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For most of us, the last thing on our minds during the busy back to school season is the family dog. As it turns out, Fido might need you to prepare him or her for the change as well.
Unless everyone was out of the home all day during the summer, just like during the school year, your dog’s gotten extra summertime company. Thus it might experience some separation anxiety when everyone goes back to their school year schedules.
Pet site ZooToo has some tips for how to gage if your dog will have separation anxiety problems during the school year, and what to do about them if it will. The key is to begin testing and preparing now, before school starts, so that once that busy time rolls around your dog’s already prepared.
First, arrange a quick family outing. This will test how your dog does alone in the house. Does it cry or howl as you leave? When you return, has it gotten into anything or torn up anything it can find? If it’s done any of these things, then your dog likely has separation anxiety.
Here’s how to deal with it: keep scheduling quick outings. Start with something small, like taking a 10-minute family walk. Build up to longer trips, like a movie or dinner out, and finally try something that might take hours, like a museum visit. Slowly train your dog through trips of increasing length to deal with being alone in the house.
The key to dealing with separation anxiety is to not make a big deal of either the family’s departure or arrival, so the dog doesn’t think it’s a big deal. It’s especially important not to make a huge fuss when you get home, so the dog isn’t waiting on tenterhooks for an arrival that it associates with good things.
Another thing you can do to help your dog is to stay on its same schedule. Before school starts, begin feeding it, taking it out for walks, and playing with it as much as possible on a schedule you’ll be able to follow during the school year. The less change your dog experiences once school starts, the better it will be able to cope.
If, during your test trips your dog experiences bad separation anxiety, there’s something interesting you can try. If you have the spare time/funds, think about you and your kids taking your dog to a training course once school starts. If it’s learning new tricks at a class, it has an outlet for the additional energy it’s building up while alone.
Chain pet stores like Petco and PetSmart often have inexpensive training courses, even cheaper seminars, and often free puppy playtime. Any of these are good options for your lonely pup.
One important thing to remember: don’t call and leave messages for the dog on your machine so it can hear your voice. We think it will be a comfort for the dog to hear our voice, but actually it’s the opposite. It’s beyond frustrating for a dog to hear a loved one’s voice but not be able to find that person. It might tear up the house looking for the source of the voice.
Obviously whether or not a dog feels separation anxiety depends on its situation and personality; older family dogs are less likely, whereas younger ones, especially new dogs adopted in the summer months, are much more likely. With just a little time and effort your dog can be ready for back to school as well.
Related Articles:
What to Consider When Getting a Dog
What Does Your Pet Do All Day?
Back to School Anxiety & Emotions
*(This image by Noel Zia Lee is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 License.)
