Remember back in March of 2020 when they told most of the world to stay home? Many people saw this as a sign, it was the perfect opportunity to add a dog to their home. Especially when we weren’t able to see family, a dog’s companionship was seriously needed. We love their cute furry faces and love coming back home to a wagging tail and a wet nose. It has been so wonderful to have a year with our best friends. One of the side effects of the light at the end of the tunnel is that some pet owners are having a change of heart. Dog owners are now facing challenges with their dogs. Some dogs are having behavior issues. Some owners just don’t have the same amount of time to give their dogs.
There was a term coined for many of the younger dogs that were adopted over the past year-plus, pandemic puppies. Dogs and puppies were adopted at record rates starting in the spring and summer of 2020, shelters couldn’t keep up with demands. For the first time in a long time, shelters were empty or nearly empty. While the shelter employees and volunteers were excited to see dogs go home, there is always a concern when there is a surge of adoptions… the inevitability that some of those dogs will come back.
Now that people are going back to the office there has been a rise in surrender requests to the dog shelters. People are spending longer hours at work. They have vacations planned again. They feel guilty about their furry friend being at home alone. Unfortunately, there are also more behavioral cases for surrender. Some of the dogs adopted just weren’t able to get the training and socialization that the dog owners wanted to give them because of restrictions on their health or the health of their family caused.
Many dogs do not walk on a leash well. They are pulling on their owners and aren’t the best-mannered dogs. Lots of dogs are now reactive to people or dogs because they just weren’t able to get that socialization during the past year. Owners say they just can’t handle their dogs anymore. After the last year’s stress, the thought of having a dog that needs work is overwhelming. Our dogs weren’t able to learn how to relax since they always had their people around. Dog owners aren’t alone with these doggie issues. Sure, there is work to do, but I can reassure you that it will be okay.
As humans, sometimes we have a hard time looking into the future with optimism, we are pessimists sometimes. That is probably one of the reasons humans are still around, though! We know what could go wrong and we can’t get it out of our heads. Take a moment and believe in your abilities and your dog’s abilities, though. If you made it through watching Tiger King, you can make it through dog training. Although, to be honest, I am not as entertaining.
Our dogs become acclimated to our homes over time. They even begin to see it as their home after a manner of a few months. They feel secure and they feel safe. Dogs are fearful at the shelters because it is loud and it isn’t home. When someone makes the difficult decision to take a dog to the shelter, it isn’t easy on either of them. The people feel bad for surrendering their dog, and the dog has a really difficult time settling at a shelter. I am not all shaming when someone has to surrender their dog, but there are ways we can work and train around the issues that people are having now. So, if you want to be able to keep your dog in your home, have hope, there are things we can do to make it better for all involved!
If your concerns are about your long hours at work, find someone to come take your dog out during the day while you are gone. Both you and your dog will feel better about your hours at work. Bonus if the person will take your dog on a nice long walk, I always suggest a target time of an hour-long walk! Exercise is important for our furry friends; hiring someone to care for your dog can relieve the stress on you. This also alleviates your concern that you don’t have the time for a dog anymore.
If you know you have vacations coming up, it can be scary to think about what you are going to do with your dog. You can find a facility to board your dog at (I highly recommend Pooch Palace). But, you can also take your dog on vacation with you! We have a trip booked this summer and we are taking our four dogs with us. I am excited to have a vacation with my pups! We are going to take them hiking and everything. Leading up to the trip, I plan to get the dogs used to long car rides again since we haven’t been on a long trip in a while. We found a super pet-friendly Airbnb in the woods of Tennessee! Happy day! Camping is also a fun activity to do with your dogs. There are ways to work past the concerns that people are having (all of which are valid).
If you are busier now that life is back closer to normal, make some adjustments to your social life. If you can now enjoy meeting friends for dinner, it would be great for you to go to dog-friendly restaurants. Just bring your dog to hang out with your friends! It does take work to get them familiar with going to restaurants, that is why I have a course specifically designed for taking dogs to restaurants! There are several dog-friendly places here in town. People’s has a great patio and I take my Hops and Hounds students there. Good food and good beer just go great with dogs. Chances are if the restaurant has a patio, it is dog-friendly. Just call around and ask.
One thing that I know shelters are always concerned about, what is going to happen to the dogs if the owners cannot keep them. If you do need to surrender your dog, contact the specific rescue they were adopted from. Many rescues have return policies and do their very best to make space for dogs that were adopted from them. You should never give your dog away for free on an ad. The shelters know how to vet people for adoption and they run background checks and everything.
I’ll just end this with this, it will be okay. You got through the past year, you can get through this.
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