Dogs and Death. Do They Really Mourn?

Many dog owners ponder this question. It's an interesting and intriguing idea. Do they grieve the way we do? Or do they even grieve at all? It's probably one of those questions that will always remain a mystery. But we can get some clues from our canine friends and maybe even draw a couple of conclusions.

When a dog shares his life and home with another being, whether a human, another dog, cat or other animal, a strong bond forms. The dog has lived his life with his pal and his pal's scent is all around his environment. His human feeds him, plays with him, spends time with him and a lot of times sleeps with him! His animal pal, whether another dog, a cat or some other animal that he has bonded with, also plays with him, sometimes eats with him, and in general spends time with him. This way of life between the dog and his pal forms a strong friendship.

A lot of times the dog with form multiple friendships. An example would be between his human pal, and maybe another dog in the family. Or perhaps several humans in the family. Regardless of this, his pal's scent is everywhere. It's hard for us humans to comprehend this, but a dog's scent is so powerful, that it is just part of his whole life. Dogs use their sense of smell a whole lot more than we do. They establish their territory (your house, your car, his crate), with their nose, so smell is very important to them. I once heard that dogs smell things and objects like we read a newspaper!

When that daily scent of his friend is suddenly gone, and the daily routine is absent, the dog must certainly become confused and actually disorientated. We think that dogs don't actually understand the concept of death, much like small children, but he knows that his pal isn't there, and his scent is gone from his environment.

So because he doesn't understand what happened, and because he can't play or smell his friend, and his daily routine is completely and abruptly turned upside down for him, he might just lay around all day. His familiar smells are gone. He might not eat or drink. He might just plain look miserable to us. We probably will interpret this as sadness or grieving.