How do I help my dog settle when the kids go back to school?
Kids back at school, you back at work, and a pet who was used to a full house. Move the change in small steps, and know the signs that it isn't going well.
Move it in stages. Shift mealtimes and walks by about 15 minutes a day until you land on the new time, and change nothing else while you do it. Give it a week's run-up before term starts if you can. Most dogs have settled within a fortnight. A dog who already hated being left is a separate problem, and that one starts with your vet.
Why does the new term unsettle a dog?
Dogs don't track time, they track you. The kettle at seven, the school bag by the door at half eight, keys off the hook at nine. Those markers tell your dog what happens next, and knowing what happens next is most of what makes an animal feel safe.
September pulls several of them out at once. The house empties earlier. The morning walk moves or disappears. Somebody who was around all summer isn't any more.
That's a lot to absorb in one Monday, which is why spreading it out works so much better than announcing it.
How do I move mealtimes and walks without upsetting them?
Start by writing down what's actually changing. It's usually two or three things, not ten.
Dog- Move each one by roughly 15 minutes a day. Going from a four o'clock feed to six takes eight days. Slower than you'd like, and it holds.
- Change one thing at a time. If the feed has to move, leave the walk alone. If the walk has to move, keep the same route for now.
- Get a head start. A week before term beats the first morning of it.
- Introduce anyone new in advance. If a dog walker is picking up the lunchtime walk, have them meet your dog while you're there, more than once, and let the first few walks follow the usual route.
None of that is clever. It just works better than the alternative, which is changing everything on a Monday and hoping.
What if only the mealtime is moving?
Then you might not need to retrain anything at all.
A timer holds the old mealtime in place while your hours move around it. The meal arrives when it always did, so the cue your dog cares about most never changes. Our own single meal automatic feeder does one portion on a timer and costs less than a bag of treats.
It holds one meal, so it covers a shifted lunchtime or teatime rather than a whole day. For a lot of households that's the entire problem solved for the price of a takeaway.
How do I build up time on their own?
In stages, starting while you're still in the house.
Put a baby gate between you and your dog so they can still see and hear you. Give them something worth working at. Then sit down and ignore them until they've finished. When they're done, carry on as normal rather than making a fuss.
Do that until it's boring. Then add a minute or two after they finish. Then move a few paces further away. Then out of sight. Then out of the front door for thirty seconds.
The point is that leaving stops being an event. If every departure is a performance, your dog learns that departures matter.
A stuffed rubber toy is the best tool we sell for this. The KONG Classic is the one most people end up with, and the red rubber is the standard adult grade. Pack it with their normal kibble, add a smear of something wet, and freeze it overnight. Frozen, it lasts several times longer.
Size it by weight, not by eye:
| KONG Classic size | Suits |
|---|---|
| Small | Up to 9kg |
| Medium | 7 to 16kg |
| Large | 13 to 30kg |
Between two sizes, go up. There are XL and XXL grades above these for the giant breeds. The softer puppy and senior rubber, and the black Extreme for dogs who destroy things, are explained on our dog toys page.
Two habits matter more than any product. Walk them before you go, because a dog who's already been out will usually sleep through it. And keep arrivals and departures dull at both ends.
Dogs Trust put the limit for a settled adult dog at four hours alone. If your working day runs longer, the answer is somebody calling in, not a better chew.
What are the signs my dog isn't coping?
Prop a phone up and record half an hour after you leave. Boredom and genuine distress look nothing alike once you can see them.
| What you see | What it usually means |
|---|---|
| Pacing, panting or whining while you pick up keys and shoes | They've read the cues and are worried before you've even gone |
| Barking or howling in the first few minutes | Distress rather than boredom. Ask a neighbour whether it stops or goes on |
| Indoor toileting in a house-trained dog | Anxiety, or a medical problem. Worth a vet check either way |
| Chewed doorframes, scratched doors and windowsills | A dog trying to get out, not a badly behaved one |
| The chew you left untouched | A strong signal. A relaxed dog eats |
| Licking or chewing at their own paws or tail | Self-directed, and one to raise with your vet |
Don't tell them off for any of it. They won't link a telling-off to something that happened three hours earlier, and it makes the next departure worse rather than better.
Do calming plug-ins and collars help with this?
Not with this, no, and that's why there's no shopping list at the bottom of this page.
Dogs Trust say plainly that there's no scientific evidence any over-the-counter or non-prescription product treats separation anxiety in dogs. We stock pheromone products and we'll happily sell you one for fireworks night or a long car journey, where they can take the edge off a short, specific event. Being left every weekday isn't that.
If your dog is genuinely distressed at being alone, a plug-in won't fix it, and buying one costs you weeks you could have spent on the training that does.
What about the cat?
Far less, usually. Cats aren't social in the way dogs are, and most take a changed household in their stride inside a few days.
Where they do struggle, it shows up as hiding, over-grooming, spraying, or going off their food. What helps is height and a bolt hole. A cat tree or tall scratcher does more for an unsettled cat than anything you plug in, because a vantage point is what they actually want.
If a cat stops eating, that's not a mood. Ring your vet.
When should I speak to a vet?
Book an appointment if your dog was fine being left and suddenly isn't, if they've turned more fearful generally rather than only about being alone, if they're shadowing you around the house, or if they've started toileting indoors after years of not.
Behaviour changes are very often physical. Pain, failing sight or hearing, thyroid trouble, or a urinary infection that looks exactly like a house-training relapse. Your vet rules that out first, and everything you try afterwards works better for it.
Dogs Trust also run a free behaviour support line on 0303 003 6666, seven days a week. Their separation anxiety guide is the best free resource in the UK and we'd send anyone to it.
What should I do this week?
If your dog is fine, do nothing at all. Most dogs get through September without noticing, and a settled animal doesn't need managing.
If yours is unsettled, start with the dull bit. Move the times in 15-minute steps and leave everything else where it is. Then get a KONG in the right size for their weight and use it for five minutes a day behind a baby gate, before you ever leave the house with it.
That's the whole plan. If nothing's shifted after a fortnight, ring your vet before you spend money on anything else.