Stay-cation and Your 9-5 Dog
This time of year, we Valley residents often find ourselves with more free time on our hands than usual. Often, we plan for this time – due to an upcoming long weekend, vacation, or school break. Unfortunately, for some of us, more free time sometimes arrives without warning – as a result of an illness, natural disaster, or layoff. Looking on the bright side, such stressful circumstances provide a great opportunity to spend more time with a dog. But if your free time is temporary, and you plan to eventually return to a regular 9-5 routine, preparing your pet for that change will help you avoid the onset of behavior problems when your schedule returns to normal.
Dogs are naturally social creatures, and don’t typically relish time alone. The good news is that preparing your pet for the longer absences of a 9-5 routine isn’t hard to do. In fact, it really boils down to simply keeping two things in mind during your time at home: don’t over-indulge your dog and try not to make extreme changes in his routine.
Too much coddling can actually create an insecure dog who craves your attention to the point of demanding it. Worse, the dog can become so focused on you that he becomes overly dependent on your presence and will no longer tolerate being alone. So yes, spend more time with your pet, but spend less of it cuddling and more of it reinforcing the self-control skills that help him cope with life when you are not there. Ask your pet to Stay or Wait while you go upstairs. Insist your dog Go To Your Bed, lie Down and Stay while you talk on the phone. Self-control builds confidence, and confidence is key to helping your pet when its time to adjust back to a normal schedule.
Just as importantly, resist the urge to indulge your pet in extravagant privileges that will be revoked when you go back to your usual day. The more you can keep his privileges and routine consistent now, the easier it will be for him to adjust later. If you typically require that your dog not jump up on you when you arrive home in your business clothes, don’t allow him to jump up now, just because you are in jeans. If your dog only spends limited time on the furniture normally, don’t allow hours and hours of extra time lounging on it while you are home. Keep your arrivals and departures low-key, routine, and uneventful, so your pet doesn’t get overly excited when you come home or overly anxious when you prepare to leave.
The bottom line is, if you’ve got extra time, what better way to spend than with your best canine friend. With proper guidance and training, nearly any dog can adapt to and from a 9-5 schedule. Some breeds are even famous for this - the Pug, Greyhound, Shih Tzu, and Cavalier are all well known to have the ability, as well-trained adult dogs, to tolerate long periods alone. So do many Cocker Spaniels, Golden Retrievers, Shiba Inus and Whippets. But whatever kind of dog you have, the old saying remains true: the best kind of time you can spend with your dog is quality time.
Enjoy!
(This article published in the Mar/Apr 2009 edition of Issaquah Sammamish and Beyond magazine.)
