• Posted June 19, 2026

Dog Owners Feel Similar Grief Whether Pets Euthanized, Die Naturally

The grief pet owners feel at the loss of a beloved companion is strikingly similar regardless of the circumstances surrounding the death, a new study says.

Dog owners felt the same emotions — grief, guilt, blame — whether their pet was euthanized or died naturally, researchers reported recently in the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association.

“Loss is loss regardless of how it happens,” said Dr. Jake Ryave, a clinical intern in the Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences’ Department of Small Animal Clinical Sciences.

“The human-animal bond is really strong, and regardless of how a pet passes, that bond doesn’t change,” Ryave said in a news release.

For the new study, researchers drew on data from the Dog Aging Project, a long-term study of U.S. companion dogs and their owners.

They compared the emotional responses of 70 owners whose dogs were euthanized to those of 70 owners whose dogs suffered an unassisted death.

Sudden death was mentioned more frequently among the dogs that died without euthanasia, but the same sorts of emotions occurred at similar rates among owners, the study found.

“I thought that there may be more significant negative emotions in the cases of unassisted death as owners may not have had time to emotionally prepare for the loss,” Ryave said.

Owners described the progression of their dogs’ illness, their declining quality of life and the events leading up to their deaths.

But researchers found the owners often chose to share positive memories as well.

“Even after a difficult loss, many people focused on the joy their pets brought to their lives,” Ryave said.

A companion study used Dog Aging Project data to look into how 646 dog owners made end-of-life decisions for their ailing pets.

Pain and suffering were the most common reasons owners chose euthanasia, followed by poor quality of life and poor prognosis.

Behavior or physical signs — vocalizations, changes in mobility, subtle shifts in facial expression — frequently led owners to believe their dogs were suffering, the study found.

“Participants would often describe changes such as vocalizations, depressed mentation, changes in mobility or even statements like ‘he looked at me and I knew it was time,’ ” lead researcher Dr. Kellyn McNulty said in a news release. She’s a former internal medicine resident at the Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences.

However, researchers also found that some owners might struggle to tell signs of pain or illness from normal age-related changes in dogs.

“The findings suggest that owners may not fully understand how to recognize pain or aging symptoms in their dogs,” McNulty said.

Veterinarians can better help owners through improved communication regarding a pet’s illness, the researchers concluded.

For example, a notable percentage of owners said their dog’s prognosis was not discussed or not fully understood during vet visits as their dog drew closer to death.

“Given that pain and/or suffering was the most common reason for euthanasia and our data suggests that owners may find it challenging to differentiate chronic pain from cognitive decline, it is our responsibility as veterinary professionals to educate and empower owners to effectively recognize and treat both chronic pain and age-related ailments,” McNulty said.

Vets also can provide more emotional support to grieving owners, Ryave said.

“Owners whose pets pass unexpectedly may not have access to the same support that people receive when euthanasia occurs in a veterinary clinic,” Ryave said. “I think this research really highlights the need to provide resources to everyone.”

More information

The Cleveland Clinic has more on grieving the loss of a pet.

SOURCES: Texas A&M University, news release, March 25, 2026; Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association, March 11, 2026 and Oct. 8, 2025