Getting to work side-by-side with your best friend all day has its ups-and-downs. Perhaps it helped you get through the day and allowed you to take breaks to play and walk your pooch. Maybe it ended up being more difficult because your pup thought you were available to give them attention twenty-four-seven. Regardless of the circumstances you had, the hands-down hardest part about getting to work with your dog remotely is when the long-awaited day arrives when you have to return to the office. After months of getting to hang out with you, by now they have adapted to the new routine. It may only require a few days, maybe a work week, for you to get back into regularly scheduled program, but for your dog, it’s going to take them a little longer to remember you aren’t going to be around all day anymore. Dogs are creatures of habit, and a change in routine can cause stress. Each dog handles stress differently, so here’s eleven ways for you to get your pup reacquainted with having to hang by themselves again.
Implement the Concept of “Alone Time”
If you’re fortunate to know you will have a few weeks or a few months before going back into the office, condition your dog to being home alone again. This can be hard for dogs, especially if you’re still hanging about the house. The best strategy is to leave the house for about twenty or thirty minutes at the time you will be leaving for work, so your dog gets used to you leaving the house each day. Additionally, if you have an office or separate room to work in, seal yourself off, immersing your dog into “alone time.”
Steadily Increase the Duration of Alone Time
Leaving for about a half hour at the time you will be leaving for work and working in a separate room from your dog is a good start. In order for this training to work, you will need to gradually increase the amount of time your dog spends alone. Perhaps the first day, you leave at the time you would leave for work and then again at lunch. Then after a few days, “leave for work” and give yourself about forty-five to sixty minutes before returning home and allot yourself an hour out of the house for lunch. Depending on how soon you will be back at the office, you may have to increase the amount of time your dog spends alone faster or slower. Start with the date you will return to the office, and work backwards, this way, you’ll know for sure you will have your dog conditioned for your regular work hours by the time the day you go back to the office arrives.
Make a Spot for Your Dog To Relax
Your dog may or may not have a few places where they like to sit or lay down. Perhaps they have a specific couch or chair. If your dog isn’t allowed on furniture, they most likely have a few corners they like to lay down and sleep in. The best thing you can do is invest in a doggy bed and place it in this corner for them. If that’s not in the budget, you can always fold up an old blanket for them so they have some cushioning on the floor. As dogs have a strong sense of smell, maybe leave a shirt you were with your scent on it for them in this corner or safe spot. Dogs feel more relaxed when they sense their owners, and this article of clothing with your scent on it will act as a security blanket for them in their security area or corner.
