How to prepare your pet with COVID on the rise

Hey there, hoomans! It’s Mozart here.

You probably don’t need me to tell you that the past few months or so has been one of ups and downs.  And I am sure you are seeing it in your pups behavior as well. George and I are trying hard to figure all this out!

What am I talking about?

Well, just when I thought things were getting back to normal... meaning mom and dad and my brother and sister coming and going all the time, I overheard from my hooman's dinner talk, that COVID is on the rise again and mom, dad and my siblings will be homebound once again.  I know they are frustrated but I have to be honest...  George and I are thrilled! 

Why?

Because that means our whole family will be with us all day, every day! No huge hound could ever ask for anything more exciting than that. That means way more walks, romps, snacks, and more snuggles.

Sure, we can tell our hoomans are a little worried about stuff. We hear the words “social distancing” and even the scary-sounding “quarantine” a lot. It’s hard to be nervous ourselves, though, because it all just means more time with YOU.

I am sure it is confusing for all pets.  So George and I created some ideas you can implement to ease the transition of more home time with your pups as we all try to lower COVID numbers. 

 Schedule the Walks

Are your walks scheduled or occur around the same time of day?  Somewhere in the backs of our minds, we remember the morning walk before breakfast, the afternoon walk when you came home for lunch, and the longer walk with added play time after you got home from work. We cope with change better when we know what to expect.  When there is little change in our schedules.  Try to keep our walks as close to schedule as possible.  It will help us cope with the changes  you are going through.

 Start Spending Time Apart

Oh, man, we really don’t want you to do this. If you don’t, however, we could have a bad reaction after all this together-time we are about to have. Separation anxiety is a very real thing that can affect dogs at any point in their lives. Remember if covid cases increase then your time at home increases .Yes we love that, but it makes us more needy and dependent on you. So please be sure to love us and spend quality time with us; but also make sure we do have time to be on our own too. Once the restrictions are lifted and you have to go back to the office, we’ll get lonely again. 

Some suggestions:  Start spending small amounts of time away without us. Take yourselves for a walk, or do your grocery run together (but just send one person into the store until we’re all clear), or maybe even separate us from the family for a bit with a dog gate or closed door.

We’ll remember how to get by on our own eventually. Just don’t throw us back into the deep end all at once. Start with five minutes here and increase to fifteen minutes there. By the time you’re ready to get back out into the world, we’ll be just fine.

 Watch for Signs of Anxiety

With the changes we pups have already experienced added to the changes that are coming down the road, there’s a good chance we’ll have some anxiety—just like you hoomans do. Keep an eye out during these transitional times for any unusual behavior. Are we hiding under furniture more? Do we make strange noises now? Have our eating habits changed?

 Most of us are pretty happy being home with our hoomans all day long, but that doesn’t mean we don’t get nervous. If you see signs that we’re getting anxious, hold off on some of the changes for a bit before trying again. Also, toys and treats can go a long way toward normalizing our new situation.

Above all, stay safe out there. Even though restrictions are back in many states, the danger isn’t over yet. 

Share your thoughts on how you are caring for your pups during this pandemic on our Facebook page. We’d love to get to know you better!

Expect big things,