Does a dog mourn a death

[Unregistered]

Our family bought 2 chocolate labs over a year ago. We thought it would be best to get two and they are well were brother and sister. We believe someone came by and took Jolly, then about six hours later somewhat hit her on a road about 5-6 miles away from our house. Jake, Jolly's brother, hasn't been the same all day today. It may just be me but I was wondering if dogs can sense the death of someone they have spent their entire life with? If so, what can we do to make this easier for Jake? We too are grieving but to see his face brings tears too.

[spencersmom]

I am so sorry for your loss. Yes I believe a dog will mourn a death of his or her companion. When we lost our 15yr old Husky Shepard, our other dog and our cat were not the same for quite a while. We were all sad. We just let them go through it and we tried to paid a little extra attention to them. I believe they sense all of those feelings. I hope your dog gets better.
Spencers Mom

[Carol]

I amso sorry for what happened to your dog.
I do not know if they sense death, but they certainly pine over the loss of a littermate or playmate. I know a friend of mine had 3 dogs and when 2 of them got really old and sick and had to be put down, the little cocker spaniel that was left went into a deep depression and they were at a loss as to how to help her. She stayed with me for 3 weeks while the owner had surgery and she and my cocker slept together played together and ate together and cuddled together with me on the couch. It was so good to see her happy again. I have not seen her since she went home and hope she is doing well.
Good Luck with your lonely pup.
Welcome to the site...We love photos.

[Shelley02]

Definitely, they do mourn a lost friend. when our first shepherd died our female stopped eating and drinking. We brought her to a friend's house where they had a lab and the competion started her eating again.

[Benji]

It is very common for a dog to mourn a death.A dog may lack the intelligence of a human but shares all the emotional characteristics that we do.Anybody who says otherwise is doing a disservice to our closest and most loyal companion.

[KatzNK9]

I'm so sorry for your loss. I'm quite sure your dog is grieving the loss of his special friend. He will need extra attention now & possibly lots of new distractions to help him adjust.