How to prepare your dog for you going back to work, post Covid.
A lot of people have been working from home over the last year or so, or shielding, having to spend the majority of their time indoors. This could all be about to change now the rules are being altered and this may affect your dog, especially if he’s come to live with you during lock down, so he's never known anything else. Most dogs are happiest when their “family” are around and this is going to be a huge change for them. Unfortunately, we're already seeing dogs being given up to rescue because they can't cope with being left.
Even if you're still mostly at home, it's still important that you teach your dog to feel comfortable with being left for short periods, so that they won't get stressed if you need to leave them for any reason. Ideally you should start doing this when a dog is still a pup, so it just becomes normal to them, but obviously if you're taking on an adult rescue dog, this can be more of a challenge.
It is completely normal for a newly adopted dog (or a pup) to want to follow you everywhere (yes even to the loo!), and become anxious when you leave the room. This is because he's in a totally strange environment and is feeling lost and alone. Imagine if you took a 2 year old child away from its family home and put it into a new place with unfamiliar people (Kindergarten with no Mum / Dad??) ...it takes time and a bit of effort to get them to feel comfortable with their new surroundings.
If he's going to be an only dog, let him follow you around to begin with, you can start training with simple one word commands at this time too......”come”, “sit” etc with lots of praise when he does it. This clingy behaviour will start to decrease after a while once your dog starts to feel more at home, but it's a good idea to ensure you can spend time at home with him for a few weeks settling him in. If there’s another dog in the home, he may settle down more quickly as long as the other dog accepts him and isn’t anxious at being left too.
You'll suddenly notice that he's not following you everywhere and is happily chomping on a chew in front of the fire or snoozing on the sofa whilst you nip into the kitchen...now is the time to start gradually extending these periods. If he pops his head round the door to see what you're up to, just talk to him in a quiet, relaxed manner and try to “ignore” him whilst you get on with whatever it is you're doing. If he starts whining at you, see if he needs to go out for a pee and then take him back to the place you'd left him snoozing, with a command of “lie down” or similar, give him a chew / filled Kong / a favourite toy and encourage him to stay there again. It will be a “three steps forward, two steps back” process to start off with, but you'll get there once he's convinced you're not about to escape out of the window and abandon him.
If you're going to use a crate for him as a safe place indoors, now is a good time to familiarise him with it by setting it up in a quiet spot and putting toys and treats in it, even feed him in it, but leave the door open for a few days. Then, once he's OK with being in it, you could shut the door whilst he's eating his chew / food and then open it again after a few minutes, gradually building up the time until he's happy to stay in there whilst you're busy in another room / outside etc. You may need to warn your neighbours that there could be some noise to start off with.
If you chose not to use a crate, you may need to set up some special “enrichment” objects for him around the house. These can be things like a “destruction box” which is basically a cardboard box filled with loosely wrapped small treats in newspaper or packing paper that your dog can rip up to keep him occupied (think “pass the parcel” games for kiddies) ; Kongs filled with food that'll take a while to get out (such as creamy cheese from a tube and bits of kibble, sandwich paste from a jar, peanut butter (the dog kind!) - all of which can be frozen and that'll take even longer to work through!) : snuffle mats which can be used to hide small treats in: you can get special dog toys which act as a food puzzle and you can use old loo roll tubes stuffed with scrunched up paper and treats. Ring the changes too, or he might get bored with the same thing every day.
The key to getting your dog used to being left is to gradually increase the amount of time alone as long as he's comfortable with it. Start by leaving him for a couple of minutes and if, when you come back, he's busy with his toy/ treat, leave for a little longer but try to return as he's finishing with it. You can practise this every day, several times a day, slowly increasing the time you're gone but try to return before he starts showing signs of stress at being left such as panting/ barking / howling/ whining/ being destructive / toileting indoors.
If you have a web cam it can make this much easier, especially if you have one that you can “talk to” the dog to reassure him, as you can watch his behaviour when you're out. If it seems he's quite happy with your absence, you could try leaving it a bit longer before you return.
However, if your dog becomes really distressed at being left, you'll need to reduce the time and begin again gradually increasing the time and possibly doing more things to help him chill, such as leaving a radio on for him (we have Radio 2 on all the time in our kitchen, so the dogs downstairs are used to a continuous background chatter) and this will also help to mask any noises from outside such as people shouting, cars back firing etc. Sometimes a loudly ticking clock will help too as it seems to comfort the dogs – maybe back to mum's heartbeat in the womb???
Sometimes it's better for the dog to have the run of the house (or at least downstairs) rather than be shut in one room as they can panic because they don't know what's happening in the rest of the house. You can always use a stair gate to block off your stairs if you don't want the dog upstairs.
Paradoxically, some dogs prefer to be left in a small secure place of their own, such as a crate but each dog will be different and just because that's what you did with your last dog, it doesn't mean this one will be OK with it. Sometimes, with adult rescue dogs, we don't know their history and it could be they've had a bad experience with being shut into a windowless room or similar, so you'll have to watch and observe.
When you do go out of the house, try to keep it low key and don't make a big announcement. If your dog seems really stressed by you putting on a coat / hat / shoes, try putting them on at random times and sit and watch TV, make a cuppa etc, so he doesn't associate it with you leaving. Ditto with your keys – pick them up, make a noise, put them back down again and don't go anywhere.
When you come back in, don't make a big fuss either, just a casual greeting and IF he's done anything destructive or messy whilst you've been out, DON'T TELL HIM OFF. I know it's just a natural thing for you to do, but he won't connect the fact he's done something an hour or so ago with you being cross. He'll be so relieved you've come home and if you tell him off, it will stress him out each time you come home, creating a vicious cycle. Just quietly clear it up, once he's been out for a pee and you can praise him for that, giving him a small treat to keep him busy.
You can always moan to us at Lurcher Link, through the forum or on FB and will get loads of advice and “me too” stories to help you cope. We've all been there and even though it feels like it's a hopeless task and you're all on your own, you're not, so take out your frustration on us, not the dog. I can guarantee in a couple of years you'll look back on this period and you'll know it was worth the struggle.