Dogs mourn loss of canine companions, study suggests

Dogs mourn the loss of canine companions, new research by the University of Milan reveals.

The survey of 426 Italian dog-owners, published in Scientific Reports, found that 86% of owners observed changes in the surviving dog’s behaviour after the death of their other dog.

Almost a third of owners (32%) reported that these lasted between two and six months and 25% reported that they lasted longer than six months.

The behavioural changes exhibited by the surviving dog included: more attention-seeking (67%), playing less (57%), becoming less active (46%), sleeping more and becoming more fearful (35%), eating less (32%), and increase in whining or barking (30%).

The researchers also found that the length of time the two dogs had lived together did not influence the surviving dogs’ behaviour, having had a friendly relationship with the deceased dog and having a grieving owner made negative behavioural changes and fearfulness more likely in surviving dogs.

Federica Pirrone, from Milan University, said it was impossible to know the mind of a dog, but the simplest explanation was that they were experiencing grief.

“This is what dogs’ reported behavioural and emotional changes would indicate,” she added.

Pirrone said that dogs are pack animals, relying in the wild on strong social structures, so it made sense that they might be affected by the loss of those structures.