Prepare now to prevent separation anxiety

SHELTON — In an unsettled and unsettling time, people may be home all day when they’d normally be out at work. Kids learn at home instead of spending six or more hours at school.

Just like people, their dogs had to acclimate to a new normal, their lives and sleep patterns disrupted. And as Connecticut starts to reopen, those dogs may have separation anxiety as people go back to work.

“You have to stop and think,” said Dawn Lowery, a trainer who owns One Smart Dog in Shelton: “How different is this for dogs right now?”

The dog that has been with her family for a decade, the brand-new puppy who doesn’t know any other people but the ones around him all day — both are affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, Lowery said. And she’s delighted that people might go out and get a dog in such an unsettled time.

“We need to be thinking about things we’d need to achieve if this wasn’t happening,” Lowery said. “It’s still achievable though we’re practicing social distancing.”

Lowery has been doing virtual training sessions with her clients. She has also done some free webinars.

“What I’ve been suggesting is people should leave the house without their dogs,” Lowery said. “We’ve seen the cartoons of the dogs flat on the floor, exhausted from all their walks.”

(And, she added, dogs typically sleep 14 hours a day.)

“(People) need to practice leaving their dog at home, taking a walk with the family without the dog. They’ve got to get used to that,” Lowery said. “Let him practice some independent time: Put the dog in a crate and go in the other room. It doesn’t have to be for a long period of time, but you don’t want it to be an issue (in the future).”

Lowery said she has received calls from people noticing behavioral tics in their dogs that they’d never known, because they’d rarely been home all day on a typical weekday. The noises that might spark a bark didn’t happen as often at night or on weekends.

Like stir-crazy children after two months at home, dogs could use some stimulation and Lowery recommends enrichment toys to keep them from getting bored.

“A lot of people are adopting dogs, getting new puppies because they’re home. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t still train your dog,” she said. “Eventually life will get back to normal.”

Contributed photo Dawn Lowery, owner of One Smart Dog in Shelton, with Manny, her “inspiration dog.” Just like people, dogs have had to acclimate to a new normal, she says.