Does Your Dog Have Seasonal Depression or are You Just Projecting?
SAINT LOUIS PARK — It’s that time of year, the days are only getting colder and the thought of joy or running through grassy fields is a distant memory, and your dog’s behavior seems to be a little off… Do they have seasonal depression? Here are some warning signs that your dog—not you, definitely not you—may have seasonal depression:
- Fatigue – Is your dog sleeping more than usual? When you struggle to get up from your third nap of the day, do you notice that your dog is staying put? Or maybe when you find yourself under the weighted blanket on the couch for the 8th straight hour, the dog is across the room sleeping in the armchair. If this sounds like your pup, check with their vet to see if they have seasonal depression, or just an owner who may be projecting their feelings.
- Hopelessness – As you sit and doom scroll on your phone questioning the fate of humanity, are you finding that your pup has completely given up on chasing their tail and is instead staring out the front window for hours on end? They may be depressed, or they may just be living in a depressed person’s home.
- Social Withdrawal – When you look up from the dozens of unread texts on your phone, do you see your dog completely ignoring the neighborhood squirrels they used to chase around the yard?If activities that used to fill their days with hours of entertainment and joy is something that they now don’t even think twice about, your pupper may have depression or maybe has an owner who is incapable of exploring their own emotions and instead assumes that everyone around them is experiencing the same chemical imbalance in the brain that needs to be addressed by a doctor.
So be on the lookout for these telltale signs during this long, lonely, cold winter. If your dog is showing any of these symptoms make an appointment with a vet, or even a human doctor.