There are numerous examples of animals showing signs of grief, including birds and elephants. Examples include pachyderms visiting graves of deceased family members and placing their hands on the bones, chimpanzees cleaning the corpses, magpies burying them under the grass in what appears to be a "funeral," and crows gathering in large groups to sing. Do domestic dogs experience something similar? Research conducted in Italy suggests that dogs who have shared a household with a deceased companion may go through a period of sorrow.

According to Federica Pirrone of the University of Milan, "we decided to carry out this study because we want to throw light on a yet dark side, at least for us humans, of domestic dogs' lives: their complex emotions, notably pain."

Non-human animals' ability to express grief is one of the greatest obstacles to science. In the case of dogs, "the evidence is sparse and mainly anecdotal," he says.

Interested, Pirrone and his colleagues interviewed 426 persons who had had two or more dogs, one of which had died. A whopping 86% of pet owners reported that their animals' behavior deteriorated after the death of their pet, sometimes for as long as six months. The animals' behavior changed as they became more needy, less playful, or less active. Some dogs lost their appetites, ate less, or whimpered or barked more as a result of their stress. Dogs that had been living together for more than a year were usually friendly.

friendship that is cordial
Having a close bond with the departed dog and a grieving owner were found to have a greater impact on bereavement behavior than the length of time the two dogs lived together. This shows that they have a comparable response to loss of a partner and to the sorrow of their owners in terms of grieving.

Domestic dogs may be able to mourn the loss of a beloved human companion, according to our findings, which were published in the journal Scientific Reports. Separation stress may be to blame for the observed behavioral and emotional shifts. That's why we can't say for sure whether the dogs were reacting to a loss of companionship, or to death, per se," says researcher.

The team is already working on the next phase of the project in order to solve this problem. The authors believe that dogs' grief-like reactions are a crucial and underappreciated aspect of pet wellbeing.