How To Tell If A Dog Is Depressed

Mary burch a certified applied animal behaviorist.

How to tell if a dog is depressed. Depressed dogs will often lick or chew their paws to soothe themselves. Dogs who become less active slow down or seem to lose purpose may be suffering from dog depression. Additionally consider if destructive behavior or accidents may be due to depression. If you miss this sign and notice others don t worry.

Sometimes dogs don t eat because they can be picky or bored of their food but if it s bad enough that it. Our dogs don t have this option but that doesn t mean that they can t feel sad or even depressed. When dogs become depressed they often eat less or even stop eating. While there s not as much research out there as there is for humans for obvious reasons all kinds of anecdotal evidence exists pointing to dog depression.

If your dog becomes severely depressed they may lose interest in eating their food. There are also some dogs who will eat a lot more when they get depressed because dog food can serve as a comfort to them. And of course they can simply tell us that they re not feeling good. You can also look for physical signs like squinty eyes droopy ears and a tucked tail.

The symptoms of depression in dogs can be similar to those in humans from withdrawing themselves from social situations to being quieter than normal. Once you have spotted the visible signs of sadness in your pup it s important you know what can be done to help. Especially if you know the dog well you may be able to tell whether your dog is depressed based on a facial expression alone. Sometimes if the dog is depressed because of the loss of a companion getting another pet can help said ciribassi.

If your dog has experienced extreme weight loss in a short amount of time there might be a chance there is a chemical imbalance caused by clinical depression. But it has to be done carefully with both the family s and the dog s needs taken into account he said. It doesn t mean you re a bad owner or out of touch with your pet. How can you help your dog if it s depressed.

How do you know if your dog is depressed. If the pups shared a very close bond then the dog may react with behaviors that indicate depression after a furry friend passes away says dr. Our dogs can t verbally tell us how they are feeling so it can often be a challenge to understand exactly what they are going through.