How To Ease Your Dog's Loneliness
If you've gone back to work or the children have gone back to school, your pup may be experiencing loneliness and separation anxiety. This could lead to him chewing your favorite shoes, barking all day or other destructive behaviors.
Our dogs (and cats) get accustomed to routines. If you'd been working from home or teaching your children at home during the pandemic, your pups happily had you with them during the day and night. It was a great bonding time for so many people and their pets that it will be hard for both humans and canines to be separated. There is also the issue of the "pandemic pups" that were adopted during the shutdown that are now being faced with their humans being gone when all they had known was all the time togetherness. We know some rescues and shelters are concerned that some adoptive pet parents may feel the need to "return" their pets when they go back to work, but we can assure you -- a dog or cat is a lifetime connection and there is no reason to think, "my dog will be too lonely, so I need to find her a new home." Nothing could be further from the truth!
We have tips for how to ease your dog's loneliness
1. Ease into your pet being left home alone. If you know you're going back to work or school, prepare your dog for the upcoming separation by starting with slow separations right now. Start leaving her home while you grocery shop or visit with friends or other activities when you can't take her alone. You may want to start out with a fifteen-minute separation, then work up to an hour or two or more. Once your dog gets accustomed to the fact that you're leaving BUT you are coming back, her separation anxiety might be lessened.
2. Buy him some new toys. Just as you'd get bored with the same toys or activities, so too will your dog. If you're going to have to leave him home alone, give him new toys that will keep him entertained with their newness. Consider a puzzle ball or other item that will keep your dog's mind engaged and give him a reward when he solves the puzzle.
3. Leave an item of clothing with your scent on it home with your dog. Wear a t-shirt or even a pair of socks, and put it in your pup's crate or his bed. Having your scent may help keep him calmer.
4. Ask a friend or family member or a pet walking pro to come to your home and pay a visit, play with your pup and take him for a walk. The walk will give your pup a chance to go potty and that could mean you come home to a clean house.
5. Leave the television or radio on so your dog isn't in a completely silent home. If she's home with no "background noise" she may spend the day barking at the neighbors.
Remember, our dogs look to us as lifetime partners and if you work with your pup, you can ease her loneliness and help with any separation anxiety he may experience.