Studies investigate how clients experience pet loss

The Dog Aging Project recently shared 2 studies that offer a deeper look at how clients experience the loss of their dog, as well as how veterinary professionals can better support families during their pet’s end-of-life process. The studies, both published in the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association, together suggest that, despite the circumstances of a canine patient’s death varying, the emotional impact of the death on owners remains strikingly similar.

“Loss is loss regardless of how it happens,” said Jake Ryave, VMD, a clinical intern in the Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences’ Department of Small Animal Clinical Sciences.¹ “The human-animal bond is really strong, and regardless of how a pet passes, that bond doesn’t change.”

“The Dog Aging Project End of Life Survey Reveals Owners’ Perceptions of Canine Death and Highlights Areas to Improve Client Education,” led by Kellyn E. McNulty, DVM, DACVIM (SAIM), took a deep dive into the End of Life Survey (EOLS) to gain a better understanding of how owners perceive their dog’s death and how the perceptions they have influence the end-of-life decisions they make for their pet. The survey, although designed to capture the medical information surrounding their dog’s death, also aimed to understand those who care for them and their perspectives.

The results found that when it came to deciding when to euthanize, pain and suffering were the most common reasons, followed by poor prognosis and quality of life. Owners also frequently described behavioral or physical signs that led them to assume their dog was suffering, such as changes in mobility, subtle shifts in facial expression, and vocalizations.² The study also revealed to researchers that some owners could be struggling to determine the difference between signs of pain and normal age-related changes.

“Pain and/or suffering was the most common primary reason owners cited for pursuing euthanasia, which raises the question of how owners recognize and perceive pain or suffering in their dogs. While the EOLS does not pose this query specifically, participants’ additional narrative information voluntarily provided at the end of the survey was enlightening. Many owners described abnormal vocalizations, facial expressions, depressed mentation, changes in mobility, or nondescript pain when they detailed their dogs’ pain or suffering. This finding highlights an opportunity for veterinary professionals to understand owners’ perceptions of pain and/or suffering in companion dogs and to educate them on well-recognized indicators of pain in this species,” the researchers stated in the study. ²

The second study, titled “Owner-Reported Experiences Are Similar for Dogs Experiencing Euthanasia or Unassisted Death: Evaluation of the Dog Aging Project's End of Life Survey Free-Text Responses,” investigated free-text responses from the Dog Aging Project’s EOLS, which invited pet owners to describe the circumstances surrounding their pet’s passing; these were submitted between January 20, 2021, and January 28, 2022.³ The researchers compared the responses from the owners whose dogs were euthanized with the dogs that experienced an unassisted death. The study found no significant difference between the groups in the emotions reported.

Pet owners experienced grief, guilt, and blame at similar rates across the 2 groups, and sudden death was mentioned more often among dogs that died without euthanasia. Within the responses, a lot of pet owners utilized the optional comment section and gave detailed narratives of their pets’ final days and described declining quality of life, illness progression, and the events leading up to the death. Along with the sad, many pet owners who participated in the study also shared positive memories of their pet.

Researchers in both studies hope the findings will encourage veterinary professionals to recognize the impact losing a pet has on an owner, as well as provide support to them through their grieving process to the best of their abilities.

Reference

1. Haines C. Dog Aging Project studies offer insight into how owners experience pet loss. Texas A&M University. March 25, 2026. Accessed March 30, 2026. https://stories.tamu.edu/news/2026/03/25/dog-aging-project-studies-offer-insight-into-how-owners-experience-pet-loss/
2. McNulty KE, Ruple A, Fitzpatrick A, Wilkins V; Dog Aging Project Consortium, Creevy KE. The Dog Aging Project End of Life Survey reveals owners' perceptions of canine death and highlights areas to improve client education. J Am Vet Med Assoc. Published online March 11, 2026. doi:10.2460/javma.25.12.0863
3. Ryave J, Kutrybala I, O'Brien J, et al. Owner-reported experiences are similar for dogs experiencing euthanasia or unassisted death: evaluation of the Dog Aging Project's End of Life Survey free-text responses. J Am Vet Med Assoc. 2025;264(2):1-7. doi:10.2460/javma.25.07.0464