The idea for the title comes from a man, Med Djadoud, who writes a lot of articles on the quora.com website about dogs. He has lots of personal experience. He recently adopted a dog from a shelter. The dog refused to get into his car and refused to go into his home and refused to be touched by anybody. He adds that not a single rescue dog adopted from a shelter bonded easily to him. They eventually did because “we allow them to grieve”.
He adds that “they are like humans; they miss their humans. Some get sick, some refuse to eat, and some just simply want to be alone.”
The dog eventually comes around but they need a period of grieving he believes because from the dog’s perspective their former owner (the alpha leader) has died or no longer exists.
He provides the answer to the question but you have to be careful in not providing a generic answer which applies to every dog because every dog is an individual. Not all dogs react the same way to being surrendered to a shelter. Some dogs might adapt quickly to the new environment and form new bonds.
The majority of respondents (68.3%) reported that their dog exhibited a behaviour problem, the most common being fearfulness.
Dog behavior after adoption from shelter in N. Ireland. Study: Prevalence of behaviour problems reported by owners of dogs purchased from an animal rescue shelter.
Shelter time
In the case of the man that I write about above, the dog was in the shelter for quite a short time. If a dog is in a shelter for a reasonable time, by the time they are adopted they have probably adjusted to the loss of their former owner. But the timeframe for adjustment will vary.
When a dog is surrendered to a shelter, they may display signs of stress, anxiety, and confusion. These signs can include whining, barking, pacing, loss of appetite, decreased energy, and changes in behavior. Some dogs may become withdrawn or exhibit signs of depression.
AI response to question on this topic.
The wolf
I think it is useful to go back to basics. Dogs have the mentality of their ancient ancestor, the gray wolf. The loss of an alpha wolf especially the alpha male can cause a lot of distress within the pack. The wolf and our dogs are social animals. They live in a tightly knit family structure requiring leadership and guidance. When the alpha dies the group may exhibit signs of grief, anxiety and confusion.
They may demonstrate unusual behaviours such as increased restlessness and exhibit nervous energy. There may be internal power struggles and disorientation. When the alpha pair die the suppression of breeding disappears and more and younger wolves tend to breed.
In one story about a wolf pack in captivity, when the alpha male died during surgery the entire pack was euthanised as a last resort because of unusually anxious and abnormal behaviour by the pack.
The loss of a leader can have a detrimental effect on the stability of a pack. The loss of multiple members of a pack can prove to be devastating. Conservationists are aware of this when wolves are shot.
Grieving?
It’s more than just grieving. When the alpha is no longer present there might be some grieving but there will also be confusion and a loss of that structure which dogs appear to crave. The ‘family unit’ has gone even if that family unit is the owner and their dog.
Covid-19
During the pandemic lots of dogs in many countries were adopted to deal with isolation. Many of these people subsequently relinquished their dogs after the pandemic. They might have done this through social media. The subsequent adopters might then have relinquished the same dog again. You can imagine how confused the dog became. It affected their behaviour perhaps to the point where they became unmanageable for people new to dog ownership.
Conclusion
Grieving the loss of their owner is one of the emotions experienced by surrendered dogs including, anxiety, fearfulness and confusion. Each individual responds in their own way. There is a difference between sexes with males being better than females in one study (see above).
RELATED: Spending quality time with dogs reduces stress and anxiety (study)
