How Does Confinement Affect Our Dog?

It's clear that COVID-19 home confinement has affected each of us to a greater or lesser extent, but we should also look at whether this situation might be affecting our dogs, and whether we can take any measures to keep its impact on our pets as small as possible.

In recent weeks, expert vets have analyzed the changes that have occurred in pets' environment as a result of confinement, and whether this situation is causing changes in dogs' behavior or behavioral problems.

Below, we'll explain the conclusions experts have reached and what general measures they recommend to prevent behavioral problems from appearing during confinement or after returning to normal life.

What Changes Has Confinement Caused in Dogs' Environment?

In recent weeks, vets specializing in behavior have conducted a study through surveys of dog owners in Spain, analyzing the changes that may have occurred in dogs' environment as a result of COVID-19 home confinement.

Mainly, two aspects of our dogs' environment have changed:

• Interaction with the owner: owners are spending more time at home during confinement, so, inevitably, the level of interaction with our dog is higher these days. Owners report playing more with their pets, hugging and petting them more, and giving dogs more treats these weeks.
• Walk duration: although the number of walks stays at an average of three per day, contrary to what we might think, walk duration during confinement has decreased. Dogs are getting the same number of walks as before confinement, but they're shorter.

How Do These Changes Affect Dogs' Behavior?

Due to confinement, the time dogs spend with their owner or family is higher than what they used to spend. In a normal week, dogs were alone an average of 5.4 hours a day. These days, dogs are spending many more hours accompanied, and this can lead to two negative situations:

• Appearance or worsening of problems being left alone: when we go back to our daily routine and dogs have to spend more time alone again, separation anxiety issues may arise, or, in dogs that had already overcome this problem, this behavior pattern may reappear, since confinement has disrupted the routine of being alone they'd already gotten used to.
• Aggression toward the family: if during these days we don't respect our dog's rest time, we could create negative reactions toward our interaction. This can especially happen when dogs have to live with young children all day long with no calm spaces where they can step away from this interaction when they need to.

The declared state of alarm has changed the nature of our dogs' walks. They've shortened in duration, so dogs have seen their activity levels drop in recent weeks.

Also, during walks, they can no longer interact with other dogs or people, so this situation is generating frustration in our dogs and can lead to behavioral problems appearing:

• Aggression toward other dogs during walks, triggered by frustration over not being able to interact with each other.
• Destroying things, urinating, or defecating indoors.
• Vocalizations.

What General Recommendations Are Suggested During This Confinement?

To prevent confinement from having a negative effect on our pet, vet experts have offered a series of general recommendations every dog owner can follow during this time.

• Play and exploration: to make up for shorter walks, we can encourage exploratory behavior at home by hiding treats in different spots, starting with easier areas and gradually increasing difficulty. We should accompany the dog during its search, pointing out where it should sniff by saying the word "find it."
• Rules during walks: since it's not possible these days to let them off-leash or interact with other dogs, it's recommended to walk with a long leash so it has freedom of movement and enough time to sniff around. If we see we're about to cross paths with another dog, we should use our voice and movements to signal to our dog that we're heading in a different direction — we can even carry treats and toss them in the direction we want to go.
• Supervise children: children can create stressful situations for a dog, so we should explain to them how to pet it (gentle strokes in the direction of the fur, on less sensitive areas like the back and sides) so the animal associates children with calm moments. We should involve them in activities the dog enjoys, like giving treats or practicing obedience commands. Any activity or interaction should be supervised by an adult. And it's very important to create a calm, safe space for the dog (its bed, for example), and make children understand that if it's in that space, they shouldn't bother it.
• Watch its diet: during these weeks, we're giving our dogs more treats than usual, and combined with shorter walks, this can lead to weight issues. Because of this, we should carefully monitor our dog's portions and adjust its daily amount if needed.
• Keep up the routine: this is an important factor, especially to prevent separation anxiety issues from appearing.

What Specific Measures Can We Take to Prevent Separation Anxiety Issues?

Nearly 50% of dog owners surveyed during the study report their dog has trouble being left alone. Some of these dogs already had the problem, others have gotten worse, and in others it's emerged during confinement.

This period of confinement, where we spend a lot of time at home, can create expectations in the dog of very close contact with its owner, which will later be broken once confinement ends, creating frustration. Because of this, there's a significant risk of adjustment problems in the post-confinement period, with the dog struggling to adapt to its daily life once we're back to our routine.

A good way to try not to disrupt the dog's routine of being left alone at home during confinement is, if several people live with it, for everyone to leave the house at the same time, so the dog is alone for some part of the day.

Coming out of confinement should be gradual, so the dog gradually gets used to being alone again. We should check whether it stays calm when alone or shows signs of anxiety, and at the slightest sign detected, we should consult a specialized vet.

Bibliography: Jaume Fatjó; Dogs and Cats in Confinement, Behavioral Problems, and How to Return to Normal.