Extreme behavior change in my dogs after fellow pup passed
Hi all… I’m at a loss here lately so I figured I’d come post here to see if anyone out there has any advice on what to do…
We had three dogs, the oldest of which was 3 months shy of turning 16, and the other two are 7 (turning 8 in May - so they’re mature but not elderly persay). One of the younger girls is a staffordshire terrier (Pitbull) & the other two are chihuahuas. Our oldest (the only male) passed away on January 2nd & since then we’ve slowly noticed quite a few behavior changes in our two girls.
Our pitty is: •walking slower in general but especially when coming in from going potty. •Often times will refuse to eat unless one specific owner is home (her original owner - I’m her “stepparent” lol) & is EXTREMELY attached to her OG owner, to the point where she’s constantly in the way in common areas
Our chichi is: •Extremely attached to me; •& Demanding of my time - she will come to where she can see me and sit and bark/growl to try and get my attention, will untuck herself from bed just to signal for me to re-tuck her right after, it seems like she is constantly just wanting me to do something for her in some way.. 881
& •she is refusing to eat from her “puzzle bowl” that she’s had for years*
*note, the chi gives in & eventually eats in most cases, the longest she’s been in a stand-off with me is about 5 hours. Here lately tho she is being extra pushy & the only times we’ve seen her snap to it and eat like normal is when we pretended to give her bowl to our other dog, & put her bowl in said-dog’s regular feeding spot.
If any of you have any similar stories to share & have any advise on how to handle this to help the girls get as close to “back to normal“ as possible, it’s so greatly appreciated. I know they’re going thru it emotionally with the loss of our boy… He was definitely the “man of our house” 🥹
RIP <PERSON>, aka Mr <PERSON>. We surely miss you around here little man 💚💚 881