A depressed cocker spaniel

[Candlelyter]

We just added a two year old cocker spaniel to our family. Her previous family seemed to love her very much. They had small children just as we do. She hasn't been eating well and she seems depressed and I'm sure it's because she misses her former owners. We've tried to showing her lots of love, we play with her and give her toys. I don't want to push her too hard to accept us but it is heartbreaking because the two little ones seem to adore her.
Does anyone have any advice on how we can help her overcome her depression so we can gain her trust?

[DeLaUK]

Hi and welcome,

How long ago did you adopt her? Moving from one home to another even with the same owner can be very stressful/traumatic even for dogs (cats too), theyre creatures of habit and dont always deal with change very well. Im thinking that you havent had her long (maybe just a few days?) Then I would be patient with her. It takes about a month-6 weeks for a dog to start to really settle into a new home, I would be careful about overdoing the attention you give her (not saying your doing that at all) but keep it a steady balance, it will take her some time to learn to trust you.

Do you have a crate or bed for her? somewhere she can go to that is just 'her space'? Do you have her on the same food as the previous owner? Does she have a quiet area where she can eat without being interupted? If shes just on dry food you could add some warm water to it which will bring out the scent of it a bit more, might stimulate her appetite. Or you could maybe add a few little pieces of chicken or something (as long as she doesnt have any allergies to foods).

Ive taken in a lot of strays/rescues and it generally take about 2 weeks before they even want to acknowledge me or are comfortable enough to play ball with me or something....and then by about 4-6 weeks theyre fitting in like theyve always been there.

Good luck-.

[tuttifrutti]

I would try everything Delauk said, but be careful. My grandad had a hunting dog that was really attached to him, and when he and my grandmother moved to a town house, they had to get rid of the dog because there wasn't enough space for her. She was actually so attached to my grandad, that she got really sick because the person he had given her to didn't do too much about the fact that she wasn't eating or drinking. The guy gave her back to my grandad, and she was fine. Once he felt that she was well enough, he found someone else who could take her and she did well there, because they had warning and figured out how to deal with it. I really wish I knew what they had done, because I'm sure that it could help you since it sounds like the same thing, but I have no idea.

[Candlelyter]

Thanks DeLaUK,
Yes, we've only had her for a few days. She seems to be comfortable on my daughter's bed for now, but we will be making a bed for her. She does have a space where she eats so she will not be interrupted. I think the previous owner gave table food more than dog food. I never thought about adding warm water to the food we give her. Thanks for the advice about the food.

[Candlelyter]

Do you have any advice about name changeand how long it will take her to recognize it? The previous owner named her Uh-Oh and I have a three and a two year old who says uh-oh all the time when they make a bob-boo, so the name uh-Oh is just not going to work.

[DeLaUK]

You could change it to something that sounds similar, maybe Bo, Flo, JoJo or something, she will get used to whatever your consistent with...if you think about all the dogs that are adopted though from rescues or even off the street and we usually have no idea what they might have been called before but they adjust.

With any of my dogs, if I have known the name first and dont want to keep that name I pick something that sounds similar, well except for one that I had that was called Little Foot....she became Gypsy, my dog now, Krissie, its not a name that I would have picked and I started calling her Krissie Belle....she answers to both now

I agree with tuttifrutti's comment also about 'Grandads dog', Im thinking its early days yet though, plus the age of the dog....its good that she has found a 'safe zone' (your daughters bed) and yes, if shes been fed a lot of table scraps you could have some issues with the food, Im not against giving 'human food', mine have always had some, just not a lot and only the good stuff (they probably eat better than I do ) some foods are toxic to dogs though, I would definately try and get her on a good diet (dog food).

[lil96]

I think also, just because they were kids at the house before, maybe they did or maybe they didn't play with the dog that much. Maybe it had gotten to that age where it just hung out by itself/the puppyness had worn off. it'll just take time.