How to help your dog transition to the ‘new normal’ of you leaving the house again

Did you get a new dog during the coronavirus lockdown? Or has your longtime four-legged companion gotten used to having you home?

“Dogs are highly social, which is why we get along with them so well,” said Patricia McConnell, author of, The Other End of the Leash: Why We Do What We Do Around Dogs. “If all the sudden, they go from ‘everybody home all the time’ to ‘nobody home all day long’, it can lead to some serious behavioural problems.”

This can mean accidents in the house, chewing on the furniture when you are away, or worse.

Want to avoid that? Here’s how to transition to a new normal, for both of you.

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1) Start leaving

Members of your household probably haven’t left the house for an extended period of time for what, weeks? Months? The 17 years this quarantine has felt like? So, start transitioning by leaving a little bit at a time. But not for too long. Start “unbelievably slow”, McConnell says. Leave a handful of treats on the ground and, while the dog is eating them, “everybody walks out the door”. Come back in five seconds. Next time, leave for 10 seconds, then take a longer walk or a long drive. Make sure you are mimicking the routine you’ll have when you go back to work: Get your wallet and keys, leave through the door you’ll go through. This way, the dog gets used to the cues that mean you are leaving – and coming back in through the same spot.

2) Give your dog a safe space

Make sure your dog is left in a safe space that it knows – and don't lock it in a room that's unfamiliar. That safe space might be a crate, although not all dogs like being in a crate. (My first dog, a Jack Russell terrier, loved her crate; the dog I have now, a cattle dog mix, couldn't be bothered.) Other dogs are just fine being left to lie wherever in the house they want.

The best space for your dog may not be one with a view either, says Sarah Wilson, dog trainer and author of My Smart Puppy: Fun, Effective and Easy Puppy Training, especially if your dog barks a lot. "When they're screaming out the window at everyone who's going by, their brains are flooded with all of this confusing and upsetting brain chemistry, which doesn't go away on its own instantly," she said. "It's not a game for them when they're barking hysterically out the window." If a crate doesn't work for that dog, it may work to use a baby gate to keep it in a room it likes but without access to a window.

3) Make a new plan for entertaining your dog

If your dog has gotten used to walks every four or five hours, what’s going to happen when that’s not an easy option? Can you come home to walk the dog? Will you hire a dog walker or take your dog to a doggie day care? McConnell suggests you figure out how you’re going to engage your dog’s brain if the level of physical exercise you are currently providing it is not an option. You can teach new tricks, or try new walking routes, which engages their brain because dogs will work to analyse new smells. “Even if it’s just once or twice a week, pop your dog in the car and go somewhere different,” McConnell says.

4) Look for troubling behaviour – but don’t punish

Dogs with separation anxiety may go to the bathroom in the house, or chew or rip up things that are not their toys. But don't punish the dog when you come home, said Katherine Houpt, professor emeritus of behaviour medicine at the Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine in the US, because dogs will forget what they did and by then they will "no longer associate punishment with the action."

Your dog may also get clingy and follow you around the house, pace when it thinks you’re leaving or drool. That also means the dog is experiencing separation anxiety and you need to work a little bit more to help it.

If you are frustrated or feel like nothing is working, reach out for help. Call your veterinarian to make sure that nothing is physically wrong with your dog. If it is behavioural, then your vet may recommend calling a dog trainer or animal behaviourist. Trainers should use positive reinforcement instead of force and coercion.

Your vet may also recommend anti-anxiety medication for your dog, if the anxiety persists despite making the recommended changes. You may also consider anti-anxiety medications if your dog’s behaviour is causing harm even if it’s not destructive – such as if your dog’s barking is annoying your neighbours to an extreme degree. – The New York Times

Read: If dogs have but one fault, it would be their unjust life span