Going Back To Work After Covid – How To Prepare Your Dog In Three Steps

If the pandemic were an Indians game, we’re in the bottom of the 5th: closer to the end than the beginning with a lot of work to do in between. Many of us are beginning to engage more freely with the wide world, visiting friends, family, old favorites for food and drink, and headed back to the offices we left over a year ago. Our dogs are happy to join us every step of the way, but unfortunately, most workplaces aren’t accommodating to our furriest family members. Disruption in routine can lead to a number of undesirable effects for our dogs including anxiety, poor social behaviors, housetraining issues, and regression with training in general. We have some ideas to help combat the worry and boredom our dogs might have to endure!

Slowly Introduce Workday Routines – Set those alarms! Schedule waking up, feeding, and walking as you might for your expected workday routine, then introduce a consistent departure schedule that builds on that routine. Establishing or re-establishing that consistency will make it easier to…

Create Some Space – Have you and your pup been inseparable for months? Help ease your dog into your work-day routine with brief but frequent intervals apart and then extend the duration of separation as needed to reinforce. It’s also helpful to work through training exercises before and after each separation to work their brains back into routine and to use rewards after the separation ends to when they’ve been successful with being apart. So take that trip to grab a coffee or a couple of hours of reading in the sun to help remind your dog that being apart is no big deal!

Look for signs of stress – Excessive barking or whining, agitation, destructive behavior, and inappropriate urination/defecation can all be signs of stress. If you are concerned, consider filming your pets when you leave so you can better observe them. Employ exercise with walking, running, and play to help wear off excess nervous energy to reduce the potential for stress to begin. Always reach out to your trainers and your veterinarian if issues begin to build so that you have a chance to correct them before they escalate.

We’re all excited to get back to enjoying shared company with those we love and moving closer to our post-pandemic ideals for being out and about. Although our dogs would likely prefer we stay just where we’re at, we can always be proactive in helping them understand how to get back to as-normal-as-possible. Hopefully, we’ll catch you at a Rubber Ducks game or on a patio soon!