Planning An Easy Transition for Pets Post Quarantine

Depending on where you are in the country, your local city or town may be slowly opening back up for business. If you’ve been working from home this may mean going back to the office. And if you’ve been hanging at home with your pet for the majority of this time, it also means preparing your pet for staying home alone again.

Let’s face it, most pets have been loving the extra quality time of being with their fur parents 24/7 the last couple of months.

Pet experts are recommending to plan for this transition to ease anxiety. Since animals don’t like sudden change there are certain things you can do to prepare to make things less stressful for your pet for separation after an extended period of time together.

• Prepare your pet for alone time by creating their own comfy space in a separate room or section of the house, and then practice leaving for a short amount of time to get them used to you not being around all the time.
• When you come back reward your dog if they are behaving calmly. If they are showing signs of anxiety, try leaving for shorter amounts of time more often. You can also consult a Certified Separation Anxiety Trainer (CSAT) for a virtual consultation.
• Leave your pet with toys and puzzles to play with plus leave music, the radio or TV on in the background so they don’t feel so alone.
• Reward your pet for calm behavior.
• Line up a dog walker for a mid-day walk once you go back to work if your dog has a lot of energy and is used to a lot of activity.

It may even be a difficult transition for you to leave your pet as well! But by preparing early with a plan you and your pet will feel more at ease when the time comes.