Returning to Work: What does your pet need from you?

Returning to Work: What does your pet need from you?

This month non-essential shops have been able to reopen and Premier League football is back. If you haven’t been able to work remotely, it’s likely with new measures in place your employer will be asking you to return to your workplace. After months of you being at home fulltime and only leaving for essential items, how will your pet react?

If you consider the ‘rule of paw’ for every year we have, a dog experiences the equivalent of seven. 3 months in quarantine for us, is 21 months for a dog!

Separation anxiety may have been something you worked on if you had your dog from a puppy or as part of adopting a rescue and isn’t something anyone wants their dog to be distressed about.

Cats, although less likely, have been known to show signs of separation anxiety in the forms of refusing to eat, excessive meowing and even sometimes destructive behaviours.

8 out of 10 dogs have shown some separation anxiety symptoms and it’s rarer to see in cats as the symptoms are much more subtle. All these symptoms are just your pet being unhappy about not being with you. We need to make sure they feel safe and secure when you’re not there.

We’ve put together 5 tips to ease them out of quarantine and get them used to you being at work again!

Mental Stimulation
 

Sometimes excess energy can be misconstrued as separation anxiety. You leave your home and your pet is destructive, noisy and manic. By ensuring they get adequate exercise these behaviours can lessen and be made obsolete. If your pet is content, these behaviours won’t be learnt as what to do when you leave them alone.

Desensitisation
 

A gradual increase in the time you leave them alone will help desensitise them to you leaving them regularly for longer periods of time. By picking up your bag, keys and opening the door at random times of the day and not leaving, your pet won’t associate these items as you leaving them. It’s also worth not saying goodbye when you leave and not saying hello when you come home, to not form unwanted associations.

Clear structure
 

Making a clear routine for your animal will also help to reduce anxiety. If you leave food down all day, consider creating a morning and evening meal so they can distinguish times of the day. For dogs, this can also be allocating times for when you walk them.

New Commands
 

If it’s barking through their time alone or being greeted with explosive excitement, going back to training can help remove these behaviours. Teaching a dog ‘speak’ when you want noise and ‘quiet’ when you don’t, puts the control back in your hands. If a dog is over excited they’re likely to be receptive of your commands because they want to please you. 

Extra Help
 

There’s always room for some extra help if it’s very long periods of time your pet is being left alone. Maybe a neighbour can let your dog out in the middle of the day to relieve themselves or you can find a doggy daycare facility. There are also many products on the market for both cats and dogs that emit calming scents, can be added to foods to lower levels of stress and even boredom busting interactive toys and games.

No matter where you live, how secure your home is or how many comfy and cosy blankets are around, sometimes without your presence it just isn’t good enough. By using a few of the above hints and tricks you can create a better mindset for your pet that can relieve these symptoms of anxiety.