cecily
Well-known member
Hi folks
I'm getting quite worried about Dougal. As many of you know our beautiful Ruby lost her battle with MVD last week. We had her before we got Dougal, so she's been with him constantly this past year and 8 months. He's never been a single dog... he went straight from his litter mates to us and he and Tandie were joined at the hip. They haven't been separated for more than a few hours (when Dougal was neutered) since they met (and he was knocked out for most of that!).
Anyway at times he can be himself. But mostly he just lies around looking depressed. On walks he's much more placed, although he does get somewhat excited for other dogs. He's also started barking mysteriously on walks, when there doesn't seem to be anything to bark about. He's not too bothered about food. He eats it, but when I'm getting it ready he doesn't look very interested. This dog would ALWAYS bounce off the press before doing circles around and around.
What I'm most worried about is that he doesn't seem to be drinking much at all. Tandie used to drink gallons in her last few months, after she was put on the diuretics. And they'd often fight each other for the bowl if they'd been out in the car, or first thing in the morning or if it was hot. But we came back from a LONG walk today and it was definitely warm and he didn't drink anything. That was two hours ago and he's had his tea and he STILL hasn't drank anything. He doesn't drink in the mornings either.
Finally I'm really distressed about going back to school. I've been on holidays since the end of June and he's been around either dogs or adults 24-7. He has never ever been left on his own without another dog for company and I'm feeling quite panicky about it. We'll be gone from roughly 8:30am to 3pm, which didn't seem to be a problem when we had 2 of them, but I'm so worried about him on his own. There's nobody close by that I would trust to call in on him. He's such a sociable dog and loves company. Of course we'll be getting another cavalier, but not until the right one comes along, which could be a while.
I know some of you may have been in the same situation once, and I'd so appreciate any advice.
Thanks,
I'm getting quite worried about Dougal. As many of you know our beautiful Ruby lost her battle with MVD last week. We had her before we got Dougal, so she's been with him constantly this past year and 8 months. He's never been a single dog... he went straight from his litter mates to us and he and Tandie were joined at the hip. They haven't been separated for more than a few hours (when Dougal was neutered) since they met (and he was knocked out for most of that!).
Anyway at times he can be himself. But mostly he just lies around looking depressed. On walks he's much more placed, although he does get somewhat excited for other dogs. He's also started barking mysteriously on walks, when there doesn't seem to be anything to bark about. He's not too bothered about food. He eats it, but when I'm getting it ready he doesn't look very interested. This dog would ALWAYS bounce off the press before doing circles around and around.
What I'm most worried about is that he doesn't seem to be drinking much at all. Tandie used to drink gallons in her last few months, after she was put on the diuretics. And they'd often fight each other for the bowl if they'd been out in the car, or first thing in the morning or if it was hot. But we came back from a LONG walk today and it was definitely warm and he didn't drink anything. That was two hours ago and he's had his tea and he STILL hasn't drank anything. He doesn't drink in the mornings either.
Finally I'm really distressed about going back to school. I've been on holidays since the end of June and he's been around either dogs or adults 24-7. He has never ever been left on his own without another dog for company and I'm feeling quite panicky about it. We'll be gone from roughly 8:30am to 3pm, which didn't seem to be a problem when we had 2 of them, but I'm so worried about him on his own. There's nobody close by that I would trust to call in on him. He's such a sociable dog and loves company. Of course we'll be getting another cavalier, but not until the right one comes along, which could be a while.
I know some of you may have been in the same situation once, and I'd so appreciate any advice.
Thanks,