How to Help Your Pets With Separation Anxiety

(KNSI) – As the COVID-19 pandemic starts to wane, more people are going back to the office after working from home for more than a year. That’s an adjustment pets will have to make, too.

Laura Lund, animal care manager at the Tri-County Humane Society, says if pets have separation anxiety, they might pace, bark or meow a lot, chew on shoes or other objects they don’t normally chew on or, for dogs, even relieve themselves inside. Lund says a normal routine can be very beneficial for them.

“Try to maintain a normal routine, getting them out on some walks, maybe some physical exercise prior to you leaving the house,” Lund said. “Giving them an extra puzzle toy or a bully stick to chew while [you’re] gone.”

Lund also said that before going back to work in person full-time, practicing leaving your pet home alone for a short period of time can help them get used to that change.

“If you are just going out to the mailbox, use the same routine if you’re leaving for that short period of time as you would if you’re leaving for the whole day for work,” she said.

Lund said the humane society had a big uptick in adoptions during the pandemic.

“That’s a great time for people to maybe go out and get a puppy because they will be home more often,” Lund said. “But then that means that they are home and maybe not exposing that puppy to a lot of other people, a lot of new situations, bringing them out, meeting other animals, things like that.”

She says she’s seeing under-socialization more often in “teenage” dogs that are between the ages of six months to two years. Those dogs might get scared easily, especially if they are around people, animals and noises they don’t recognize. Lund says introducing dogs to new scenarios and places can help them get used to different situations.

“Slowly over time, taking them places and bringing them out, meeting the neighbors, things like that can help to jumpstart that, but it does take a while.”

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