I have a 6 year old spayed English Mastiff that I am beginning to have some behavior problems with.

We had a 8 eight year old GSD that had to be put to sleep a few days ago after a long battle with cancer. He was the "alpha" of the dogs (I am the alpha of the house!!) and my Mastiff was submissive to him. I also have another smaller dog but he is doing okay with all of this. The Mastiff though is very clingy and scared of everything all of a sudden. It is like she has lost her security blanket or something.

I do realize that dogs do mourn and I have dealt with that in the past. The problem seems to be that she is much more submissive than in the past. I just tried to take her for a ride in the car and she would not leave the front porch!! I had to get her collar and walk her with that to the car. She is not wanting to go outside to have her potty breaks. She is eating fine...that has never been a problem with her!! She is very scared of everything right now. I even tried to work her with a little leash work and training. She won't do anything except act like she is going to be beaten. I have never had a dog react this strongly to the loss of a companion and I am at a loss as to what to do to help her. She will not leave our sides and will howl when in her crate.

Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated!!

Jerri <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />

Hey Jerry,

Sounds familiar. I had two terriers that were almost gemini twins; one died and the other fell apart. Two things helped. She loved to chase critters so we installed a bird feeder and gave her lots of targets. Secondly I pumped her way up and did a couple of training sessions a day. She slowly emerged and found her way.

Good luck, Rob