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Anonymous
Gosh, I'm really sorry about your father. May I ask what happened? Luckily for me, I don't have personal experience in this matter, but can still share a little- wisdom. Firstly, I know that some breeds get extremely emotional when their owner leaves. My mother went on a long business trip once and our dog (very strong, medium-size mix breed) would not play and simply lie around all day. He even refused to go "potty" outside. I also know that chow-chows may never get over losing their owner since they are very much one-person dogs. What I suggest is that you all include him in more of your daily activities. While its important to remember and stick together, I am sure that all of you, in some way, do or focus on certain things and challenges to prevent yourself from being swamped and overcome by the situation and your feelings. Its a survival mechanism that helps you get on with the important daily duties. Your dog can not do this, so you need to include him in activities that will shift his focus or he may get sick. Take him on car trips, but excuse any mess that he may make in the car. Take him on walks, together as a family carry him outside if you must. Get together as a family with other supportive people you know, to help heal wounds. Instead of going to your separate rooms and leaving him in his own space/room, set up a place for him to stay in one or more of your own rooms and take him with you, but allow him to leave if he really wants to. If he has a corner that he always gets depressed in, try to positively engage him whenever he goes there to feel upset. Showing him specifically that you can get through this, without hiding away the pain and falling apart yourself will help him a lot. It would be worth it to search the net for dog forum and look for some bigger places to ask this question at. This is all I can think of right now. Good luck with everything.
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