Fall schedule changes are ruff for everyone—even your dog—so we’d like to share these six dog training tips to help them adjust.
This year more than ever, there’s going to plenty of big adjustments as adults go back to work, and kids go back to school. These changes can also affect your canine companion. After all, they’ve enjoyed all the summer hikes and walks together as much as you have. But now, it’s coming to an end, and people won’t be home all day to keep your furry friend company. Or, if you are working from home or have children learning at home, your dog may be wondering why you all spend more time petting the keyboard than you do them! These types of schedule changes can create stress for your dog and provoke bad dog behaviors such as excessive barking and destruction. Here’s how to anticipate this change and some dog training tips that can help your best bud deal better too.
6 Dog Training Tips For When SCHEDULING Gets Ruff
Establish a routine and stick to it
Routines make dogs feel safe and secure because they know they will get the food, attention, and care they need. But, a significant schedule change can make it easy to stray from your regular schedule, and miss feeding or walking your dog at a regular time. Before you know it, a regular feeding time of 6 p.m. becomes 5 or 8 p.m. on hectic days. One of our big dog training tips is to do your best to keep your pet’s schedule running like clockwork.
Give them something to do
Your dog probably loved having plenty of attention and entertainment with the children at home for the summer or when you were working remotely. But that could all change soon. As you get busier, make sure that your dog has what they need to be entertained too. If they’re treat motivated, try giving the dog a bone or chew that takes a long time to eat. If your dog digs toys, try something interesting to chew but challenging to destroy. If you give your pup something to do, they’re less likely to try interrupting online school with a game of fetch. Or, doing something worse, like finding an activity to keep them busy such as chewing your new heels!
Stay on track for regularly scheduled care
Just like you need to see the doctor or dentist or hairstylist or set some time to get moving, your dog needs their regularly scheduled care appointments too. Making regular appointments for the vet, grooming, or play days at the park will help make sure they get the regular care they need for their health and also bring some excitement to life. For some people, if it’s not on the calendar, it doesn’t happen! If that’s the case for you, consider scheduling walks, hikes, and playtime or even setting timers for walks and feedings to make sure your dog gets what they need.
Let them participate
If your dog can stay in the room without disrupting your work or your children’s learning, it’s more than OK to allow them to sit at your feet while you work or sit with your kids while they do homework. For some dogs, it can even be entertaining! Often, your dog just wants to be a part of the family activity. When you let them listen while your kids practice violin, or sit next to them while you read, they feel included and loved.
Consider in-home training
For many people, the major change in schedule isn’t just that school and work are back to full swing. It’s that it’s back in full swing from home! Everyone is struggling to adjust and learn how to keep a schedule at home, especially your dog. For some, it can be too much. If your dog can’t be in the room without trying to force a game of tug-of-war, sitting in your lap on the laptop, or staring at you relentlessly until you pet their head, you may want to consider professional training. With in-home training, we can help you and your family set boundaries. We’ll help you decide what boundaries need to be established and teach your dog how to respect them. We can also help your dog learn how to stay calm while you work, so they aren’t expecting your 24/7 attention.
Consider daycare with DGA!
For some dogs, lounging all day is truly paradise, especially if they aren’t very active and don’t require much exercise. But, for high-energy dogs sitting around the house all day with nothing to do and no one to visit is the worst. No matter their activity level, any dog will begin to feel bored and lose what they’ve learned in training after months and months of the same lazy monotony. Keep your pup up-to-scruff with regular training, socialization, and exercise with Daycare at Dog Gone Amazing. We offer a two-day, three-day, and five-day weekly program that keeps your dog training sharp and makes sure they are thoroughly entertained, get lots of attention, and plenty of exercise.
There you have it, our six dog training tips to help your pup adjust to this new normal. Now, if we could only write the same thing for humans!