Dog is one of people’s favorite pet, since it has the ability to sense people’s feelings and gives a good response to it. For those dog lovers, they will mostly cuddle with their dog whenever they feel sad or angry over something. But did you know that dog also have feelings and they can also feel sadness and sorrow? Unfortunately, not many people know that dog can also feel such way. Therefore, there are some dogs that feel sad but their owner doesn’t recognize it. That’s why we’ll discuss about this issue, about how to tell that your dog is truly sad. After this article, you don’t have to be afraid about having a sad dog in your house anymore! Read also here How to Make a Dog Listen and Obey to You Outside
What will happen if your dog is sad?
Since dog is able to feel sad just like us, there will be some after-effect on your dog’s condition that might turned bad if not handled properly. For example, you dog will be less active and doesn’t have appetite as well. Of course, it will lead to a bad health condition of your dog, and that definitely is the last thing you wished to happen to your beloved pet. Or even worse, your dog will become aggressive and starts attacking people, which is an unpleasant things to witness. Here, we will discuss about how to notice some emotional change in your dog, therefore you don’t have to worry about a sad floof in your house anymore.
1. Become Inactive
Since dog is mostly a sociable animal, it tends to has great stamina and loves to run or sniff around his territorial. It will greet people with a bark or sniff people out. Whenever it got excited, it will wag its tail. Dog is also very aware about its surroundings. Whenever there’s a slight change or movement around, it will lift its ear or look around to find out. Beware when you find that your dog is being lazy, just laying around and doesn’t perk its ear at some movements. And when it stops to bark and wag its tail as well. It might means that your dog is sad. But sometimes, it’s quite a troublesome for a noisy dog. To control that, you can check in 3 Ways to Train Your Dog to be Quiet on Command.
2. Unusual Sleeping and Walking
You will notice that a happy dog will sleep in its favorite place, for example at the corner of your bedroom. And they will trot happily as well when they see or smell something it attracted to. They will make a happy face and excited bark, too. So whenever you see your dog is wandering around with no excitement, you have to be aware. Or when your dog is sleeping in a secluded area where it never sleep on, that also might be a caution that your dog is sad about something. The key is that you have to keep an eye on your dog’s behavior. Because dog’s behavior is the most noticeable for a change of emotion inside your floof’s buddy.
3. Stops Eating
Dog loves treat, just like other animals. They will got excited over food or their favorite snacks. Usually their eyes got bigger, ears perked up, and gave excited barks. They also One of the easiest way of how to tell that your dog is truly sad is when it stops getting excited over food and snacks. When your dog is not perking its ear or just laying around when food is around, you need to be aware of it. Because when your dog is sad and stops eating, it might turned bad for your dog’s health. You definitely will notice this unusual behavior since you know how exited your dog is when there’s food around. You can read more about your floof’s diets in 7 Advice to Treat Your Skinny Dog and Gain Healthy Weight
4. Change of Emotions
Domestic dog is usually a kind and gentle pet, and it doesn’t have any tend to attack or being aggressive. It will turned aggressive when it feels threatened or want to protect something it values on. It’s also an obedient pet, it won’t do something you dislike or something you don’t want to. So when your dog is starting to chewing on your stuffs, or doing things you forbid, you need to be aware. Also when your dog starts to become aggressive.
It might be a sign that your dog is sad, and you need to be very careful when your dog is behaving such way. Because an aggressive dog is a very dangerous one, and being gentle yet stern is very important to make your dog calms down. If the change on emotions occur during your ready-to-work time, you can check on How To Make Your Dog Happy At Home When You’re Out To Work to find a good solution.
5. Strange Body Language
Dog has its own body language, and you will know when your dog is happy. Its eyes will glint in excitement, and will let its tongue out. Or it will run and bump its snoot on your leg. You will notice immediately when your dog is happy or excited over something because it clearly defined on their body language. You will need to be aware when your dog is not getting excited over their favorite stuffs. Or when it doesn’t run towards you when you bring something that it interested to.
Check when it shows unusual issue, like excessive shedding, tail isn’t wagging, ears dropped, or head hung low. Also notice when your dog starts to pose differently from usual, whether it’s standing, sitting, or sleeping position. And if your dog is making accidents inside your house on purpose, you also need to be cautious. Pay attention when your dog is refusing to do a regular walk as well. If you noticed those signs above, it might be a sign that your dog is getting sad.
What can you do to handle a sad dog?
Those signs above are a precaution that your dog might be sad over something. It’s quite an easy thing to notice. Especially when you able to spend lots of your free time to play or just cuddle with it. But sometimes, there are some dog owners that are not aware over such changes, and it usually will lead to a sad dog and a sad owner as well. This is why every dog owner have to understand over such small changes on their dog, so that there will be no sad dog inside your house anymore. You have a dog that seems depressed, read here Effective Methods to Treat Depression in Dog – Trusted
That’s all about how to tell that your dog is truly sad, which is relatively easy to notice. Whenever you notice such signs and don’t know how to handle it, you can contact your vet or someone that expert in such issue. Don’t rushing things to your sad dog, because it might lead to a sadder and more vulnerable dog. Sadder dog might be turned more passive or more aggressive, so make sure that your dog doesn’t reach such condition. If you already know how to handle your dog, make sure your dog doesn’t feel pressured or cornered. That way, your dog won’t turned to attack you. Hope the information helps you all, dog lovers!