Now generally, we talk about various topics that relate to human beings — but I know there are plenty of pet parents or animal companions, or whatever you like to call yourself in relation to your fur baby, and I've heard from some folks about the topic of pet anxiety.

That's a very real thing. As people begin to head back into the office, dogs and cats that have adjusted to their owners' presence in the last year might have their own set of adjustments to make. So what can we do to help them transition? I don't have the answer. That's why we call on an expert: Dr. Kristi Flynn, an assistant professor at the Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences at the University of Minnesota.

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Jill Riley: Okay, so, pet anxiety? Is that a real term? Maybe there's a better one, maybe not. But what does pet anxiety look like? Is it something more common with dogs, or can it hit any pet?

Kristi Flynn: It can hit any pet...but certainly dogs seem to be more prone to exhibiting anxiety, cats being a little more independent. But we certainly see really attached cats that might have a hard time with owners kind of going back to the office.

In dogs, anxiety manifests itself in a lot of different ways. People think of the classic whining, pacing, being near us and maybe hyper-attached or sort of fixated on one person. But other things can be more subtle. In the veterinary clinic, just panting in a room that's normal, comfortable temperature: that could be a mild sign of anxiety.

How can people help prepare their pets for the the human being in the household returning to work? Maybe there are a couple of different camps: those who have had the pet in the household for a while, so it was was the routine being disrupted. But I know a few people who adopted dogs right before the pandemic hit, and so that dog doesn't know any different.

Yeah. And it's going to feel very abrupt for them if we don't kind of pick a few steps in between to try to help ease that transition. Really simple things that I recommend even for all puppy owners, or dog owners, to get on the right foot is making departures and return non-events.

Like everybody, you know, I get home from work, and I just want to be like, "I'm so happy! I've missed you! I'm so glad to see you!" But we have to sort of resist that temptation. Because basically, if the dog is alone, and it's very boring, and nothing good is happening, and then you return and all this wonderful lot of praise is given to them, it makes it really clear to them that good things happen while you're home and nothing good happens while you're away.

So as hard as it can be...you don't have to be cold, it's sort of about 10 minutes prior to leaving. And then again, 10 minutes after you return, try to just be calm and quiet and kind of get into Zen mode. Of course, if you have to take the dog out to eliminate when you get home or something, put the leash on, don't make a big fuss, just go outside. And then after you've been around for a while, that can be the time that you can really kind of start to really pet them and give them lots of attention.

And again, when you're leaving, if you kind of ignore them or not talk to them a lot, just sort of ignore them, just go about your business when it's time to leave. There are a lot of great food puzzle toys: products that you could put treats or canned dog food and and freeze it or something like that. And so then kind of ignoring the thing, getting ready to go. And then just as you're about to walk out the door, set up a special treat that has something to do with this, set it down and then walk away. And then hopefully, the dog can kind of learn to anticipate your departure: it actually means something better is coming their way. It can make it less stressful for them.

Overall, if you have a pandemic puppies that's really never experienced [you] leaving for eight hours, you can start that by giving [the puppy] that treat, closing a door where you might think you would want to leave them while you're gone, and just maybe even walk outside for five minutes and come back in. Again, practicing that not making a big to do and fuss about coming back in the house. Then we can build on those small steps so that hopefully, when it comes to actually going into the office for a full day is not really as concerning.

It's great advice. I know as a pet parent that sometimes I make too big of a deal about leaving the house and it's because I'm going to miss them...when I know that those two cats who live with me are not going to care. That's just the way it is at my house, but I'm the one who can kind of project that onto them sometime. Does every pet need special attention to adjust? How can you really know until it starts happening?

That's a good question. I think kind of back to those signs of anxiety: looking at their body language. Their response to things can help us kind of better identify which pets are going to require a little more of an adjustment. I think about my mom, who has been home with her Chihuahua, so he's very attached. For her to even go to the office, that would be very shocking for him. Like you said, maybe your cats or other dogs that have been around for 10 years...my old dog will just won't even hardly notice that I've gone.

Take the whole picture: if I'm in the yard, and I go into the house, is the dog standing there at the door anxiously waiting for me? Or are they just busy doing their own thing? I think we can recognize which dogs might be more concerned about us going back into the office space. And some of those other situations: how do they respond if I just had to run to the store? Do I come home and it's clear that they haven't rested the whole time? Are they scratching on the door? There can be more serious manifestations of separation anxiety; those pet parents should definitely contact their veterinarian and maybe look for medication help and more specific trainers or regimens, things that they can do to try to help the guys that might be a little extra concerned about that kind of an adjustment. Having a little time now to tackle that in a more proactive way would be really important.

If somebody, let's say, in a couple months, they've kind of tried to practice the entrance and the exit [but their pet still has anxiety]...contact the vet, and there's still hope there that all isn't lost?

It can be a little bit of a labor intensive kind of adjustment to try to retrain a dog that has more serious manifestations of separation anxiety. But absolutely, it is actually one of the more treatable conditions. It just takes this really slow systematic approach of starting with you leaving for two seconds while they're still comfortable, because you've sort of set them up in this comfortable spot, and then some sort of steps to help ease their anxiety. And so then we can kind of build on that, but in the meantime, we kind of have to find ways to keep our pet from being alone and really experiencing that severe anxiety.

So that might be finding a friend or neighbor that could maybe watch your dog while you're away. We have doggy daycare options and things like that around the Twin Cities. We might have to find some sort of temporary way to kind of keep them from experiencing that severe anxiety, while we kind of retrain them to find comfort in being home alone and recognize that it doesn't mean we're never coming back. It's just temporary.

I don't want to send people down the Google rabbit hole too much. Probably just call up the vet, right?

Yep, I think give the veterinarian a call...or we have some really good certified professional animal trainers in the area, people that can really help with the actual day-to-day training and implementation of new or more desirable behaviors to replace behaviors that aren't functioning in our household.

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