Back-to-School and fall in general can be a chaotic time. You’ve spent months of summer enjoying the sunshine and it’s time to get back to routine. Early wake ups and bedtimes, extracurricular activities, lunches, less daylight hours and of course still care for the dog. It’s easy to see how they might get a little less attention as schedules fill up.

Throughout the summer, our dogs have had their people close to them. They’ve had someone around to bust up boredom, spend more time with them, maybe you’ve been doing fun things like hiking and camping, or taking the dogs to your kids baseball and soccer games and in general, you’ve just plain interacted with them more.

Now, they watch their family start leaving for the day, being home less and not having the same amount of quality time with them. While some dogs do just fine with the changes, for others, this can can incite anxiety, boredom and frustration.

GETTING YOUR DOG READY

The easiest way to transition your dog from summer to fall, it to slowly increase along time for them over a period of days or weeks leading to the start of school. This helps to desensitise your pet to the longer periods alone. If your dog has spend very little time alone throughout the summer, start with short 30 min sessions. Leave for 30 mins and then come back. Do this a few times a day slowly increasing by 10-15 min. If your dog was left alone for periods of time throughout the summer, you may be able to start at 3-4 hours out of the house for a week and then 5-8 hours a few times the following week.

Puzzle toys are an excellent choice for helping to curb the boredom and loneliness. We have a great post on Enrichment ideas that you can find here.

HYPERACTIVITY AND DEPRESSION

The back-to-school/work transition can be tough for dogs in other ways, too. When you are busy, you don’t have as much time for your dog and that means their walks and playtime become shorter or less frequent and they are on their own more often.

If you have a high energy dog, the transition to fall can cause a build-up of frustration and excitement that can lead to behavior challenges. A dog without good regular outlets for physical and mental stimulation is much more likely to explode with jumping, vocalizing and rough play when you are around than one who is having those needs met.

On the flip side, even if your dog isn’t showing signs of separation anxiety, being left alone can be depressing. A bored or depressed dog may not enjoy things the way they used to and could isolate themselves from the family when they are home. Watching a happy, fulfilled dog transition to a depressed one, is heartbreaking.

So, now you know it’s essential to include your dog’s needs among your list of priorities but when you only have the time or energy for a bare minimum of walks and play, how do you manage? If you absolutely can’t give your dog the attention, physical exercise and mental stimulation that they require, its time to consider a dog walker or pet sitter to help!