Dakin Humane Society: Preparing our pets for our return to work - MassLive.com

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Nobody was happier to see us become stay-at-home workers over the past several months than our pets. While we grappled with virtual technology in our sweatpants, they snoozed contentedly on top of makeshift desks or at our feet. For us, it’s been cabin fever. For them, it’s been heaven. But nothing lasts forever.

“There’s going to be (another) new normal,” according to Prairie Conlon, LMHP (Licensed Mental Health Professional) and Clinical Director of Therapetic, an online tele-health platform. Things are changing and many of us will be returning to workplaces in the weeks and months ahead. It may be exciting for us to return to the company of our colleagues and work together on-site, but our animals will face a big adjustment when we’re no longer home 24/7.

With that in mind, here are some ways you can prepare your pet for your return to work:

• Pets thrive on routine. It’ll be easier for them and you to adjust if you plan a schedule that eases them back into “business as usual” mode

• If you’ve changed your pet’s feeding schedule since you’ve been home (and added extra meals), get back to their old schedule, which you can maintain upon returning to work

• Dog walkers should return to early morning pre-work and evening post-work schedules

• Start leaving home more frequently now, and for longer periods of time. Get your pet used to the idea of you going away but coming back

• Pets read our cues like experts. If you normally wear certain clothes, grab the same lunch bag or give them a treat before leaving for work, begin these rituals now while you leave for these “trial excursions”

• If your dog stayed in a crate or behind a gate while you were at work, have them start napping there again and get used to not being by your side all day

When you do return to work, you might consider leaving some music playing for your pets while you’re gone. Classical is soothing, and so is reggae. Before you head out the door, leave your pets with a puzzle game, or toys stuffed with treats that require work to get to the goods. This is a great way to mentally tire your pets, which leads to more napping and less stressing out.

Pets won’t be the only ones affected by the changes brought by our return to the workplace. People are also creatures of habit, and routines keep most of us feeling less stressed, but we don’t know what the “new normal” will be in our lives. How do we prepare for it?

Conlon advises us to relax our expectations, since post-pandemic life will differ from our lives as they were before. Feeling worried is natural, she stated, and we need to “just take things day by day an slowly adjust to it.”

She added that our pets can actually help us adjust simply by being there. Conlon advocates petting and snuggling them, and exercising with them. Take your dog for a brisk walk, or spend some time on the floor playing with your cat or a caged pet.

Lee Chambers is media and public relations manager of the Dakin Humane Society. Dakin delivers effective, innovative services to animals in need and the people who care about them.

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Dakin Humane Society: Preparing our pets for our return to work - MassLive.com
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