[Dailydrool] Greiving Hounds

[Deb Good]

I'm a little behind (as usual), but wanted to chime in on this.  Having lost Pippi at the age of 6
just a few months ago, I know your pain.  (For those who don't know the story, I took Pippi into
the vet for what I thought was yet another UTI and returned home without her).  The first day,
Sean didn't seem to even notice that he was the only hound.  But then, he refused to drink out of
the water bowl that he and Pip shared-even after I ran it thru the dishwasher.  (I did end up
buying another bowl and am happy to report that he drinks on a regular basis now).  I thought that
was a little weird.  He sniffed the Lay-z-boy chair where she always sat.  He went to her crate
and sniffed it-I had the door closed and her bedding was still in there, I couldn't bring myself
to clean it up and actually found myself getting a little angry at Sean for wanting her things. 
Sean's breeder suggested that maybe I should open the crate door and let him sniff it-afterall he
needed to greive too.  So, I opened the door and he walked in, sniffed her stuff, turned around,
and walked out-and that was it.  He seemed to understand that she had been sick and wouldn't be
coming back.  (I have since removed her stuff and sanitized the crate and now he sometimes lays in
there). The weird thing is, he has never tried to get up into her chair.  About 15 times a day I'm
hoisting his butt off the couch (don't want him on the furniture-we learned with Pip how bad that
jumping is for their backs), but he will not go on that chair.  I guess he figures it isn't his. 
My advise is to just let the greiving hound greive in his or her own way.  None of us greives in
the same way, why should we expect that the Bassets would?  I think Sean is sometimes a little
lonley without his own kind so to speak, but he seems pretty happy and well adjusted.  And, when
the time is right for all of us-hound and human, another female will come to live with us and
torture, I mean play, with Sean.  Pippi seemed to tolerate him, but they weren't in love so maybe
that's why he didn't have a horrible time getting over her loss, or maybe it's because they were
only together for 8 months?

Deb