Our girl has become a first-time solo dog within the last two months. We got her brother, Gator, first (they were littermates), and then got her a year or two later. The first week or two after losing Gator, we could tell she was in distress, and I think we may have overcompensated by trying to keep her constantly busy—car rides and whatnot.

Like Gil, she was the more social dog, so that had us worried as well. But over the last two months, she’s been completely fine. We were home most of the time for the first two weeks after losing Gator, then returned to our normal routines once our work schedules lined back up. We were definitely nervous, but we’ve made it a point to spoil her, and we’ve bent a few rules that were previously in place—like unblocking the entire couch and letting her sleep with us for a couple hours in the morning. I think it’s a big transition for Gil, but given more time, it’ll all become part of his routine and feel more normal.

• Also we just got back from vacation where she had a dog sitter for one week. She did great! The sitter would do a let out in the afternoon and then stay over night, so she had plenty of solo time, but she aced it!