Hey, y’all. My boxer who was 11 years old passed away on April Fools and my Saint Bernard has had a sudden change in behavior. They pretty much almost grew up together. I got the Saint Bernard as a companion to my boxer when my boxer was three and the Saint Bernard was a puppy. I didn’t want the boxer to be alone when I was at work. They became the best of friends and would eat together and pretty much were inseparable for eight years. When he fell ill, my Saint Bernard knew something was up. Since his passing she has had such a sudden change in behavior that I don’t know what to do. She was eating a bit the first couple of days, then stopped. She had been lethargic and distant. She sleeps the whole day. She hasn’t stopped drinking water and will bark when dogs walk by but she refuses to do anything. I gave her some rice with her food the other day but she refused to eat it. I tried chicken with her dog food and she ate most of the chicken but not the dog food. I gave her a couple of weenies which she ate and some meat today but she didn’t really eat it. She had a little diarrhea today, very minimal but pretty much hasn’t eaten in two days. I’ve never gone thru something like this as I’ve always had one dog and this is the first time I had two. I have a Shitzu as well that I introduced a year ago but she doesn’t really pay him much attention to him. She’ll occasionally bark at him when he’s trying to play, but you can tell she’s annoyed by him. Just reaching out to see if y’all have ever dealt with this. Any comments are appreciated. Thank you.
[Help] My 11 year old boxer died and my 8 year old Saint Bernard has had a sudden change in behavior
- Thread starter rrk93
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- all things dog! help!
laowaiphil
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@rrk93 Dogs mourn just like we do. We had to put our dog down last year. Our other dog moped around, ignored food and ran home the first time I took her for a walk after her friend was gone. It took time and lots of love to bring her spirits up, but she got there. We got a puppy from the shelter in February and our dog wanted NOTHING to do with him. I found them sleeping next to each other the other night. Time and love will help.
@laowaiphil I agree. As an owner of multiple dogs we've been through this same cycle many times. Your dog is also experiencing a loss. I'm very sorry you've lost your boxer. They are incredible farty love bugs.
maheshwari
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@maheshwari It's because of the snub nose. They gulp air when eating and they are definately room clearers!
maheshwari
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@maheshwari Yep, you’ve definitely got a boxer!
imagebeastmarkbeast
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@laowaiphil Totally agree. OP’s dog is depressed, understandably. Dogs don’t understand why a friend would leave them forever. The main things to watch out for are if she’s still not acting more normal in a few months, or if she loses significant weight from not eating.
@rrk93 Our dogs did this when my husband was killed. My husband always said that the best kind of dog was someone else’s dog. But he finally agreed to getting dogs when we returned from living overseas and bought a house. My husband and the dogs were bonded from just about the moment we picked up the dogs from the shelter. When my husband would come home from work, he’d ask, “Where are the girls?”....He was usually talking about the dogs and not our human daughters. When my husband died, our dogs whined and cried for him for weeks. This was really strange to us because they’d never reacted that way even when he went away for months on deployment. Anyway, whenever they saw someone in uniform, they’d run up to them thinking it was my husband. As soon as they realized it wasn’t him, their disappoint was almost palpable and the whining and crying would begin again. At home, the dogs would lay in the closet for hours and bury themselves in his clothes. They’d wait by the door each evening waiting for him to come. They stopped eating and drinking altogether and had to go to the animal hospital for fluids. It was awful. In the end, it turned out the house had too many memories for all of us, so we tore it down and had it rebuilt. I don’t know whether our dogs still think about my husband now that the house is new and we no longer have his car. I think they’d go bonkers with joy if they were to see him again, but I don’t think they’re actively grieving anymore. It might sound melodramatic, but our dogs grief was just as heart-wrenching as my kids’. Dogs definitely grieve. To me, the most painful part is not being able to explain to them what’s going on and assure them that everything will be okay. You never get over it, but you learn to live with it and life marches on.
imagebeastmarkbeast
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growingbygrace
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@growingbygrace Thank you. I boiled her a chicken breast this morning and she did eat it. She’s having a little diarrhea. I don’t know if it’s not a lot because she hasn’t eaten.
@turbobull Yes give them pumpkin. Especially if they aren't used to this diet. Sometimes that just causes diarrhea and stomach issue.
Sources: I work at an animal hospital
If she gets too bad. Definitely go see a vet. They can give her fluids to replenish and some entice for her appetite
Sources: I work at an animal hospital
If she gets too bad. Definitely go see a vet. They can give her fluids to replenish and some entice for her appetite
imagebeastmarkbeast
New member
@agape1111 Seconded re pumpkin - and also scrambled eggs and extra cuddles. So so sorry for your loss 
@imagebeastmarkbeast My previous dog was a notorious pilferer of random edible items found on the ground and so used to get upset stomachs regularly, my then vet recommended scrambled egg and it always seemed to do the trick. But, he explained that instead of using for example 200 mls of milk, I was to use 100 mls of milk and 100 mls of water. Milk isn't great for dogs in quantity.
@turbobull I thought pumpkin was a laxative girl when they are constipated. My vet said chicken and rice boiled into a mush as a food that tastes hood but is completely bland and wont upset the stomach.