Seasonal Affective Disorder, the winter blues, or the PNW whoas…whatever you want to call it, I’m wondering if dogs can suffer the effects just as humans do? Bear with me a moment hear while I explain my odd inquiry.

C-Rad (Carlos, Bootsy Boy, Cutesie Pie) was rescued from the streets of Ensenada by the lovely people at The Barking Lot in San Diego. We adopted him in San Diego and he quickly demonstrated his love for sun bathing. Once we left SD we’ve been fortunate to reside in regions offering an abundance of sun — Salt Lake City, Reno, Fresno — and C-Rad continued his daily sun bathing regimen. Fast forward to our current locale in the PNW and the onset of winter. We’ve found C-Rad to be a bit depressed lately and not his usual self. After much talk about how our dog may be demonstrating depressed behavior we came to the realization he’s not sun bathed for over 45 days (most likely more)!

I most definitely feel the SAD! So do many others here in this region. Unfortunately, I feel particularly affected because I grew up in sunshine in AZ and am craving the warmth kissing my skin more than I’d ever thought possible. Could our fur child be feeling this too?? How do we help him feel good through the winter??

Clearly I’m not the only one who has pondered this. Even a quick google search shows research about this very topic. Here’s a couple links that sparked my interest:

https://www.petmd.com/behavior/does-seasonal-affective-disorder-affect-pets

https://www.bustle.com/articles/65361-can-dogs-get-seasonal-affective-disorder-3-symptoms-your-pups-struggling-with-it-and-3-solutions

What do you think?

Have you lived through SAD in the Pacific Northwest?

How did you best cope?

How would you help your fur child deal with the winter blues?