This question arose out of events following the sudden death of our 10 year
old English Springer Spaniel on Saturday.
On Saturday afternoon my daughter Jessica arrived for a visit and all the
dogs, Berners, Ty Grace were bouncing around greeting her while Ariel, who
has impaired vision, was wandering around as usual trying to see Jes while
avoiding the more bouncy younger dogs. I was sitting in my chair as Ariel
walked past me, turned around, headed back toward Jes, and stopped in front
of my chair. At this point Jes says, Ariel doesn't look good. (She later
said that Ariel's head dropped as if she was looking at something on the
floor and that she appeared to lose her balance.) Anyway, I leaned forward
and reached down to pet her, when she collapsed, let out with a several loud
cries, and died. Jes knelt down and held Ariel as she took a final breath.
(Vet believes she had an aneurysm.)
At this point Ty walks over a sniffs at Ariel's now lifeless body. He then
lies down next to Jes and continues to stay by her side until we take Ariel
to the vet. Upon returning home, Ty again stations himself next to Jes,
which is very out of character for him. She then went to her home. About
four hours later she and her husband come for dinner and Ty again is right
by her and does not leave her side. At dinner, Ty is seen sniffing Ariel's
crate, something which he would not normally do.
Then, two days later, Ty is sniffing around the base of the television. I
said, What's Ty doing? and am told, He's sniffing around. But, I say,
He never sniffs around there. At this point my son stands up and takes
Ariel's collar off the television and shows it to him. Ty seems satisfied
and sits down next to Robert who continues to hold the collar while Ty
continues to sniff.
Okay? What's happening? Is Ty grieving? Does he know his friend is gone?
Does he just know something is different in his world? Any ideas?
Walter Smith
with Ty and Grace
Albuquerque, New Mexico
