention as well. He and the puppy are figuring things out. It will take time for them to be buddies, and it won't be like it was with our older dog as the relationship is different this time but I think in the end it will work out. i'm sure all of yours will figure it out, too. Dogs are creatures of habit and routine so it takes time to adapt to lots of change.

 

Good luck!

Edited July 23, 2010 by greytlucy

[Guest lynne893]

My heart goes out to you and your survivor hound.

Hugs...

[Guest Iris]

When Sunny lost his battle with cancer last month Luna was quite depressed and hardly ate for about 2 weeks. But she slowly came along and is back to her normal self now. Her, Briley, and Sunny are litter mates and have only been apart a few nights so I knew it would be hard for her. I had to try a lot of different food to see what she would eat. Welcome to Grey Talk by the way

Thank you so much. I have been on Greytalk for years but lost my signon so I had to get a new one.

[Guest Iris]

Thank you all very much for your kind words and support. Katie is slowly coming out of her depression. We have been making a concentrated effort to spend a great deal of time home with her. We have been alternating working from home so she is not alone and we canceled our trip to Egypt/Turkey/Italy/Greece/Israel this fall as well so Kate won't be without us.

 

Zoolaine, I was so sorry about Sunny. IndyandHollyluv, I'm glad to hear Holly is doing better with Indy.

 

First, I am so sorry for your loss of Sophie. I will say that even though we had 2 other young greys, when we lost Cha-Cha last month, Henry who was his buddy, has moped around ever since. Henry is 7 and the two of them tended to hang out together. We just try to give Henry extra attention, which sounds like what you are doing.

I am so sorry to hear about Cha-Cha. My heart goes out to you.

Edited July 27, 2010 by Iris

[Batmom]

I'm glad to hear your girl is feeling a bit better. So hard for the puppers when a good friend has to leave.