Oh, your little one is missing his pack member. He's either lost a pack leader or follower and his sibling and he's in a quandary how to act. Get him moving, get him out and about. Take him more places and spend more upbeat time with him. Training your dog to do obedience with lots of positive reinforcement can help restore his sense of self and pride in his accomplishment, form a new, tighter bond with you. Play fetch with him. Buy him a few new toys and balls. He needs some new changes that are good, positive.
Teach him to "track". I call it "Seek Treats" - a game where I tell Tibbe to lie down where he can watch me and I hide pieces of his kibble around the kitchen and den. Then I "release" him and walk around the kitchen and den pointing to the treat and saying "Seek treat" and as he sees and gets it, I clap and praise him. We keep going around the course until he's found all of them. Then we repeat and repeat. The fourth time, I sit and watch him run the course all by himself. At first, he is just following my smell most likely but eventually I think he's sniffing his treats and is "tracking" their scent. It helps to develop a dog's instinctive sense of smell and let them enjoy one of the things dogs do well - sniff and hunt around for treats. Tibbe loves to do it. It will be something your dog will enjoy and even grow to look forward to each day. Dogs need something new and fun to look forward to, just like we do, especially a grieving dog.
If you are so moved after your grieving is better, you might consider getting your dog another companion if he keeps acting very sad, despite your efforts to get him up and moving.
__________________  Jeanie and Tibbe One must do the best one can. You may get some marks for a very imperfect answer: you will certainly get none for leaving the question alone. C. S. Lewis |