doggy depression... :(

[schelmischekitty]

ok, so most all of you know while we were in between moves, peanut (our chihuahua) stayed with my mom and had a BLAST with her dogs and cats.  well, when we got here he was a little under the weather but nothing serious.  then axle was so excited about being inside again he played for a bit.  then that stopped and peanut went under the weather again and then *IT* came to visit and he picked up again.  since *IT* left, he did ok.  better than i thought.  but now, he's gone down again and isn't wanting to eat, and is losing some weight.  he's become obsessive about fetch (we played for OVER TWO HOURS last night) and he won't stop until you stop it.  he cleaned my area rug literally until it came apart.  then he decided he may as well chew it a little.  it's either he's doing things obsessively or he's just not doing anything at all.  he just sits there, and sleeps. 

mom is coming up probably next week (cross fingers that the baby will be ready then) and may bring her pups depending on what's going on and how they're feeling(ok they're not pups, they're 9 and 11 years old so obviously we have to look at how they're feeling since it's a 6 or so hour drive).  i'm sure it will lift his spirits to see them, but i'm not sure what to do long term or even just after they leave since i'm sure it'll make him go down again. 

another dog just isn't in my agenda right now since i have two kids, one due any day and two dogs also, not to mention a hubby who's been screaming this whole time that he doesn't get enough attention from me.  with hubbies hours, i can't bring peanut to the doggy park (bringing a two and four year old into one is just ASKING for trouble) and axle just doesn't want to play since he's getting older.  does anyone have any suggestions?  we're being sure to play with him as much as we can, but the second we stop he just gets this sad feeling to him.

[jc1231]

First of all, CONGRATULATION S! I just love babies.

I was just thinking...Duk e gets that way when the kids leave. My husband and I have 5 between us (ages 14-8) and we both share custody, so the kids are always coming and going. When the nest is empty, Duke gets depressed & anxious. He refuses to eat for a couple of days, paces and whines at the bottom of the stairs, sleeps alot, is naughty, and sometimes creates hot spots. What we do is put a towel/shirt/toy or something (that we don't mind being chewed) that has the kids' scent on it, in a pillow case and put it in his kennel. Duke does seem to recover quicker that way.

Hope this is helpful. Big hugs to your Chihuahua.

[schelmischekitty]

we did that with peanut's doggy bed lol.  when he left mom's we didn't wash it or his blanket.  he carries it around with him    i know it can't smell like mom's house anymore because it's been about a month and a half now, but i swear it's the bottom of the bed (the donut part)...go a few steps...  the pillow that goes in that...go a few steps...  then it's his stuffie...go a few steps, and you reach the couch with peanut and his blankie on it, or maybe it'll be under the coffee table (sleeping under the coffee table is another thing he picked up while at mom's house).  it's really cute, but doesn't seem to help him except that it has become an obsession for him.  he gets REALLY upset over his bed, and even if we just put it back together he goes and throws the stuff everywhere just like it was.