Depressed Shih Tzu

[bluesskies123]

Hi,

I need some advice. Our year old shih Tzu has just returned from 3 weeks at the dog sitter - a person who she knows very well and loves. This person has about 3-5 dogs staying with her at a time.

Since we got back, our dog has changed from a sparky, cheeky playful girl to quiet and depressed. She'll play but for limited time. Before she loved a bit of rough and tumble and at night would bark and paw to get into my bed for a cuddle. Now, she would rather sleep away from us, she's quiet and sad.

I've been trying to give her a lot of positive attention. She spends very little time alone, but I feel she's probably been very spoiled by the dog sitter and she's enjoyed the company of other dogs. It's coming on for a week now and she's not peeled up. I'm not sure what to do. I hate seeing her so low. She's like a different dog.

Any advice?

Thanks in advance

Could she be tired? Sometimes my parents have my dogs the odd wknd and they love it there but never fully relax. It’s a different house lots of coming and going / visitors.

They normally need a good 5 days wind down at home.

Could also be her anal glands? Is she scooting along the floor at all? They can make dogs very uncomfortable - trip to the vet if you think this is the issue.

Thank you - yes perhaps she is tired. She's due to be wormed so I'll take her to the vets at some point next week to have her checked over. She hasn't been spayed yet and had a cycle whilst at the sitters and I'm wondering also if she has matured past the puppy age...

@blueskies ah poor little thing, sounds like she needs some tlc and a rest.

One other thing to consider is whether she had different food at the sitter house? Espeically if there were other dogs. Sometimes with my dogs one eats from bowl not meant for them or vice versa. She may have had some of her food eaten by another doggie or eaten too much / different brand herself. Is her food normally grain free? Corn and carbohydrates are bad for them long term. Apologies if you already know all this.

Good luck at the vets next week

In my experience, it can take a dog a good couple of weeks to wind down from a change and be back to normal. My dog mopes round for ages after we come back from holidays, or after we've had visitors staying. Definitely worth getting her checked out at the vet to rule out any physical cause; otherwise just give it time.

Our dog sitter warned us that most dogs tend to have a few days of depression after they return from her dog heaven house. She had a farm and they basically spend every day mixing with a variety of other dogs, her whole place is set up for them so our house is boring in comparison. I honestly think our two would move in in a heart beat. They get over but we did actually get a second dog to keep our little guy company, probably not helpful suggestion but it was obvious that he was happier with a doggy companion.

Have you thought she may have been really upset being left for 3 weeks? She may have been, and still is stressed by that. She wouldn't have had your bed to sleep on while she was there, she was with other dogs, who may have actually bullied her.

don't wait for her to make her way to your bedroom, take her with you.

My dog loves the person he stays with when we go away and the place is familiar to him as he stays there in the day whilst I work. However, it still takes him a few weeks to get back to his normal self when we return from holiday. Whilst he may love it I do think it's stressful in the sense that his normal routines are changed and he must wonder why we have left and then why we have returned and are we going again.

Hi,

To answer a few questions: the dog sitter was giving her homemade meals - we usually mix minced beef into her pedigree - so that is a definite possibility, although she's eating everything that we give her...

Thanks for the reassurance about just moping around - I think that's about right, although she's definitely off to the vets tomorrow.

I think leaving her for 3 weeks hasn't helped tbh, and in a perfect world we wouldn't, but we llive abroad and had to return for some medical stuff and tied that in with Christmas. It's not a common length of time for her to be alone and nor do I intend it to be - especially after this. I take her into bed but she eventually makes to go down to her own bed.

Thanks for the advice, it's reassuring and very helpful.

is it possible that she's pregnant: The Signs of Shih Tzu Pregnancy
Usually before any physical changes, your dog will show a change in behavior. Different than some breeds, the Shih Tzu female often shows a marked change, such as a turn from active to calm or vice-versa.

Arggghhhhhhh. Going to google fertile periods...

When my dog had a season followed by a false pregnancy she seemed depressed and had other personality changes. She suddenly snapped out of it and went back to normal once the false pregnancy was over.

I doubt this is the cause of her current malaise (but perhaps it's related) but the Pedigree food you've mentioned is sadly awful, nutritionally. It will be somewhat compensated for by the beef mince you feed her, but there are options that are both cheaper and nutritionally better for her.

www.allaboutdogfood.co.uk/the-dog-food-directory Is an excellent way to find good dog food brands; sadly most Pedigree food scores the lowest possible 0.1 out of 5 for nutrition.

Well I've spoken to the sitter and there's no way she can be pregnant. She also thinks false pregnancy. We'll get her booked in to be spayed when she goes to the vets.

I totally get what you're saying about the pedigree. Unfortunately, because we live in India it's our only source of pre-prepared dog food. I tend to use it for the gravy (we can only get chicken here) and it is mixed with cooked
Minced beef, steamed veg and brown rice. Of course if we make a roast out of any meat then that's on the menu too. I have to be careful as she has a sensitive gut and i have been told not to have too much variety... any tips would be useful, though.

Ah I had no idea you were in India!

To be honest I'd think about switching to a raw diet, as the base ingredients are available in every country - you're halfway there already as you're mixing with minced beef etc.. There's lots of info available online about the diet, and some people do report that dogs with previously sensitive guts have no problems on a raw diet. You can always stick to a single protein source though.

Thanks for that, I'll look into it, but tbh, I'd be scared to feed her raw here. I'll ask around and see if anyone else does it...

Thanks again everyone

Fair point about the food safety - stupidly I hadn't considered that! Some people do cook for their dogs - typically a big batch every week or two, which might be the happy medium. Again, recipes are online - in addition to the meat, rice and sweet potatoes are popular