If you gave up your dog to another person, did you find out it seemed sad or missed you terribly?

Dogs tend to “live in the moment”. They might have a momentary sense of loss, but that’s about it. Then they start adapting to their new environment. Yes, they’ll remember you and be excited when you show up, but they won’t mourn for you while you’re away. They have a pack to take care of, after all.

I’m not sure. We kept a friend’s bichon once. The first night he sat on the couch staring at me; he looked lost. And our two are his parents!
When my FIL died, for weeks their golden would sit at the front window, just looking, waiting for my FIL to come home. I thought it was so sad but maybe he was happily waiting?

He wasn’t really my dog, but I thought so. King was the family dog. He was a collie-German shepherd mix, with the coat and colors of the collie, and the head and snout shape of the shepherd. He was the only dog I had ever remembered, and in my 12 or so years of life we had many adventures. One day one of the neighbor boys started teasing him with a stick. King tried to go away, but the boy persisted. I don’t know if he hit King or not, but King finally had enough, and snapped at the boy’s face, intending, I think, to scare, and not hurt. Unfortunately, tooth met flesh and the boy’s nose was scraped. Of course we had to keep King confined for the requisite seven days, as was the practice back then for checking for rabies. While King was confined behind a picket fence, the same boy came along with the same stick, and rattled it against the pickets on the fence, succeeding in provoking King again. The boy this time scratched his arm and claimed King tried to bite him. So we had to get rid of King. (I wished at the time we could get rid of that boy!)

Being a farming community, we had some very good friends who lived on a farm and agreed to take King so he wouldn’t have to be put down. They had a daughter who had Downes’ Syndrome, and King would make a perfect companion for her. At first, I heard, King was very sad, but he took to the girl, and she loved him.

One day the little girl wandered off. All the neighboring families were notified, and were out looking for her. When she was found, King was with her. They were walking along a frontage road, and King was “herding” her along the road, avoiding traffic. He was still a hero to me!

that was a lovely story. It seemed to confirm what I believed: that they do miss you for awhile when someone else takes them.

When my family came back to England from Singapore they had to leave their dog, Oscar behind. They gave him to another family who thought the world of him but he escaped three times only to end up back athis old home (where my family had lived before leaving the country). Eventually he gave up the Houdini act and settled in nicely at his new home.

I’ve adopted many previously owned pets and fostered/re-homed several others. Their adjustment period does seem to be shorter when the person giving up the animal brings him/her to the new home. I don’t know for sure why they understand the situation better that way, but I’ve seen it stop runaways and other mourning behavior.

We got our dogs in our last house where they lived four years. Then we moved to a new place and the female’s personality changed. She is much more affectionate the past seven months than she ever was before. The male may be more so; I’m not sure but she certainly has changed. I can’t figure out what this face, hand and arm licking is all about. And wanting her tummy rubbed; that’s new too.