Dog Depression Symptoms

Are you looking for dog depression symptoms? This article discusses canine behaviour which may be a sign of depression.

Introduction

Depression can manifest itself in most living creatures and is not simply restricted to human beings as many believe. Although really quite rare in canines, symptoms can develop slowly and go unnoticed for a long period. It is important to know what to look out for in order to recognize and treat your dog as early as possible. It is thought that many dogs suffer unnoticed from depression and it`s not very hard to see why.  Once the excitement of having a new dog wears off and the regular walks kick some people see them as annoyances and soon they become part of the fixtures and fittings. They get much less attention and are often ignored, sometimes even denied exercise and so it’s not hard to see why depression might develop.

Causes of Dog Depression

There can be many causes of depression in dogs and some are really quite easy to work. If a dog has grown up with another dog and known it all its life, becoming best friends it can be very distressing if one should leave or pass away.  Similarly, dog depression could also be triggered if a human were to permanently leave, maybe someone has moved to university or an owner moved out through divorce or died.  Perhaps the dog doesn’t like being on its own and if this is due to anxiety, may lead to depression. Many people don`t think about how these factors affect a dog and in these kinds of situation extra effort must be made to 1) monitor the mood of the dog and 2) give the dog lots of special attention.

Dog Depression Symptoms

As with depression in humans, there are a wide variety of symptoms to look out for and for ease of reading I will list them.

·       Depressed dogs are very much disinterested in activities they used to love doing. For example, if your dog once loved to fetch a ball or a Frisbee and now shows little or no interest in this activity then this could be one of the dog depression symptoms.

·        A very lazy, slow moving lethargic dog that appears to have lost interest in everything.

·        Your dog may very often be teary eyed.

·       May not be as vocal as once before.

·        In some circumstances they may develop diarrhoea or constipation and have unexplained aches and pains.

What to do

Firstly, a full medical examination from your vet is crucial to make sure any other health problems are ruled out. If depression is diagnosed by the doctor, he or she may prescribe Prozac for dogs or some other anti depressants.

If you suspect your dog is depressed, give it lots of love and attention, make him or her feel like part of the family and take for long walks, remember dogs survive on emotional attachment. Remember that dogs also have feelings need a lot of care and attention, especially in periods of depression.