This is a very hard situation for everyone, and one that I have been in myself. You have to understand something. Your dog had a companion that it spent almost 24 hours a day with and as such feels a great empty hole in its life now. But as far as canine emotions go, your dog did not ‘love’ its companion as an individual, and does not ‘miss’ its companion as an individual – more than anything it misses having a companion. This is a very simplistic view but one which is given to demonstrate the difference between the grief of humans and dogs. Given plenty of time and love, your dog will almost certainly get better, but no one can say if she will ever behave the same as she did before she lost her companion.

My advice would be that if you would like another dog, and you think that your dog would not be defensive about having a strange puppy in the house, you should acquire a new companion dog for her. Of course the only problem with this is that when your existing dog dies you will be faced with the same situation. So perhaps you could try ‘babysitting’ friends’ dogs when they are on vacation; or having friends bring their dogs round for visits. Perhaps this could encourage her to play and may put a bit of spark back into her life. I wish you all the best with this.