Anticipating separation anxiety in dogs post Covid-19 lockdo

摘要

It is almost impossible to overstate the magnitude of change in life in the last six months. With so many people transferring work from office to home, the norm of work-day solitude for dogs was replaced with continuous company, owner attention and exercise. This heightened level of interaction is likely to have strengthened the human-animal bond, potentially creating deep attachment. For many, the extended time at home presented the opportunity to introduce a new pet, precipitating a surge in adoptions and purchases of pups. For such young pups, constant companionship may now be their only lived experience. As the world re-opens however and homes are set to be vacant for extended periods, pets will need to learn (or relearn) to cope with extended periods alone. It is reasonable to assume that the shift from full-time companionship to extended periods of separation from the owner will impact every dog to some extent. The innate ability of an animal, external factors, past experiences and the presence or absence of other companion animals will variably influence the capacity of an individual to cope with the new isolation experience. This manifests in a spectrum of expressed behaviours, from apparently passive acceptance on one end, to extreme negative and even destructive behaviour patterns as is associated with separation anxiety (SA) on the other. In 2018,9,961 dogs were surrendered to an Irish local authority shelter, of which 778 were euthanised.2The surge in dog purchases and adoptions during lockdown has prompted significant concern among animal healthcare professionalswho anticipate that, on return to work, many may find that dog ownership is unsustainable. This may be due to competing commitments such as work hours but additionally, a surge in unmanageable SA behaviour3 precipitating surrender to animal shelters is being predicted. Indeed, in previous studies behavioural issues have been reported to be the most common cause for relinquishing dogs.