A dog really is man’s best friend and when they die, the loss can be devastating.
It can sometimes be confusing for non-dog owners, but the grief of losing your four-legged friend can be as profound as a relative or friend and in some cases more so.
Your dog is a constant companion, who you have cared and received unconditional love from for many years and when they die, owners can experience several different types of grief.
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It can be made harder by the fact there’s no public grieving process like with a human. There is no organised funeral or memorial service and many people find it embarrassing to show just how much the loss of their beloved pet has affected them.
Dogs aren’t just a pet though, they have a special bond with humans no other animals share.
From their wolf ancestors to the modern, domestic pet, dogs have spent 10,000 years evolving to make themselves ideal companions for humans.
The have developed in such a way that, in many cases, a relationship with a dog can be more satisfying.
Unconditional love and uncritical, positive feedback might be impossible to get from most humans, but dogs will shower you with an abundance of both.
In short, they make us feel loved and wanted, even when we maybe don’t deserve it.
This feeling can’t be underestimated, with research showing that dog owners, on average, are happier and have a better level of well-being than those who own cats or no pets at all.
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It’s not one-sided either, dogs get the same type of pleasure from being around their owners.
Over the thousands of years they have been selectively bred to pay attention and respond to humans and MRI scans of dogs’ brains show praise from their owners causes a similar reaction to when they get food.
Most pets might seem oblivious to who owns them or have a slight indication, but a dog not only recognizes his owner’s face, they can read the emotions on it.
They understand human intentions and will even try to help complete tasks and while most owners might not always appreciate this “help” it’s a sign of how attached a dog is to its owner.
Dogs often take on a protector role, but this isn’t just as the usual guard dog.
They will actively avoid those who they sense do not treat their owners well or they have conflict with and will protect them against any hint of threat.
They may also become upset when a person is ill or when they go away because they are missing them.
It’s no surprise that with this type of close bond, dogs quickly become part of the family.
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Many dog owners will admit that they speak to their pet, like a human but this might not be such a bad idea.
Dogs have evolved to have high comprehension levels and have a great understanding of spoken words and will even try to vocalize their response in return.
Even without knowing it, owners will consider their dog as important as others in the family. A study in “misnaming”, looking at when parents use a sibling’s name for a child found that it’s common for their dog’s name to be included in that group, though cats rarely did.
With all this considered it’s not a surprise that when a dog dies it can cause deep grief and emotional upheaval.
It’s not just the loss of a loved one.
For many people, their dog is the primary companion and this disruption of the daily routine can leave a bigger gap in people’s lives than the death of a family member or friend.
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Suddenly losing that unconditional love and source of comfort and security that comes with owning a dog can be a shock and often owners will grieve harder and longer than even they thought they would.
It’s common for grieving dog owners to mistake sounds or sights for their dog especially in the immediate months after the death.
