Life changes often, and when it does, it’s easy to forget what kind of impact it could have on your dog. Simple events, like summer vacation being over and the kids going back to school, can make a dog anxious, which will show up in the way he behaves. When a dog’s life suddenly changes and he finds himself alone, separation anxiety can set in. If your dog’s emotional turmoil results in destructive behaviors, consulting with a dog trainer who is an expert in dog behavior is the most convenient and gentlest way to get to the source of the problem.
When life changes, grooming your dog can save you time, energy and expense. There are many ways to help your dog cope; Oddly enough, they tend to struggle with changing in ways that may be familiar to many humans. They sleep, play with toys and look for food. In a complex human this may not reflect the best coping skills, although it is very common, but for dogs it is perfectly natural and fine.
Basically, you need to prepare your dog by gradually decreasing activity with him. Get him used to being only in degrees. Take time to do something else with the children and make sure they stay home in a comfortable situation, possibly with some toys. If you had a dog trainer teach you how to crate train him when he was a puppy, use the crate. If it’s weird for him, don’t institute prolonged use of everything at the same time. Through increments of alone time, your schedule will already start to change before the kids actually go back to school, or a couple breaks up, or your favorite child goes off to college, or whatever it is that’s changing in home.
If the situation involves the children going to school, make sure they have a method of getting home that won’t overexcite the dog. Extremely excited dogs that are eager to see their people again may jump on them, possibly even bite them. This should be discouraged. Seeing a behavioral dog trainer can teach you methods to deal with this transition if it continues to be a problem. Ignoring the pet for the first two weeks after coming home will usually be enough for your dog to know what is expected of him. Dogs are smart and love to please us, but we need to speak their language, from pack leader to dog.
Over time, your dog will get used to the change, but hopefully not so much that he becomes anxious again when summer rolls around and the kids are home all day again. Having a professional dog trainer who can come and work in your home environment is extremely helpful in identifying numerous dynamics that you may not even be aware of, making the training process and transitions much easier.