Anyone who has ever owned a dog knows that they are incredibly emotional beings. And when your canine friend is feeling down, it’s like it’s happening to a member of your family. Unfortunately, knowing how to treat a dog’s depression is often at least as hard as addressing the problem in a human. Their inability to talk makes it difficult to identify the cause of their depression and even harder to help them through it.
There are steps you can take, though. The first thing to do is understanding what can happened to depress your dog and how to recognized when your dog is feeling depressed. The most common cause of depression and stress is a sudden change in the dog’s life. This can be physical trauma, a move, the loss of another dog or a human family member, or the addition of a baby. Some dogs even experience depression with changes in the weather.
Depression can manifest itself in many different ways:
If your dog is exhibiting any of these symptoms, he or she may be feeling depressed. Generally, the best treatment is simply to pay more attention to your friend and show them your affection.
How to treat a dog’s depression may vary depending on the individual, but the following activities may help snap your dog of her funk:
It’s important to be patient and give your dog time to come around, but if you suspect there may be some other problems or if your dog just won’t begin acting like her old self, consider seeing a vet. There may be an underlying medical cause, and a vet can often offer advice, support, or referrals to a specialist who can help your dog through this trying time.
This article was originally published on PsyWeb.com.