Your Dog and COVID-19
Due to COVID-19, many families find themselves stuck under the roof for 24 hours and seven days a week with their dogs for an extended period of time. As you can guess, some pups nowadays are very happy and excited about this special opportunity. However, this can lead to many changes in your dog’s behavior and today we will be going over this topic.
Pet Stress
Even though most dogs are happy of this opportunity to be around with their owners more often, this does not mean all are. Some dogs are under stress due to the dramatic shift in the usual day schedule, and the fact that they do not know why their owners are behaving differently and are following a different schedule. This can lead to the pup destroying household items in an attempt to reduce their stress levels and to express their frustration.
Clingy Dogs
Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, our dogs were used to staying at home alone for long periods of time but nowadays, since their human families are usually all at home, this caused our pups to become more clingy and needy to their owners. Many dogs are now begging for food at the dinner table more often, asking to go out on walks more often, more vocal, more territorial, and can be often seen wanting more attention from their owners. This is their way of responding to the changes that their owners and society enforces due to the pandemic. This change in behavior is known as displacement behaviors.
How to Cope with these Behavioral Changes
First, we all need to understand that even though our pups are becoming more expressive and yappy nowadays, our dogs do not mean to misbehave. They just do not know how to be vindictive. To help your dog out, you can designate a special area for your dog where no one but the dog can enter. This will be their own private space where they can play by themselves and have a peaceful nap. Doing this can help your pup feel more relaxed and at home, and will also help the dog deal with the unusual high amounts of human interaction.
The Future
Even though our dogs will eventually become accustomed to these many changes in schedule and social interaction, we also need to think into the future. When the COVID-19 pandemic comes to an end, society will gradually ease its way into its normal schedule. This means that our more clingy and needy dogs will be under stress once again due to these changes. It is important for all dog owners to know this in order to make the transition -from the COVID-19 pandemic period to the normal and familiar world- easier on our pups. Our choices as dog owners impact the lives of our pets and we need to make this transition as smooth as possible for them.
Thank you once again for reading on how does the COVID-19 pandemic affects your dog’s behavior. I hope this helped you understand your dog better during these dire times and as usual, make sure to wash your hands thoroughly and wear a mask. I will see you next time!
Citations:
[1] Judkis, Maura. “Dogs, Too, Can Find the Pandemic Disorienting.” The Washington Post, WP Company, 25 Aug. 2020, www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2020/08/24/dogs-behavior-coronavirus/.
[2] Waters, Michael. “Why Your Pet Is Acting like a Weirdo during Quarantine, Explained by Animal Behaviorists.” Vox, Vox, 24 Apr. 2020, www.vox.com/the-highlight/2020/4/24/21231806/coronavirus-pets-covid-19-cats-dogs.