With many people working from home and staying put on weekends, dogs and cats are spending more time with their humans than ever before. And sometimes it can be, well, a lot.
鈥淢y cat interrupts my telehealth therapy session over zoom every. single. time,鈥� O鈥檇 Ali lamented in a post on .
Amanda Price chimed in: 鈥淢y Shepherd-Husky mix has always had bad separation anxiety, so this time has been amazing for him.鈥�
When Dr. Debra Horwitz, a pet behaviorist and veterinarian, hears these stories, she is quick to question whether separation anxiety is truly a concern. On Thursday鈥檚 St. Louis on the Air, she said that, as humans, we are often hypersensitive to our pet鈥檚 needs.
Mischa and her brother Dave are soaking up all the extra time with their humans. I always wondered what they did all day when we were gone. Turns out...it鈥檚 nothing.
— Shannon Miller (@notthegymnast)
鈥淒ogs come up to us because we鈥檙e the source of information, right? They don鈥檛 make decisions; we make decisions for them. When we鈥檙e not home, they make decisions, and you鈥檇 be surprised to learn that when you鈥檙e not home, most of the time your pet sleeps,鈥� Horwitz said.
鈥淏ut now that you鈥檙e home 鈥� especially if you鈥檝e been taking them for frequent walks or you go, 鈥榃hat do you want? What do you want?鈥� 鈥� all they are looking for is information. And sometimes, that information can simply be, 鈥極K, go to your bed.鈥欌��
For animals prone to anxiety 鈥� that demonstrate symptoms of separation anxiety such as destroying items, barking all day or urinating inside 鈥� she shared several tips to mitigate separation anxiety now, before things get 鈥渂ack to normal鈥� post-pandemic.
Horwitz advised taking small departures from the house.
鈥淭hey don鈥檛 need to know that you went to the park without them, but get in your car, drive away, go to the park, take a walk, come back home, and if it鈥檚 only 20 minutes or a half-hour, the dogs are getting use to [you] going out and coming back, and that鈥檚 really important if your dogs do or do not have separation anxiety,鈥� she said.
鈥淲hen it鈥檚 time for you to go back to work, they鈥檙e not going to be prepared unless you鈥檝e done some things like leaving and coming back, maybe staying away a little bit longer 鈥� just so they get used to being alone again.鈥�
鈥�鈥� brings you the stories of St. Louis and the people who live, work and create in our region. The show is hosted by and produced by , , and . The audio engineer is .
