All the while when Noah was with us I had a worry in the back of my mind. I worried for the day we would need to say our good-byes with Noah and how Momo would do without him. She has always relied on other dogs for confidence. Before Noah it was our guest dog, Lucy. Whatever Lucy did, Momo did. Even in the scariest of circumstances, if Lucy did it then Momo could do it too. Soon after Noah joined our family Momo transferred her dependence to him and she has thrived by his side.
We said bye to Noah late afternoon on July 6. By night time that day Momo grew anxious and nervous, panting and pacing, looking at the front door then the patio door and asking to go outside only to sit still in the middle of the yard and not wanting to come in. She repeated this. She would try to climb on top of Noah’s bed and blankets.
Since he’s been gone we tried to set up a routine for Momo including daily morning walks and occasional evening drives around the neighborhood. Oddly Momo grew even more nervous and didn’t want to stay downstairs anymore (I think something spooked her but I am not sure what - downstairs was the only place she wanted to be as being upstairs used to terrify her) and the only place she wants to be now is upstairs in our bedroom.
Out of the blue one night, Momo began to pace and pant after dinner wanting to be upstairs. At first we let her do what she wanted but we were afraid that we were instilling a behavior which might be harder to correct later and so we began to close the gate that leads upstairs so that she can get used to the idea of being downstairs after dinner and going up when it was time to sleep. Then Momo began to come up on the sofa, which I thought was her wanting to be finally close to us but it was her attempt to jump the gate to go upstairs.
It’s been a little over 2 weeks since Noah crossed the rainbow bridge and Momo continues to remain nervous (not all the time but during certain times of the day and also during certain situations).
We rely heavily on CBD oil now, which works on and off or when it does work sometimes it doesn’t work long enough. But when it kicks in properly she is completely calm and sleeps soundly downstairs while Yangkyu and I close out our evening in front of the TV (this was last night and we were so proud of her!).
Momo is the first dog we have ever had that is incredibly timid and has a hard time getting over her fears. But we remain ever so committed to helping her gain confidence but also not overdoing and learning what works for her.
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