question for anyone, or anybody who has had two boxers and lost one...long

[carver1102]

it has been a month since Riley Jo passed away. We never let Brutus see her after she had passed. At first he knew she was gone and looked for her for days. I think he understood after a while. We bought him new toys and gave him a lot of extra attention. But, here lately it seems like he is so sad. He lays down and huffs, puffs, occasionally whines. Doesn't run in the backyard like he used too.
I want to bring another boxer here to play, she is proabably 5 years old, she more than likely can not get parvo, but i am scared she would take it home with her. I know parvo can stay in the ground around 6 months or so. Would this contaminate her family's yard? and they could never bring puppies there either? I guess what I am asking is, did your other dogs grieve like this? what did you do to help them? I know he wants someone to play with so bad (besides mommy and daddy) i feel bad for him.

 

[SherylM]

When I lost my first boxer Chelsea poor Frazier was devastated. He had always had her to play with and the cat too. He didn't know what to do with himself after she died. He grieved terribly. He didn't eat for 4-5 days and just moped around the house. All three of them (2 boxers and cat) used to sleep together in a huddle and after Chelsea died Frazier wouldn't let Luigi (cat) sleep with him anymore, he growled at him all the time. Poor Luigi was confused too. I had to show Frazier how to play by himself. I would carry the ball to the top of the stairs in my mouth (yes in my mouth!) and drop it down and chase it so he could see what to do. He eventually caught on and would play this game for hours. But he was never really the same after she died. Whenever he would go outside he would always look back to see if she (or someone) was coming with him. He did that for his whole life after she died. And he never really accepted other dogs after she died either. He also became very protective of me. When I moved in with my husband he had a border collie and it they got along, but never really played with each other. It was really quite sad. I wish I had gotten him another boxer to play with but that wasn't possible since my heart wasn't ready for another dog so soon and when my husband and I moved in together he had his dog and we didn't have room for another dog. If I was in that position again, I would definitely do it differently and get him a playmate. (and right now we have 3 dogs so that if we loose one, we will still have 2 and I won't have to go thru that again for a very long time) Good Luck to you!

P.S. Here is a quote for you that I took from another board, it was taken from a book that someone is reading..I believe this is true!

quote..
"A dog is lonely when she is alone, and in loneliness she is bored. When a solitary dog is regularly taken out on long walks, and gets to see other dogs and spend time with them each day, he seems to not be readily bored. However, if he lives without other animals, it is more likely that he will become bored. Ideally dogs should live with other dogs or other animals in a family. Dogs need to love other dogs and people. A dog with plenty of love in his life, both giving and receiving it, will be neither lonely or bored."

Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson DOGS NEVER LIE ABOUT LOVE pp 90-91
..unquote

 

[sherri0121]

We started off with two cockers Daphanie and Alex (almost 3 years apart). Before my Daphanie died, dh and I knew she wasn't going to have too many more years ahead of her. About 3 months before she passed, we got Jasmine and Hailey (the boxers). Alex pretty much grew up with Daphanie, but when she passed I could tell he was depressed. He never quite eating, but he wouldn't play nor would he be bothered by the boxers. I think it took him about two to three months to come around. I think it helped by having the boxers around. Now Alex has another black cocker tugging on his ears.

 

[Maxwell's Ma]

I don't have any advise. But, this is so sad. I just wanted to tell you I feel so bad for you and your baby.

 

[carver1102]

thanks for the replies...can anyone help with the parvo situation??? the female boxer that lives down the street is a boxer that brutus knows and loves to play with. the problem is, i don't want to bring her here if she would get parvo on her feet and take it back home with her. the other thing is, she lives on a very busy street, where tons of people walk their dog.

i guess i just want advice. i want to bring her here for brutus to play with i know he would enjoy that, but if it involves her contaminating any other dog for my selfish whim for brutus, then i don't want to bring her here. i feel so bad, i just wish he had someone to play with. i know that would make his day. i feel so guilty.

 

[Lemons98]

I am so sorry to hear about your loss. YES MY DOG GRIEVED, STILL DOES I'M SURE. My husband & I came to Illinois in August 2005, bringing with us from California our 2 babies, K.C. & Sargeant - Pit/Rot/Boxer/Mastiff mix -who were brother & sister from the same litter and never apart. 2 months later we have friends staying with us who let them out but forgot to let them back in the house. She chewed the siding off our house, dug a hole and busted a board to get out and look for us, he followed. She was hit by a car and died on the spot. He saw it all and still looks for her in the backyard. He wouldn't eat, lays around the house and is very skittish around other people, cars and sounds. He is VERY protective of my husband & I. He had no spunk for a 6.5 yr old dog, I couldn't stand it. I didn't want to lose him to grief so I brought a 10 week old Boxer female pup into the house 4 days ago. He is starting to come around, he has to get used to the puppy playfulness. I guess I was so used to having 2 dogs that 1 seemed so odd and lonely. Good luck to you

 

[courtney323]

Lemons98 -

Please post your Introduction. This is required of all new members, and should actually be your first post

www.boxerworld.com/rules

 

[Gin&Dex]

Carver, I wish I had some advice, but I just don't.... you know I'm going through the same thing too.

As for the parvo situation, I would say don't bring the other dog to your house... how about a dog park, or park, or lot, or football field or something. Better safe than sorry, in my mind. I couldn't say that that is much 'safer', but ... at least you'd know, and be "off the hook" in a way, if you went to a public place. Parvo IS bad... and I respect that you are concerned about it.

I would say to try to go for some kind of public place...

My heart is with you... I KNOW what you are going through. I'm working on finding a playmate for Dexter myself.

Big HUGS to you!

 

[Ciscobxr]

Parvo

I have one experience with parvo. This was about 10 yrs ago, but parvo all the same. I had a dalmation that was about 6 months old. I got a new puppy at the humane society. It was home about 3 weeks and came down with parvo. It then gave it to my dalmation. They were in the vet hospital. The pup only lived a few days, my dalmation came home after about a week. The day he came home I got another puppy. I did not know that it could get parvo from the house/yard, I found that out a few days later from my vet. Anyway, it was a tiny puppy and never got sick. I don't know how risky it is to do it, but I had no problems.