One of my beautiful labradors was hit by a car on sunday and died. My other labrador has been quite subdued. It took us awhile to find the dog who had died, but she is now home and we will be burying her in the yard.
I have heard before about showing dogs the body of their dead mates to help them understand that they have passed.
My parents did this when their eldest dog died about 5 years ago. The younger one was so distraught as the death had been quite traumatic (lots of yelping as she was in pain) and the youngest one witnessed it until my parents left for the vet to have her put down. When they returned home, they put the deceased one in a bean bag and left the younger one to spend time with her before they buried her. He just layed with her for hours, my parents said it was amazing but so sad.
TBH, we don't think he's ever really gotten over her death but he has improved over the years, he's just never been the same. He slept happily in his shared kennel with the older dog until she died then he refused to go anywhere near it, not even within a meter of it. My parents ended up letting him sleep outside their bedroom door from that point onwards as he was just far too distressed to be outside on his own, especially a night.
Be prepared for a bit of howling and possibly a few trying months
I'm so sorry to hear that. I'm not sure about showing them the body. When our lab died our golden retriever was only a puppy so she didn't seem to understand or miss him too much. Sorry to hear about your beautiful lab xo our lab is buried in our backgarden too
On the 2 occasions I have had dogs pass, I have shown the others.
I think they were sad or subdued for a day or so,but not traumatised. I would think it more traumatic to just have their friend dissapear KWIM?
Sorry this has happened to you
When my old girl had a stroke at christmas time I had her in the yard waiting for the vet appointment and the cat that she had raised from a kitten sat out next to her and was licking her face. When I got home I made sure the cat got to see because I wanted her to know what had happened.
We didn't. Our circumstances were a little different. We were living with my mum, had for 9 months and had a 18 month old spoodle. Mum had a 12 year old golden retriever. We took our spoodle, healthy and still wanting to play and put him to sleep (he was vicious). The golden retriever adored him. When we returned home without him, it was like she just knew. She just let me hug her and was always following me close. She didn't really look for him, only cried if someone said his name.
I'm so sorry you lost your beautiful girl. I'm sure there are a few of us who would welcome a puppy play date should your other lab fret
hun, she was a gorgeous dog, i'm so sorry for your loss
I've heard of people doing this, DP's dad showed his dogs if another passed on, i guess it's kind of like the way we farewell people.
If you need a hand with anything let me know.
I 2nd PRMG, more than happy for puppy & kids play dates
I always let my animals spend time with the animal who has passed on. When my 17 yr old bluey had to be PTS we allowed our then 4 yr old bluey sniff him and spend time with the body. She kinda tried to wake him up and when he didn't she lost interest. We then wrapped him in a sheet and buried him in the paddock. To this day our bluey doesn't like it when we wrap our "new" dog in a towel after he has a bath, she gets distressed and tries to pull the towel off him. I now keep him in the bathroom until I'm done with towelling him.
When mares lose foals we always let them see the body and spend the time trying to "wake" it. We also do this if we have to put horses down. We allow the other members of the herd to see them lying still.
I have no experience with this but just wanted to say how sorry I am that you have lost your beautiful lab. I have a 9 month old lab and it would break my heart to have to say goodbye to her
Thanks for all your replies. Our younger dog had a quick sniff and then went for a wee. We don't know if she was with the older dog when she was hit, but she seems to know that she is gone.
We have laid her to rest with one of her fav toys in a really nice spot in the garden.
When I lived with my Mum and Dad and my eldest dog now (was just a puppy then), sniffed my Mum's dog after she passed away. I balled my eyes out - but it did seem to settle my dog a bit. Unfortunately my Mum's cat must have fretted for the dog and passed away a fortnight later.
I hope your remaining dog is ok and keeps settled.
The younger dog is doing well. She was much quieter and wanting cuddles for a few days, but has started playing and wiggling and wagging again.
After watching Marley & Me tonight, i was all sooky. Not sure why i thought that would be a good idea. I hadn't seen it before and it was only half way through when i realised Marley was prob gonna die. Great movie for a slightly hormonal person who just lost their dog. The start of the movie made me giggle though. We went to dog school for 3 years, and they created a 'time out' area just for us.
hELPING one animal say good-bye to another?
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