During pandemic, new pets may miss out on socializing
Jen Ramey has fostered many dogs. Hops is her foster fail. He was 10 weeks old when he came to live with her in April and stayed.
The now-12-pound Chiweenie (that’s a Chihuahua and dachshund mix) is terrified of humans. If he and Ramey hear someone’s voice coming from the garage as they are walking by, he’ll tuck his tail and start nervously pooping.
It’s taken a lot for him to get comfortable around even the woman he did puppy training with, and that required tiny balls of cheese and six weeks of trying.
It’s been hard training Hops during a pandemic because the normal things Ramey would do for him would be to take him places with people or have people come to her house. She’s had to get creative by having a doggy play group with humans and their dogs spaced out in each other’s yards, or taking him to a doggy day care once a week. That has helped him work on separation anxiety from his humans, which Hops also has.
“He will holler as soon as I walk out the door,” she says.
Many of us have been home for months. Our new dogs don’t know that there is a possibility we might leave for work one day. Ramey’s been trying to make sure she does go out of the house without Hops from time to time to get him used to the idea that one day she will return to working outside of the house.
Dr. Ashley Opyt of Firehouse Animal Health Center in Kyle says that during this pandemic, she’s seen more new dogs and puppies without social skills.
“Primarily, we’re seeing anxiety or fear of new people,” Opyt says. “It’s normal for dogs to be nervous at the vet, but these are very small puppies, and they are very, very nervous around people. That’s not normal.”
Puppies have this key time period between 8- and 16-weeks-old when they are most open to learning about other people, animals and new experiences, Opyt says. After that, they become fearful of unknown situations and new people and animals, she says.
In normal times, puppies would attend a puppy kindergarten class or their owners would have friends over to see the new puppy. The puppy might go to different places to experience new things, while still carefully avoiding unvaccinated dogs and soil and sidewalks, where the parvovirus might be lurking, until they receive their last vaccination at 16 weeks.
People also would be leaving home more regularly. Just like Ramey is doing, Opyt suggests people leave the house without the dog often, even if they work from home, or using a crate to have the dog become more comfortable being separated from their person.
She also suggests owners of new dogs (or dogs who have become too accustomed to only their owner) have people come over outside in a socially distanced way and maybe bring the dog a treat or interact with the dog. Doggy day care, if that’s a possibility, also can help dogs interact with other people and dogs.
If dogs are showing signs of aggression or their fear or anxiety is so bad they risk injuring themselves or the neighbors are calling about constant barking or the house is completely torn up, ask the vet for a recommendation for a behavioralist or trainer who can help the dog.
Repeated exposure to new things, new people and other animals in a safe way can help dogs who become used to just being at home with only one or a few people during this time.
That’s Ramey’s hope for Hops.
“I still think that with time and more exposure to people, he’ll get better,” Ramey says.