I do believe that some animals (dogs especially) are able to display sadness. I mean don't they wag their tail when their happy? Curb their tail when their frightened? So, displaying sadness is certainly a possibility. Although their reasoning may be different than with humans.

Maybe it's just one of those days, that a dog goes through.

It is only my opinion, but I say, YES DOG CAN BE SAD. I was taught to believe that saying dogs had emotion was bad science. After years of living with and training dogs I am absolutely convinced that dogs have every emotion we do.

Well tomorrow morning will be emotions of Anger because I go back to work. LOL been home for the lst 2 weeks and he is gonna be MAD :mad: poor baby

How long did your Yorkie do this? We lost Crush, our English bulldog, yesterday. We have caught our Yorkie, Squirt, howling when we left the house for 15 minutes last night ( we have a terrific iPhone app called Dog Monitor that allows us to video in and hear/see them and also talk to them) - he never ever does this. He is 10. We had him before the bully, for four years prior... They didn't really play a whole lot together but they were companions to one another during the weekdays. He has been pretty clingy (more than normal) to me too.

This thread is 3 years old, but I will tell you my experience. I had 2 girls, one 13 y/o one 7 y/o. They were very,very close. Every night when I came home from work, the older one was always very anxious to eat. One night I come home, feed them, the older one is not interested, hummmmm. In the morning I feed them, she does not eat. I go to work, come home to find she had not eaten, I offer her a fresh bowl of food, she does not eat. So it's off to the vet, is this girl refused FOOD there had to be something wrong with her. I put on her harness pick her up and the 7 y/o lets out a death howl, none of my yorkies ever HOWLED, when the young one did this I knew my older one had to be very sick. She was at the vet 5 days, kidney failure, I had to put her down. My young grieved for 7 months, poor eating, would not play. I could not get her a buddy, my work kept me away for 16 hours a day. I could not get a puppy or another dog under these conditions. Seven months later she started to get back to her little old self and accepted that she would be an only child. She left me at 17 y/o.
Another experience, I had a pack of 3, the oldest passed away, 6 months months later the 2nd oldest went to rainbow bridge, my youngest was then 6 y/o. She grieved the loss of her 2 sisters. She would not play, picked at her food, no amount of extra attention could bring her back to her little clown self. I gave her 6 months to adjust to being alone, 7 months and she was still not the same. My work hours were normal at that time, so off to get her a buddy, when I bought home this new baby girl, it was love at first sight. She bonded with the baby with-in a few weeks and they became in-separable.
So my experience in my dogs grieving the loss of their BFF was 7 months. Hopefully although this is an OLD thread others will come along and give their experiences.

They seem to be able to get sad.. But they get over things quickly.
they can get depressed/ sad over the loss of an owner, a companion, a move etc

Try taking the little guy for a walk or an outing to a park or pet store that he likes.

He may just be feeling a little forgotten.

Thank you for the personal insights!
I ended up getting a new puppy pretty soon after this, another Yorkie.... and while my now almost 13-yr old male Yorkie doesn't always act like he enjoys have his little sis around, I know it brings him some comfort and company. He will go and lick her face every so often and play together with her sometimes.

Three weeks ago I lost my beloved collie. My two yorkies sat and stared at the door they use to go outside for days. Jamison had from the day they came into the house watched and cared for them. As sick as he became, he struggled outside to watch over them whenever I took them out to tend. They took turns snuggling into his huge white rough.

Eventually they accepted the reality I am still fighting. They no longer sit and stare out the door. I hold them more, take them on more trips, take more walks, and as we must try to move on.

Yes, I know dogs get sad.

Gew

Hi Gew,

I'm so sorry to learn about the loss of your fur-family member. When I was a child, our neighbor had a much beloved collie. Was a great dog; it's a great breed. No doubt your fellow is across the rainbow bridge, watching over you guys.

You wrote, "...hold them more, take them on more trips, take more walks ..." I imagine that is helping in so many ways.

Sending you and your fur-kids hugs and prayers. --KatysMom