Do Dogs Understand Death?

[samoyedman]

A bit of a strange and morbid topic but I am curious. :)

I was speculating in a funeral thread in Off Topic about whether dogs 'get' death, in both their own kind and their human owners?

Has anyone witnessed a dog's reaction to this and do you think dogs understand the finality of it? I remember reading about some Polish guy who died and his dog went and sat by his grave every day (not sure if it was urban myth).

If I were to pass before my dog, I would like him to understand that by sniffing my corpse instead of stressing about me each day wondering where I was.

[keasarge]

Ive known a dog who howled for days after his owners death. She certainly knew of her owners death and she mourned for a long time after didnt eat

ive also knew a dog whos elderly owner died and he ate her (it was a few days before her body was found). Dont think he cared.

[Are You Serious Jo]

If you search you'll find we have covered this in other threads.

[Meea]

I thimk he was just starving!! Mine are welcome to me if it keeps the going!!

I find that it goes better if they see the death. If a dogdies away from the other they search for ages. When one dies at home that doesnt happen. Which makes it a bit simpler for me.

Since recognising this happens I have taken the pack to the vet so we are all togethet when one goes and three times now there has been no srarching.

This proves to me that they know the end when they see it.

[mita]

You might find this article interesting:

http://health.usnews.com/health-news/news/articles/2012/07/06/dogs-may-mourn-as-deeply-as-humans-do

[julesluvscavs]

I don't know with humans how dogs react if they see their owners corpse, as I've never experienced that situation yet.. But I did see Renae react before and after Joey passing away- she was his Mother, (as he was given his wings at our house) there were certainly some strong connection there I believe (and from i personally observed).. and she still wanders over to his burial site and sniffs around.not as much now as she was..

When my MIL passed away also recently Joey (who was still with us at that stage) woke up and started making weird noises for a while .. a half hour later we got the call from the hospital that hubby's Mum had passed way (around same time Joey reacted). We have been puzzled by that. (not that she had been close to him when she was alive)

Edited October 15, 2013 by Jules❤3Cavs

[Rebanne]

Mine have never seemed to give two hoots if a pack member died. Only indication has been a slight period of adjustment while everyone sorted out the new pecking order. I let my other dogs out once when the leader passed. They just danced around, including on top of poor Zoe, wanting me to throw the ball. Never done it again.

[mita]

One of the people in the article I posted said he thought dogs would be like people. People react differently to loss. And so would dogs.

I've had dogs that haven't reacted in any way to the loss of one of their 'mates'.... but I've had another whose loss turned into permanent state of grief.

[samoyedman]

You might find this article interesting:

http://health.usnews.com/health-news/news/articles/2012/07/06/dogs-may-mourn-as-deeply-as-humans-do

Interesting read, thanks.

Here's the one I was referring to in the OP.

http://www.dogs-paw.com/more/730-1/loyal-dog-ran-away-from-home-to-his-dead-master’s-grave,-has-stayed-by-its-side-for-six-years

Edited October 15, 2013 by samoyedman

[W Sibs]

I think they do..

When it was time to give Charlie his wings, I bought both Emmy and Skeeter with me so they could be there to see Charlie pass. Emmy's reaction was, she sniffed him and then went to the door and wanted to leave the room (but I think she knew something was up before any of us becuase she distant herself from Charlie a week prior of us giving him his wings)... but Skeeter was interesting. He sniffed Charlie's body for a few minutes, trying to nudge him to wake up and then he started to whinge, walked over to where Emmy was sitting and started to howl to let out of the room too. Em and Skeeter never goes looking for Charlie but they do small things that I can tell they grieve for him.

[Akayla]

Every dog I have lost I have brought home to the others. They sniff and then leave. Once they have a sniff they leave and thats that. A couple have refused to go near.

That was my experience till I lost Lakota. When I brought her home the lappie became increasingly distressed. He kept trying to play and nudge then bite, bark, push.

He refused to do anything else but sit on her grave. He cried constantly. He would dig her favourite spot on the tiles till his paws were bleeding. It was horrid to watch.

He is back to his old self now except he sleeps on her grave when he rests outside. If I bring him a bone or something new he takes it to the grave, drops it there for a minute before leaving with it.

I dont know what this means but I wish there was more I could do for him.

[Perry's Mum]

I recently adopted Friskie, a Koolie whose owner had died. Friskie spent a month in the pound and was then flown from Geelong to Canberra to live with me. Every time I took her out of the house she was looking for her former owner. My vet suggested using an animal communicator to tell her what had happened and once she was told she totally changed her behaviour and settled down here.

[fuzzy82]

We lost one of our cats last year, and I'm pretty sure my poodle x understood what was happening. Her behaviour was unusual that day. My JRT x seemed less affected by it, but he did some unusual things too.

[Guest hankodie]

Every dog I have lost I have brought home to the others. They sniff and then leave. Once they have a sniff they leave and thats that. A couple have refused to go near.

That was my experience till I lost Lakota. When I brought her home the lappie became increasingly distressed. He kept trying to play and nudge then bite, bark, push.

He refused to do anything else but sit on her grave. He cried constantly. He would dig her favourite spot on the tiles till his paws were bleeding. It was horrid to watch.

He is back to his old self now except he sleeps on her grave when he rests outside. If I bring him a bone or something new he takes it to the grave, drops it there for a minute before leaving with it.

I dont know what this means but I wish there was more I could do for him.

reading that made me tear up, that's so beautiful but so sad.

[pepe001]

When I bought my old shepherd home from he vets wrapped in a horse blanket on the back of his favourite ute, my other two dogs acted completely differently. The kelpie didn't care and actually sat on top of the him to highfive me - creepy. He never even reacted to seeing the body. But the lab* (who was a thinker-dog - not a loony happy boy like the kelpie) saw his old mate and dropped down. His head hung down and he looked so so sad. I don't think he ever recovered. He was never the same again - he seemed depressed. He died a few short months later.

Not sure about their reaction to owners dying but I did find a friend dead (heart attack) with his little dog a few years ago. The dog was quite distressed but she had been sitting with him for 3 days before I found them so I guess she had a reason to be distressed. She reverted back to herself eventually but she did have her other owner to care for her, the wife.

[kelpiecuddles]

Our old dog's best friend was the cat. the cat was killed in an accident in the yard and the dog saw it happen. He moped in the bottom corner of the yard for nearly a week before he would start coming up and getting back to his old self.

[bianca.a]

I lost both my cats within 6 weeks of each other a few months back and when Texas didn't come home, Molly has started sleeping in her spot (where Tex bed was). She acts very demure and a bit odd.

[korbin13]

We brought our JRT x home after he was PTS. The others sniffed him and then left him alone. But neither seemed 'upset'.

Interestingly we take our dogs bushwalking a lot, and we come across dead roos and rabbits quite a bit. One will try to eat the dead animal and the other will try to roll in it! We once came across a dead dog that had obviously been placed under the tree once it had died, the dogs approached it and did the whole long neck sniff but then backed away from it, wouldn't go near it.

[Remarkabull]

My dogs have never shown any signs of distress or any kind of 'missing' the deceased dog. They are all very much attached to me and not really each other.

[Mim]

All our dogs get buried in our garden so we let the other dogs see the body before burial. They approach and sniff, then just walk off. I think they are aware the dog is dead, but have not seemed to mourn. Even when my dear Elle died, Sarge (who adored her since the day we brought him home) inspected her body and then just went about his day as normal.