Why Getting Over The Death Of A Dog Is So Complicated
It may be difficult for those who have never had a pet to understand, but The death of a dog can affect more than that of a person with whom we had a close and practically daily relationship, or at least comparable to the pain that this type of grief entails.
Why is this happening? After all, from an evolutionary perspective it doesn’t make much sense: we dedicate time and effort to maintaining an emotional bond with a species that is not ours and, when the animal dies, we also sacrifice part of our well-being to mourn its death.
Perhaps this question is poorly posed. Having a friendship with a dog does not mean following a cost-benefit strategy in which we take care of the animal to obtain a product in exchange. That is, perhaps, what would happen if a dog were simply that, a dog. But that’s not the case: our companion is much more than a pet.
There is something that distinguishes dogs from the rest of the animals that have traditionally been cared for and domesticated by humans: they have had a long time to evolve. In almost every way, the domestic dog has been transformed into the perfect companion an animal that, despite not having the ability to think abstractly that we have, is capable of changing its behavior in the face of the death or prolonged absence of its faithful friend.
How can we forget, for example, the case of Hachikō, the Akita breed dog who dedicated the last 9 years of his life to living in the train station where his master left to never return due to his death.
What makes this animal unique, and what makes its loss so painful, is that they spontaneously create emotional bonds with other species without the need for special training. In fact, it has been proven that the simple act of looking into a dog’s eyes for long periods of time It makes your brain begin to behave just like a human being who keeps his eyes focused: oxytocin, the love hormone, begins to be produced in large quantities, and both the human being and the dog coordinate this hormone cycle.
The evolution of human’s best friend
Some biologists and anthropologists, such as Brian Hare, believe that the domestic dog has evolved from the wolf species to survive alongside our species, leaving behind its aggressiveness and territorial nature.
The gregarious character of the wolf has been preserved but throughout the 10,000 years of history that have passed since the first domestication of the dog, these animals have begun to develop other psychological characteristics that have brought them closer to us: they have become more curious than reserved, more playful than hostile, more tolerant of change and, consequently, much more likely to learn new things from another species.
Somehow, a human characteristic, the possibility of creating societies and transforming the environment, has served to modify the DNA of a part of the wolf population, making these animals find a place first in tribes and then in civilization.
Pet grief
Knowing all of the above allows us to better understand why the death of a dog affects us so much. Basically because for their spontaneous nature and their ignorance of sophisticated social norms buts have become the perfect friends and companions.
They are neither individualistic enough to not react in any way to human presence or even avoid it, nor human enough to worry about their social image, fall into prejudices or stereotypes, or manipulate by trying to gain someone’s friendship. change a long-term goal.
When a dog dies, we are losing a being that offered us company totally based on the here and now, in the small moments, and that appreciates all forms of spontaneity without worrying about what others will think. In many ways, Dogs allow us to count on someone’s friendship without having to give up who we are in our private lives.
Many other people may not understand that pet grief is especially hard in cases where it is a dog who has died, and in some cases they may secretly think we are being theatrical. However, it is worth knowing that feeling deep emotional pain is totally normal and legitimate in these cases, and that nothing and no one has the right to question the authenticity of the moment.
