Does your dog sulk if favourite Persian is away?

[BarrelOfOtters]

Dh is by far the dog’s favourite person, followed closely by his mum. Dh is going away for 2 weeks. I’m anticipating sulking. Any hints to help?

No, but he does when his favourite Maine Coon isn’t around.

Is there an old piece of clothing he can wear to leave in dogs bed? That helps my boy (he's velcro dog to me).

I bet the Persian doesn't mind!😄

I did click think this was about a dog / cat relationship and had nothing to add as my 2 hate cats.
I am one dogs favourite person, yes he sulks when I am not here. DH just engages with him, plays , walks etc and lets him sulk otherwise.
DH is the love of other dog’s life , but she does not have a sulky bone in her body, so just gets on with it. She does get upset if other dog is away though.

Offs you can’t edit titles!

I wouldn’t call it sulking - it’s more like pining.
Our dog was very subdued if I was ever away - she’d sit non stop by the window, watching for my return.
I agree, some article of clothing - worn and not washed - can be a comfort.

Ddog pines if either if us are away...even if its to the shops for an hour she will sit intently watching the door for whoever it is to c9me back! If DH is away for the weekend she's very subdued and sad.

Dogs don't sulk fgs.

My husband is my dog's favourite. She doesn't pine for him, but he gets a hero's worship on his return

Plenty of dogs I've seen are world champions in sulking. Fgs. :)

No they don't. Sulking is a human emotion. Dogs can feel a range of emotions but sulking ie being bad tempered over a perceived disappointment isn't one of them. What you see as sulking is in fact anxiety.

Might not be actual sulking but we know what the OP means when she says that.

Certainly, I think what you are trying to say is that many people in the field think dogs don't have the cognitive capacity to assign motives and bear grudges (though hopefully you're aware that others in the field do and there isn't a universal consensus).

Putting aside the lack of consensus on that point, there are a large range of other reasons why dogs might display the behaviour (which you have somewhat mislabelled as an emotion) resembling sulking, or ignoring others with seeming apathy and/or annoyance, in humans.

Anxiety is certainly one of them, but plenty of evidence suggests dogs feel a range of other emotions too (sadness, boredom, tiredness, negative associations, jealousy).

So personally I would say sulking is a useful descriptor for behaviour. Then one can delve into the root causes. However, if you are a very literal person and "sulking" offends you, you could repeatedly describe the behaviour in detail instead I suppose.

My dog certainly isn’t happy if either of us are out the house. Stares at the door, is very alert to noises etc and generally a bit subdued. It’s hard to watch.

It’s obvious what the OP means. No need to split hairs.