I’m offering only animal behavior and bond phone consultations at this time, thanks to COVID – 19. That’s not as bad as it may sound for several reasons:
- I’ve been offering phone consultations for years, so I’m used to this form of communication.
- Social distance from other people and forced confinement with our dogs and cats presents us with revelations and opportunities we wouldn’t have otherwise.
Human-Animal Revelations Associated with Social Distancing
We may discover that those attention-seeking animal behaviors we tolerated or even enjoyed in small doses can be downright maddening when we must spend most of our time with the animal. Behaviors like
- Licking or nudging us
- Stealing forbidden objects
- Getting into the trash or counter-surfacing while we’re on the phone
- Chasing their tails or chewing or licking themselves or objects
- Barking at us or who-knows-what
- Growling or curling their lips at us or other house-bound residents for any reason
If we’re trying to work from home, these behaviors can strain the human-animal relationship as well as our relationships with other people in the household.
Another revelation is the absence of that rogue’s gallery of negative and destructive behaviors associated with separation anxiety that initially seems like a big plus… Until thoughts about how much worse these could be when our normal schedules resume and the animals must spend more time alone again.
Other revelations include coping with animal medical problems that may have a stress component when we feel so stressed ourselves. Problems such as:
- “Nervous stomach”
- Chronic or intermittent diarrhea
And the worst, coping with the impending or actual loss of a pet at such a difficult time.
Human-Animal Opportunities Created by Social Distancing
The success of any human-animal behavior and bond change depends on a consistent human response long enough for it to become the norm. Social distancing enhances this process in three ways:
- It limits many of the outside distractions that may sabotage the attempts of even those people most desirous of helping their animals.
- It makes it easier to create an environment that sets us and our animals up to succeed.
- Even if we’re working from home, we have time that we normally may have devoted to communicating, and social and other non-essential activities with others. Sure, we could spend it at home eating, drinking, glued to social media or the news, or feeling sorry for ourselves. But we could spend it helping our animal too.