Help Pets Beat the Back to School Blues

Summer is drawing to a close and that means our kids will be headed back to school soon. Don’t forget that this annual event can create a lot of stress for our pets who have become accustomed to having their mini-humans around during the summer. In fact, studies show that pets can become just as depressed as any human when their best friends return to school.

Watch for Symptoms of Depression

Symptoms of depression in your pets can include:

• Lack of energy
• Appetite loss
• Hiding
• Cowering
• Refusal to play
• Restlessness

Remember that separation anxiety and depression look quite different in pets. Separation anxiety is usually manifested as “bad” behavior. For example, your dog may get into the garbage, claw at windows or bark if they are suffering from separation anxiety.

Depression often manifests itself as “down” behavior. For example, your pet may not want to get out of their bed in the morning, refuse to eat, or retreat into a quiet area.

This is why it’s important to plan for the event — not only with your kids, but with your pets. Here are some tips for making the transition as smooth as possible.

Change Schedules Gradually

Routine is very important for your pet’s health. One of the best things you can do for you, your kids, and your pets is to begin changing their schedules about a month before school begins.

You can help everyone adjust by getting up 10 min earlier than usual each morning, eat an earlier breakfast, then pack up and head off to run errands for a few hours (to emulate the time you’ll be away for school).

Start with short “away” times and increase the time as needed during the day. This will help both your kids and your pets to adjust to changing schedules.

Provide playtime

Just as with humans, it’s not healthy for the brain or body to be “bored”. Staying busy is the key to surviving down time. There are plenty of options to keep your dog from pacing nervously. Smart puzzle toys and interactive chews can give your dog lots of time to focus on other things while you’re in the home and can supervise, but get them on a schedule that coordinates with the times your kids would normally be eating breakfast. This will help your pets equate the kids “pre-leaving” time with a fun activity.

While you’re away, provide safe, interactive chews for your pet. Most dogs love a large Kong toy stuffed with a delicious filling that you can freeze the night before.

Exercise

An intense round of fetch in the morning followed by a long evening walk can go a long ways towards alleviating boredom and stress. Take some morning time to burn off that excess energy and encourage your dogs to nap while the kids are away to school.

Each day after school, make sure your kids take their dogs out for another walk or game of fetch. This helps equate the return of your kids from school with a happy time.

Use Natural Calmants

There are plenty of natural calmants available — from pheromones to herbal remedies. Patience and planning is the key to making these work. Not every animal will respond to each fix and so it’s important to find the most effective one prior to needing it.

If you’re not sure how your pet is doing, technology has given us some great resources to monitor your pet’s activity — from GPS activity tracking collars to remote video cameras that allow you to interact with your pets while you’re away from home.

Diet

When the kids are away, your dog may not be as active. Keep a close eye on their weight and change their diet as needed. If you have multiple pets and “free feed”, you may want to invest in some smart feeders that help keep pets out of the other’s bowl. There are also plenty of automatic feeders in which you can store small meals during the day) and others that sense which pet is near the food bowl and only feed any given meal to a specific pet, closing before the others can get to the food.

It’s important that you don’t disregard your pets during this time. Remember that your dogs will miss you while you’re away — these tips will help make the adjustment as easy as possible.