FOR dog owners, one of the great things about the lockdown has been the opportunity to spend more time with your pooch.
However, once the lockdown begins to ease, there will be pangs of separation, especially on the side of your four legged friend.
Here Rachel Casey, Director of Canine Behaviour and Research at Dogs Trust, explains how to ease the pain of parting.
She said: “For many of us it has been great to spend so much time with our dogs during lockdown and mostly our dogs love us being around too.
“But all this extra attention could potentially create a ticking time bomb of separation anxiety for our dogs.
“If they expect us to be about all the time, it will be more difficult for them to cope once we go back to our normal lives and aren’t in the house 24/7.
“Now is the time to act to avoid future problems – and it’s easy to do.
“Just make sure that you factor in time apart from your dog each day to help them be able to cope when alone – this could be separated from you by a door or child gate for an hour or two whilst you’re working or home schooling the kids.
“By organising your dog’s day, with time apart, play times, exercise, other activity sessions (like giving them a food filled toy) and quiet times, you can make sure that your dog maintains their ability to cope with the different aspects of ‘normal’ life when we get back to it.”
For more ideas on how to keep your dog occupied visit www.dogstrust.org.uk
