Have you ever observed your dog, and thought he was sad at that moment?

Even if animals don’t talk, they have many ways to let us know their mood and what they are feeling. It is up to us to know reading and interpreting our dog’s body language , always observing his behavior carefully and carefully.

Only in this way will we be able to truly understand if he is good or bad or if he is going through a difficult time, and therefore try to intervene.

WHAT KIND OF SADNESS DOES THE DOG FEEL?

It is now scientifically established that even dogs can be sad, albeit in a different way than humans. This is obviously due to a different conformation and structure of the two different brain systems.

In the meantime, we can affirm that their sadness is less complex than ours , because it is always linked to concrete experiences lived in reality and never to internal reasons in themselves.

POSSIBLE CAUSES OF SADNESS IN DOGS

As we mentioned, sadness in dogs always stems from lived events. Among these we find especially changes that occur in his lifestyle or in the surrounding environment .

It is important to understand upstream what could be the triggering causes of his sadness, so as to intervene in a targeted and decisive way.

Let’s see together what are the main causes that can cause sadness in dogs :

  1. ILLNESS. Often signs of behavior that are identified as “sadness” are actually related to health problems on a physical level. Therefore, if your dog has been looking sad for some time, the first cause to rule out is that of an illness. Therefore, always entrust yourself, first of all, to your trusted veterinarian.
  2. LOSS OF A FAMILY MEMBER. Be it a person or another pet. As for us human beings, also for our animal this event represents a very hard blow to face, and we will notice in him a deeper sadness than that triggered by other reasons.
  3. LONELINESS. If the dog spends a lot of time alone, in the house or in the garden, without being able to enjoy the company of any family member or another pet, sooner or later he will begin to suffer from loneliness which in a later stage could turn into real depression. .
  4. PREVIOUS TRAUMAS. If the furry you have adopted has returned from bad experiences such as neglect or mistreatment, surely the first times will be able to show all his sadness for these actions.
  5. SEPARATION FROM A FAMILY MEMBER. When a couple splits up and a family breaks up, it is not only the children who may suffer a severe blow but, like them, pets are also affected by this radical change.
  6. STRESS AND ANXIETY. If a dog is not cared for properly, is not loved and is not constantly given the right attention it deserves, it certainly runs the risk of suffering from sadness, anxiety, loneliness and stress. So let’s think about it very well before taking a furry dog into the house to take care of.
  7. CLASHES WITH OTHER DOGS. If the furry dog happens to run into some canine brawl of which he is not one of the proponents, but which he mainly suffers, this will leave in him, in addition to any physical injuries, even wounds in the soul that will lead him to be sad and closed. in itself.

But also potentially beautiful and positive changes can cause sadness in our furry dog, precisely because dogs are habitual animals and tend to experience any changes to their life and routines a lot.

Among these we find:

  • The arrival of a baby
  • The arrival of a new pet
  • The Change of the House

This list is certainly not exhaustive, and to understand even better what can cause a possible discomfort in the dog, we suggest you to deepen the subject by also reading: “The greatest fears of dogs and how to deal with them” and “10 things we usually do and that our dogs don’t like them “ .

In the near future we will also talk about what are the signs that a dog shows when it becomes sad, and how to intervene.