During the quarantine time, your dog got used to seeing you much more often than before. In fact, if you were working from home, your pet could come and play with you any time throughout the week, except for when you went to the grocery store.
Needless to say, dogs are very sociable pets. When they are left alone for more extended periods, they often show signs of separation anxiety. They can become depressed and try to mitigate that feeling in their own way by engaging in destructive and aggressive behavior. To prevent that, you should teach your dog how to behave when you are away, and more importantly, reinforce its independence.
There are many ways to help your dog deal with post-quarantine separation anxiety. First, you should try leaving your pet alone for short periods, then reward it for good behavior. Next, you should prepare some mental stimulation for your dog, so that it doesn’t get bored quickly. And lastly, you should try to make up for the lost time. If you want to learn more about dealing with the separation anxiety of your pets, read on!
What Is Separation Anxiety?
Dogs are herd animals. This means that they stick to their group and rarely leave for alone time. Before they were domesticated, they gathered in packs and lived together throughout their whole lives. Now, as dogs are fully domesticated animals and learned to understand, and, to a certain degree, replicate people’s emotions, they consider people to who they belong as their pack.
During the quarantine, many people worked from home, and because of that, their pets got used to receiving much more attention than they would get before. In the post-quarantine time, though, most people have to return to offices and leave their pets at home.
If you are one of them, your pets may be a bit confused. They don’t know how to cope with their sudden loneliness, so that they may resort to unwanted behaviors, such as destructiveness or loud barking and howling. More calm dog breeds may also develop a form of depression. To prevent that, you need to introduce your pet to the new circumstances slowly.
Introduce The New Working Pattern
The first and the most important way to help your dog deal with separation is to introduce a new working pattern. Instead of just leaving for long hours, you should start by leaving for brief periods. For example, you can stay in a separate room and work behind a closed door, if possible, or leave for shorter periods of time to see how is your pet doing when alone.
You can keep your dog under control this way. When you notice any unwanted behaviors, you can quickly intervene and comfort the dog by giving treats or pets – as long as you make clear that it is not a reward for the misbehavior. Remember that dogs don’t understand the consequences of their actions, so punishment is not an option you should consider.
Some vets recommend using anti-anxiety medications like Gabapentin for dogs when you want to practice leaving your pet at home. You might find it especially helpful if your dog struggles with staying home alone, even for short periods. Remember that you don’t have to give it to your animal all the time – once you see any progress, you can start lowering the dosage.
Prepare Mental Stimulation
Another way to prevent separation anxiety is to prepare toys or hidden treats that will catch your dog’s attention. Many pet owners do that to foster independent behavior, which is helpful both when coping with pet separation anxiety and everyday tasks such as using the litter box or asking for walks.
It is a good idea to prepare a safe haven. For example, you can get some puzzle feeders or interactive toys like automatic ball fetchers to keep your dog occupied. Keep in mind that using them unsupervised may still lead to some unintentional mess. Apart from toys, some dog owners put on some smooth jazz and lay some clothes around to create the illusion of being nearby.
A little treat here and an interactive toy there will change your dog’s reaction to the sound of jingling car keys. Instead of responding with anxiety, departure cues will make it think of having some playtime around your house. By encouraging this, you can reteach your dog how to be independent.
Make Up For The Lost Time
For dogs, playing with their owners is a big deal. Preparing your house and teaching your dog to stay alone is a step in the right direction, but you shouldn’t forget the healthiest way to prevent separation anxiety – spending time together.
Dog trainers often say that the most important thing is maintaining the bond between the owner and the dog. So remember that even though now you may not have that much free time as before, you shouldn’t give up frequent walks or training your dog new tricks. Even when you run essential errands around your house, you can include your dog in them – why not play fetch when hanging out the laundry?
By doing so, you also reinforce the new routine; as you set a specific time for walks or feeding, sooner or later, your dog will get used to them. Reestablishing such procedures will prevent separation anxiety, as well as overexcitement when seeing you again.
In Conclusion
Dogs are very sociable animals, which means that they most probably will seek your attention most of the time you are around. During the quarantine, your dog got used to seeing you and your family members all the time, and now, it is probably difficult for it to be left alone.
But as you start with baby steps and prepare your dog to stay alone by working in a separate room before leaving for longer periods, you will see that your dog gets slowly used to that. Then, you should also prepare some toys and other means of mental stimulation at home so that your pet doesn’t get bored quickly.
Even if your dog barks and howls when you are not at home, or you stumble upon a dramatic scene from time to time, you shouldn’t give up on helping your dog cope with post-quarantine separation. And if you feel like your dog suffers from severe separation anxiety, you shouldn’t wait and get professional help from dog trainers or vets.
