It's really fascinating to watch a group of animals interact. We have six dogs and you can watch them for an hour and figure out where each falls in the pecking order.
When you get to know them you can understand their moods. They grin when I get home from work and they look depressed when they see me get ready for work (they're probably mirroring my moods). I have a big Chow that slaps me when he wants something. When I ask him what he wants he'll lead me to it. He'll go to the back door if we wants out, he'll lead me to the utility room if he wants food, and he'll lead me to the water dish if it's empty. I'm a dog servant.
You've reminded me of the time I had to put down my last mini-dachshund female. She was 16½ at the time, and it was kidney failure. Her 15½ year-old mate took a couple of days to realize she wasn't coming back, and in my absense, gave long howls in that remorseful way a very lonely old hound can wail.
My landlady said the neighbors were complaining, so I took him in my well-ventilated camper to my workplace's immense parking lot. (I had slept there occasionally after an injury, so it was actually quiet and cool).
I even got complaints about my dog there!
It took weeks before he finally accepted her loss. He, who became an excellent retriever (!), eventually expired of natural causes after 16½ years also.
Boy, do the Vet bills get expensive in their later years!