Have you ever looked at your dog and thought they seemed sad in that moment?
Even though animals can’t speak, they have many ways to show us their mood and what they’re feeling. It’s up to us to knowto read and interpret our dog’s body language, always observing their behavior carefully and with care.
Only then can we truly understand if they’re okay, unwell, or going through a hard time, and look to help them.
WHAT KIND OF SADNESS DO DOGS FEEL?
It’s now scientifically proven that dogs can feel sad, though in a different way than humans. Of course, this is due to the different makeup and structure of the two species’ brains.
For now, we can say that their sadness is less complex than ours, because it appears to be always tied to real, concrete experiencesnever to internal motivations.
POSSIBLE CAUSES OF SADNESS IN DOGS
As we mentioned, sadness in dogs always stems from experienced events. Among these, we find above all changes that happen in their daily routines or their surroundings.
It’s important to first understand what might be triggering their sadness, so we can take targeted, effective action.
Let’s look at the main causes that can make a dog sad:
- ILLNESS. Often, behavioral signals that are identified as “sadness” are actually linked to physical health issues. So, if your dog has seemed sad for a while, the first cause to rule out is illness. Always start by consulting your trusted veterinarian.
- LOSS OF A FAMILY MEMBER. Whether it’s a person or another pet. Just like with humans, this event is extremely hard for your pet to deal with, and you’ll notice their sadness is deeper than that caused by other factors.
- LONELINESS. If your dog spends a lot of time alone, inside or in the yard, without the company of any family member or another pet, they’ll eventually start to suffer from loneliness, which could progress into full depression.
- PAST TRAUMAS. If the furry friend you adopted went through negative experiences like abandonment or abuse, they will likely show sadness from these events in the early days.
- SEPARATION FROM A FAMILY MEMBER. When a couple splits and a family breaks apart, it’s not just any children who are affected by this hard change — like them, pets also feel the impact of this major shift.
- STRESS AND ANXIETY. If a dog isn’t properly cared for, loved, and doesn’t get the consistent attention they deserve, they’re at high risk of suffering from sadness, anxiety, loneliness, and stress. So think carefully before bringing a furry friend into your home to care for.
- CONFLICTS WITH OTHER DOGS. If your furry friend ends up in a dog fight they didn’t start, and was just on the receiving end, this will leave them not only with possible physical injuries, but also emotional wounds that can make them sad and withdrawn.
But even potentially nice, positive changes can cause sadness in our furry friend, since dogs are creatures of habit and tend to struggle a lot with any changes to their life or routine.
These include:
- The arrival of a baby
- The arrival of a new pet
- Moving to a new home
This list is certainly not exhaustive, and to better understand what might cause your dog’s discomfort, we recommend exploring this topic further by reading: “The Biggest Fears of Dogs and How to Handle Them” and “10 Things We Do Regularly That Our Dogs Don’t Like”.
Next time, we’ll also talk about the signs a dog shows when they’re sad, and how to help them.