As an owner of a board and train business, I see hundreds of dogs every year and spend ample time with them during their training. More importantly, I get to observe how dogs act when their owners are present, compared to when their owners are not around. In the last two years I have seen a boom in separation anxiety. I’ve been training dogs professionally for over 25 years, and I can tell you separation anxiety is nothing new, however, the staggering amount of cases from March 2020 to now is alarming.

Let me be clear, the Covid 19 virus did not cause this up tick in anxiety of dogs. Humans reactions to the Covid virus is what caused this problem. If you’ve ever heard me speak at a seminar to taken one of my classes than you know I will always tell you that the human is to blame. Everything a dog does, it is because of a human. Humans just don’t realize it. If your dog jumps, its because you encouraged it, if your dog barks, it’s because you allowed it, etc. As far as anxiety, you the owner, have created it. You just didn’t realize you were doing it. Dogs don’t come from the factory installed with anxiety YET. But they will if we don’t change the way we interact with them now. How long does it take to actually affect breeding and pass down human created attributes, only time will tell.

So how’d we get here and what do we need to do now? First off lets discuss what caused this. For centuries we Americans actually went into a work place. We said so long to our dogs, and worked eight plus hours a day then came back home to our trusty canine companions. Whether you knew it or not, but you were teaching your dog independence. They were left maybe in a crate or if they had earn the freedom maybe they were in your house or possibly in the back yard. Either way they were left for several hours a day without human interaction or assistance. When you came home, they were excited and you were excited. You’d spend a few minutes with them, maybe throw the ball to get some exercise in, maybe feed them then you’d go about your evening of fixing dinner etc. Dogs are minimalist, they want a job to do and that is it. Humans think they want affection and random hugs for no reason and treats for doing nothing. They do not. So prior to Covid 19 they were balanced and fulfilled the way they would be in nature.

Enter March 2020. America is shut down, working from home becomes the new normal. Americans now have more time at home than ever. So what did we do? We went out and bought two different things. The first was any item that assisted the family with spending time with each other, but staying away and keeping our distance from others. Conversely items like RV’s, Campers, Boats, ATV’s sold at an all time high. Even surpassing that, was the new purchase of a family pet, specifically dogs. More dogs were sold from March 2020 – March 2022 than any other two year period in history. We humans thought we were doing the right thing, with all this extra time on our hands, of course we’d have time to properly train and raise a puppy correct? Nothing could be further from the truth.

What did we do vs what we should have done: The average American brought home a puppy. Then restrictions and lock downs occurred. Most people were not allowed to take their dogs out in public, dog parks (which I don’t advocate anyone go to) were shut down. Even out door events like concerts and venues were closed. The family was home with the dog, ALL the time, and all we did was shower the dog with hugs and belly rubs, and it worked for nothing. We coddled the dog, put it on the sofa and taught it nothing. Why crate train it if you were going to be home all day? Why leave it alone when you no longer had too? In turn we taught the dog to be extremely needy, and It gave it zero independence.

The problem was the humanizing of the dog. We felt obligated because we were home to spend all of our time with the dog. The average pup owner didn’t want to put their dog in a crate when they were home with the dog. No rules were administered, no structure and all the freedom the dog wanted. Puppies are little sponges, they need extremely strict routine, structure and routine. None of that was the case for the last two years of pandemic living. If you are actively engaging with the dog and teaching it something, working on potty training or basic commands than it was fine. Once that was over, the dog needed to be put to rest and think about what they just learned. Instead they were left to cruise the house and have no purpose. The dog got so use to us being around, that in turn when we finally had to start going back to work, they could not handle the separation. Life as they knew it changed instantly, and everyone blamed the dog.

Keeping a dog balanced with the proper amount of structure, work, routine, discipline and then affection is what is needed to correct and avoid this last two years debacle of anxiety cases. Luckily future breeding isn’t affected in just a year or so. Evolution takes time, but we do need to get the “new normal” of working from home and coddling dogs out of our minds as what we should be doing with them. Dogs want a job. Period. When dogs have nothing to do, that’s when you see the panting, pacing, salivation, hyperventilation, whining, gastrointestinal issues and all the other signs and symptoms associated with anxiety. If everyone would get back to treating dogs like dogs, and not like humans, we can all get past this.

Ive said it a million times, humanizing a dog is one of the worst things you can do for them. A job is what they need. A job can be simply sitting and waiting while you fill their food bowl. Then releasing them to eat. They just did three small jobs, they sat, they waited, they were released with an “ok.” Make small jobs a priority and hold the dog accountable when they do not do them or break the command. Actively engage with the dog, and when that is done, they need to be put back up in their kennel or crate. Just letting a young puppy roam around your house with no rules or no job will not end well.

In short, start interacting with your dog, the way you would have before the pandemic. Before working at home was every an option. Stop humanizing a dog. Get back to the basics, that’s what they want and that is what they need. Until next time, train hard, but train smart.