Separation Anxiety Develops Within Puppies Bought During COVID

Dog owners are becoming distressed as they notice symptoms of separation anxiety form in pets that were bought during quarantine. 

During the initial lockdown period for COVID 19, there was a surge of pet adoptions as people searched for a way to combat the loneliness of isolation. However, after a year of staying indoors glued by their owner(s)’s side, these dogs are becoming greatly upset as they are left home alone for (what is for some of them) the first time.

“Loki is on my hip all the time. He’s a COVID puppy and he’s stuck to me…If I go outside without him, he howls and cries,” said Annick Butland, owner of one-year-old Loki, a dachshund/french bulldog mix. 

Butland adopted Loki in November of 2019 as a way to help entertain and calm her mini-dachshund Ember. She said that raising the pup in isolation changed a number of things in his training, but not all of the changes were necessarily bad. 

“It was actually very comforting because I didn’t have to leave him home. I had a lot of time to spend on training him to go outside and not to chew things. Because I was here, even though I was working, I was able to keep an eye on him a lot more,” said Butland.

As he is a small breed, Butland said that she tends to take Loki with her whenever she can. This includes everything from business trips, to grocery shopping, to car repairs. While she enjoyed the company then, she now, admittedly, takes the blame for Loki’s anxious behaviour as she begins to travel across the province for work once more.

“He gets really sad [when I leave], and he sits in the same spot on the couch until I get back, and if that’s for two days, that’s for two days. He just stays there. He doesn’t eat, he doesn’t exercise like he usually would, he doesn’t play. He just sits there,” said Butland. 

Loki exhibits this behaviour, Butland said, even if nothing in his routine changes and he has people he’s familiar with watching over him and his “older sister” Ember. The moment Butland leaves, no matter the length of time, he begins his waiting. 

“For a small period of time, it used to be okay. We never really left a whole lot, but it’s getting worse. So now he’s very much expected to be with me and for me to take him everywhere,” said Butland. 

While Butland has tried several methods to calm Loki down including crate training, treats, essential oils, and leaving a radio playing, but nothing has worked yet. She said that she will be trying another, though admittedly harder, the method next week. 

“I’m going to rip the bandaid off on Sunday. When I return my daughter to Fredericton, I’ll be leaving home for a week to work without him. Loki will be home with my husband, and his normal routine and people, but I won’t be there,” said Butland. ”It’ll be hard for both of us because I’m pretty stuck on him too.”