Dog psychology - any experts in :)
Discussion
Our 3y old male (intact) labrador has just spent a week with his tough pal whilst we were on holiday
The other dog belongs to friends, is also a labrador, also intact, also 3y old, also lives with kids but is naturally quite dominant unlike ours
We did the return favour a few months ago and the other hound would pretty well mount anything male within shagging distance, breed or ferocity were no barrier - this dog is seriously tough!
Other dog also lives in the sticks and almost certainly didnt get the socialisation ours did/does and probably doesnt meet any other dogs
He did respect home turf though and the 2 dogs got on absolutely fine as they allegedly did last week
Anyway since we got back at the weekend our normally friendly family wuss-hound has just been bloody moping around looking sad
Hes not engaging with us anything like he used to and just looks depressed
Thoughts are he's cheesed off with us either:
a) as we made him go and stay with the tough dog, even though were assured all was well
b) he would rather have stayed with his pal and is punishing us for bringing him home
Thoughts??
You're welcome to my thoughts, although I'm not a vet/behaviourist!
I don't think it works quite like this in dog world, although I am of the school of thought that there are animal equivalents of depressive symptoms...
Because he is a dog, though, rather than a human, it might be prudent to rule out whether it's actually a physical change in him (illness) that's causing his symptoms.
Which are... what? It reads like he's lethargic. Staying in his bed? No interest in toys/usual fun-time activities? Is he doing any excessive licking? Is he still eating/drinking well? Was it immediately apparent, or did they start a few days after you got back?
A vet check might be a good idea, to rule out physical illness.
Solution is simple:
get another dog! 
Well, and a vet check to make sure he's not got a physical ailment...
numtumfutunch said:
he's cheesed off with us
I don't think it works quite like this in dog world, although I am of the school of thought that there are animal equivalents of depressive symptoms...
Because he is a dog, though, rather than a human, it might be prudent to rule out whether it's actually a physical change in him (illness) that's causing his symptoms.
Which are... what? It reads like he's lethargic. Staying in his bed? No interest in toys/usual fun-time activities? Is he doing any excessive licking? Is he still eating/drinking well? Was it immediately apparent, or did they start a few days after you got back?
A vet check might be a good idea, to rule out physical illness.
numtumfutunch said:
b) he would rather have stayed with his pal
This (well, an extrapolation of this) could well be true. If he's had a whale of a time, he could be pining for the doggie companionship... N'awww.Solution is simple:
get another dog! Well, and a vet check to make sure he's not got a physical ailment...Gassing Station | All Creatures Great & Small | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff