When it came time for 8-year-old golden retriever Zephyr to retire, he didn’t know what to do.
Animals In North Korea
In South Korea, one out of 4 households raises pet animals, with the number of pet owners surpassing 10 million. The local pet care market is expanding fast, while the government and civic organizations are making efforts to create a new culture where people and companion pets can live in harmony. So what about the situation in the northern part of the Korean Peninsula? Today, we’ll learn about companion animals in North Korea from Professor Chung Eun-chan at the Institute for Unification Education.
The term “companion animal” is rather unfamiliar to North Koreans. An extreme economic contraction gave rise to the market, through which individuals accumulated wealth in the communist nation. Some people who belong to the new wealthy class keep pet dogs, but only a few people can actually afford to do so.
In general, North Korea uses companion animals as one of the key subjects to criticize capitalism. Many pet owners here in South Korea put cute clothes on their pet dogs, invest much money on them and regard them as their family members. But North Korea’s leading newspaper has always described this practice as part of a decadent capitalistic culture. However, it seems the situation has changed a bit these days, as some local residents raise dogs as pets.
In North Korea, there is no Korean word referring to “companion animals.” But the word “pets” does exist. Companion animals are generally considered to be support animals that live with humans as “companions,” in a literal sense. On the other hand, it seems “pets” are seen by North Koreans as animals that belong to humans, who can treat or control them as they like.
The expression “pet animals” appeared in North Korea in the late 1980s, when those in the upper class, including officials of the ruling Workers’ Party, began to raise dogs as a pet. In the late 1990s, foreign currency-based shops in Pyongyang began to sell small dogs. North Korea’s popular magazine, “Chollima,” carried a story that dogs can support humans emotionally, and former North Korean leader Kim Jong-il recommended people to keep pet dogs. Naturally, the number of pet owners began to rise in North Korea. In the early 2000s, some cute dog breeds like the Maltese and Shih Tzu were so popular that people in Pyongyang paid about as much as 500 US dollars to get them. Professor Chung explains the type of people who prefer to keep pets in the North.
Firstly, sick or disabled people live with pet dogs for physical or emotional support. Secondly, those in the upper class or the new wealthy class, which surfaced after the economic hardship in the 1990s, have accepted the foreign culture of raising pet dogs. Those in the higher class believe that walking with a fine dog makes them stand out and look a bit more upscale. According to a North Korean defector who had worked in the field of veterinary medicine in the North, a Pungsan puppy dog was priced at 30 to 40 US dollars, with the price for the best dog breeds being up to 100 dollars. That’s a staggering amount of money for an ordinary North Korean worker. Nevertheless, some people choose to raise pets, indicating that the culture of favoring pets is taking root in the North.
While some families keep pet dogs, as Professor Chung just explained, most farmers in North Korea are required to raise livestock distributed by the authorities. State-run farms and collective farms distribute domestic animals to local farmers, who have to produce a certain amount of meat. For that purpose, farming families prefer to raise pigs, rabbits, sheep or goats, rather than dogs or cats.
Local farmers must offer 20 kilograms of pork to the military each year. That means it is mandatory for farmers to raise livestock. Sometimes, farmers resolve the food problem by offering pigs they have raised to collective farms and receive corn in return. In the process of overcoming economic difficulties, the authorities staged a massive campaign of raising domestic animals such as rabbits, goats and pigs. As a result, livestock farming has expanded in the nation.
According to a report released by the Research Center for Livestock Industry of North Korea at Konkuk University in South Korea in 2018, there were 3 million rabbits in North Korea in 1995. But the number shot up to 30 million in 2017, as a result of the livestock breeding campaign. The report also said that South Korea has four to six times as many cows, pigs and chicken as North Korea, but the North has more than 80 times as many rabbits as the South. Why do the North Korean authorities encourage local farmers to breed rabbits, among other animals?
Most of all, rabbits are indeed prolific breeders. They also only eat grass to grow quickly, so farmers don’t have to give them any other type of feed. North Korea promoted rabbit breeding even before the economic difficulties. At the time, students were to raise four to five rabbits a year and offer rabbit skin to their schools. After the economic crisis, rabbits have been raised as one of the food sources as well. The grass-eating animal is helpful for resolving the food shortage problem without great expense. Now factories, farms and general households are encouraged to take part in the rabbit breeding campaign. The campaign has another purpose of following the instruction of former leaders Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il.
South and North Korea have engaged in brisk livestock exchanges before, although overall cross-border interchanges have been suspended now.
In the pig-raising cooperation project, for example, pig farms were built at three regions in the Mt. Geumgang area in North Korea from 2005 and a South-North joint team was organized to manage the project. South Korean veterinarians visited the North Korean pig farms once a month to check the facilities there and give instructions, when necessary.
On April 7, 2006, eleven piglets were born at a pig farm in Goseong(고성) County near Mt. Geumgang in North Korea. They were the result of the breeding of pigs contributed by a South Korean company called Darby Genetics to North Korea in October 2005. Interestingly, the pigs sent from South Korea were called “pig defectors” by North Koreans. In September 2008, there were 240 piglets, and the number of adult pigs rose to 27. In addition to the three pig farms in the Mt. Geumgang area, another pig farm was set up in Gaeseong as well.
The second inter-Korean summit took place in October 2007, when then-South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun visited Pyongyang. As part of follow-up measures, the two Koreas agreed to jointly establish and operate a pig farm that would accommodate 5,000 pigs in Pyongyang. The two sides held three rounds of working-level talks to discuss the matter. So, we can see inter-Korean exchanges were also carried out in the field of pig-raising.
Unfortunately, the agreed project was suspended, due to deteriorating inter-Korean relations. At present, South Korea isn’t even sure if the pig farms in the Mt. Geumgang area are still properly operated.
Here’s hoping that a breakthrough will be found in inter-Korean exchanges quickly so the two sides can resume bilateral cooperation in stockbreeding and also promote the culture of companion animals together.
Groomer Says Dogs Are Struggling
While pet grooming businesses are considered nonessential during the COVID-19 pandemic, the owner of a Buzzards Bay grooming salon says that animals are suffering during the enforced closures.
Marybeth Spencer, the owner of Pampered Paws Pet Salon on MacArthur Boulevard, said that getting a pet groomed goes beyond cosmetics and that not being able to access the service is affecting the health and well-being of her clients.
“Some dogs haven’t had their nails done since March,” she said. “Some dogs have severe skin conditions that need medical shampoos that vets do not provide.”
Without regular grooming, dog fur can become heavily matted and knotted. Some dogs cannot see well because their fur has grown over their eyes, Ms. Spencer said.
She added that many clients have appointments every four to six weeks to manage their fur and nails.
“We have our hands on dogs more than veterinarians because we see these dogs sometimes every one to four weeks,” she said. “We can point out lumps, bumps, abscesses and problems they’re having with their ears and mouths.”
Groomers are assets to the health of the dogs they service, but it is frustrating is that some grooming businesses are operating under the radar, she said.
While the first reopening phase statewide is expected to start next week, Ms. Spencer said that pet groomers have not been told whether they will be included in the first phase. Since their work involves being in close contact with animals instead of people, she is hoping that she will be able to open her doors again soon.
“We can retrieve the dog from the car or have them put them inside our door without even walking inside. We can use masks, gloves, and our own leashes that are sanitized after each and every dog,” she said.
Also, the grooming stations at Pampered Paws are more than six feet apart.
If the state gives the industry the green light to open Monday, May 18, the short notice might make it difficult to quickly have her employees ready to go again, Ms. Spencer said.
Beyond that, since many of the dogs have gone months without being groomed, each appointment will likely take longer and cost more than it usually would.
“It is not fair to the dogs or the parents of the pup,” Ms. Spencer said.
Pampered Paws also has a wait list right now of more than 200 dogs.
As a woman under the age of 30 who has built a successful business on Cape Cod, Ms. Spencer said that, while it is upsetting to watch her business struggle, she said she has seen some dogs that had been seriously neglected before the pandemic and she is very concerned about what those dogs are going through now.
“Dogs don’t have a voice like humans, they can’t brush their hair every day, they can’t wash themselves and they can’t do the things to take care of themselves. They only have us!” she said.
Dog Grooming Services Open
Is pet grooming an essential service? If you’ve pondered that during this crisis, you’re not alone.
Pet owner Steve Kiraly of Blue Bell is starting to have trouble recognizing his dog. His 7-year-old cocker spaniel normally gets groomed every five weeks, but the pooch’s regular groomer is closed.
“Why can’t dog groomers be open?” he asked. “She has never looked this raggedy. My wife has thought about it. She has trimmed a little around the eyes, but that’s it.”
Although many dog grooming salons and shops have temporarily halted services, some veterinarians and mobile businesses in the Philadelphia region still offer grooming.
Uncle Aaron Grooms LLC, a mobile dog grooming service in Delaware, has been extremely busy — and open. Owner Aaron Rivera said dogs are pampered inside the truck while the groomer wears personal protective equipment.
“Luckily, we have the blessing of one client at a time,” he said, “so it’s not like a constant rotation of people coming in while we are working.”
There’s also the DIY route in Cherry Hill at Pet Supplies Plus, where pet owners can wash their animals themselves — tub and soaps provided — for $10.
Certified personnel offer nail trimmings too.
Becky Cusato can cut nails for dogs, cats and even bearded dragon lizards.
“It’s just like a normal nail clipping,” she said of the reptiles. “Their nails are kind of like a cat’s nails, so they are just long and skinny and you kind of just clip them with really small nail clippers.”
USPS Trying To Prevent Dog Bites
The U.S. Postal Service is asking dog owners to keep their animals secured when deliveries are being made.
The Postal Service says while it continues to fulfill its mission of providing essential services – the delivery of information and goods – to residents, they ask dog owners to take the needed steps for the protection of mail carriers.
The Postal Service is offering the following tips to dog owners:
When a carrier delivers mail or packages to your front door, place your dog in a separate room and close that door before opening the front door. Dogs have been known to burst through screen doors or plate-glass windows to attack visitors.
Parents should remind children and other family members not to take mail directly from carriers in the presence of the family pet. The dog may view the carrier handing mail to a family member as a threatening gesture.
If a carrier feels threatened by a dog, or if a dog is loose or unleashed, the owner may be asked to pick up mail at their local post office or another facility until the carrier is assured the pet has been restrained.
The Postal Service says one bite is too many, when your mail carrier arrives, make sure your dog is properly restrained.
Feeding The Street Dogs
When 25-year-old Megha Jose heard of street dogs in the industrial city of Coimbatore starving as they could not find food due to the Covid-19 lockdown, she and a group of animal lovers swung into action. Since the last week of March, Jose and 50-odd volunteers are feeding around 1,500 street dogs in various parts of Coimbatore every day to ensure they do not go hungry.
Jose, who quit her job in Cisco and returned to Coimbatore to join her family business, is not new to rescuing and saving street dogs. She runs a not-for-profit organization, The Pawsome People Project, that is involved in sterilizing the street dog putting them in homes, and the organization aims at transforming them into “service dogs.” The NGO, which was launched in September 2019, has been working to reduce the overpopulation of street dogs that leads to their abandonment and death. “To be honest, this (feeding street dogs) was not on our minds, when the Covid-19 lockdown came into force in the last week of March. We came to know that several street dogs are starving, and a cat died too due to lack of food and that is when we decided to pitch in. We are 50 volunteers now going around the city to feed 1,500 dogs every day,” Jose told DH. The volunteers are mostly professionals and college students who are confined to their homes now. With restaurants and other food outlets in the city downing their shutters due to the lockdown, street dogs that depend on discarded food began starving. The Pawsome People Project decided to put its social media handles to optimum use to generate funds for feeding the street dogs that depend on discarded food began starving. The Pawsome People Project decided to put its social media handles to optimum use to generate funds for feeding the street dogs and the “overwhelming” response proved that people indeed love animals.
New Support Dog, Marlee
Anyone who has been a victim of a crime can attest to how emotional the process following the incident can be. That’s where Madison and Marlee come in.
The pair are both victim advocates with Victim Services Lethbridge Corridor.
Marlee and Madison might have the same job, but their handler Adonus Arlett said their personalities couldn’t be more different.
“Madison doesn’t like to carry a stick, Marlee will carry three or four sticks in her mouth at once and a teddy bear.”
Marlee is the newest member of the team. At just two-years-old, her personality is perfect for the heavy caseload the dogs face.
“With Marlee, things just roll off her back, she doesn’t take things to heart, she’s pretty chill that way,” Arlett said. Eight-year-old Madison is retiring a little early. She is a highly trained to support in emotional and stressful situations like filing police reports or testifying in court.
“No matter what we did to debrief her, she was finding it harder and harder to let go of her days and it started to wear on her just like anybody else who isn’t able to let go of their jobs. You see depression and post-traumatic stress,” Arlett said.
It takes a special kind of animal to offer the quiet, obedient support a young victim may need.
“They get to be the silent advocates where I can’t go. The dogs will hold onto someone’s hand, they’ll kiss them, they’ll let them know that it’s OK, they are not alone, someone’s there with them,” said Arlett.
Madison and Marlee are from an accredited service organization called Dogs with Wings, and go through a rigorous two-year training program.
“If we are going to have these dogs work with vulnerable populations, if we are going into professional buildings like the courthouse or the Crown’s office or police agencies, they have to know their job and we need to trust and understand in their training that they are bombproof, really,” Arlett said.
The dog program is done on a volunteer basis and relies on community support and donations.
Currently, the Kingsmen Club of Coaldale and the Kingsmen Club of Lethbridge along with Ranch Docs are supporting the program.
Service Dog Training
Peek through the large windows of the low-slung brick building at 667 E. Calhoun St. and you might see two 40-pound, 6-month-old black Labrador retrievers being put through their paces by trainer and Woodstock resident Kirk Halma. The energetic pups sit, lie down, stay, come, and heel at the sound of Halma’s voice and with a simple motion of his hand.
But these are no ordinary dogs, nor is Halma doing ordinary family pet training.
Halma, through his nonprofit True Blue Dogs, is training the canines to be service dogs for people who live with psychiatric and/or physical disabilities.
While most people are familiar with guide dogs for the blind, service dogs can help those who suffer from anxiety, depression, or post-traumatic stress disorder.
A service dog is trained to alert its owner at the first indication of panic or anxiety, signaling the person to begin breathing exercises or meditation, as well as fetch medication for the owner.
In addition to assisting its owner during a crisis, a service dog is a constant companion, a source of calm for someone who finds tranquility elusive.
“You train a dog to become something special,” Halma said, “to help a person live a normal life.”
Halma’s journey
After a career in commercial development, Halma started K-9 Motivation 11 years ago, training about 1,200 dogs to be well-behaved family pets.
“I worked with the dogs that no one else wanted to work with,” Halma said.
Despite working with many “problem” dogs, Halma estimates that 98 percent were trainable.
But it was after training a German shepherd as a service dog for a domestic abuse victim in 2014 that Halma discovered his true calling.
“That was the best training – the best thing – I’ve ever done,” he said.
Halma taught the dog to alert its owner when it sensed an oncoming panic attack, as well as to retrieve the owner’s medication.
After Halma attended a conference in St. Louis about training service dogs, he was even more enthused about what service dogs could do, but he came home with a critical takeaway.
“There was no way I could do this alone,” Halma said.
Fortunately for Halma, his wife, Kate, had experience with nonprofits and shared her husband’s passion for the project. She could navigate the process of setting up a 501(c)(3) and the complicated procedure to get the necessary federal and state approvals.
The couple asked several friends, some of whom had dogs that Kirk had trained, to serve as a board of directors, with Kirk as founder and director of training and Kate as executive president. They sent off their nonprofit application in 2017 and then waited a year-and-a-half to receive federal approval, a delay due in part to the month-long government shutdown in 2018-19.
True Blue Dogs
When the dogs work in public, they wear a vest with the True Blue Dogs logo. The name evokes the dedication, loyalty, companionship, and bond between service dogs and their owners.
“If you see a dog in a True Blue Dogs vest,” Halma said, “you know that dog is a service dog.”
A service dog’s specialized training is “a lot of work,” he said.
The training begins with breeding. Labrador retrievers and golden retrievers make the best service dogs, Halma said, with some German shepherds also good candidates.
A North Carolina organization, Project2Heal, breeds dogs for the intellect, temperament, and robust health that a service dog requires. Project2Heal staff members nurture and socialize the puppies during their first eight weeks of life.
Buying a puppy to train as a service dog can cost between $1,500 and $3,000. Project2Heal grants its dogs to trainers in whom the organization has confidence to carry out the necessary specialized training.
Marlee, a 6-month-old black Lab female, was a grant from Project2Heal to True Blue Dogs. In March, Halma will receive a red fox Lab from the same organization.
“Project2Heal is a phenomenal partner,” Halma said. “To be chosen [as the recipient of a puppy] that early in our process is a huge compliment to start out.”
Marlee and her male companion, Montana, named for his home state, are in the midst of their year of specialized training with Halma. In addition to mastering obedience, they work on equipment that Halma has in his studio.
When Halma pulls out a metal-and-plastic bridge, the dogs are learning to focus. The apparatus looks like a gymnast’s balance beam, with one ramp leading up and another down. The dogs walk, sit, and lie down on the bridge. Montana is even comfortable turning around on the thin structure.
To acclimate the dogs to enclosed spaces, Halma pulls out a tunnel that resembles a Slinky toy with a nylon covering. The dogs enter the tunnel and race out the other side. That helps the dogs grow comfortable with small spaces, so that one day they can sit calmly at their owners’ feet under a restaurant table, for example.
After a year, Halma and his board will match each dog with an applicant. Then Halma will begin the customized training of the dog with its recipient, a process that could take an additional six months.
Great need, many applicants
When Halma began mulling the switch from pet training to service dog training, he wanted to know how many people could benefit from having a service dog. He found that 20 percent of the people living in the U.S. in 2010 were disabled in some way, a total of 68.5 million people.
“[The figure] twisted my brain,” Halma said.
Currently, the nation has about 200,000 service dogs, or one dog for every 325 people who are disabled and might benefit from having a service dog.
Anecdotal evidence bears out the strong demand. Halma’s mentor – Behesha Doan, founder of This Abled Veterans of Carbondale – trains 12 service dogs a year and receives 200 applications from people wanting a dog.
Although Marlee and Montana are still nearly a year from being ready to serve clients, True Blue Dogs has already received two applications.
The application process itself is arduous. Anyone requesting a dog must fill out a 27-page form. The hardest thing to do, Halma said, is to decide which applicant should get an animal.
“The dog has to be placed with a person who is committed to getting well,” he said.
“The dog does not heal the person; the dog helps the person heal himself.”
Costly enterprise
The full cost of training each dog runs between $25,000 and $50,000, Halma said. Insurance companies’ coverage does not usually extend beyond covering guide dogs for the blind.
Since the mission of True Blue Dogs is to provide service dogs for free to people who will be helped to get well, the need to raise funds is ever-present.
True Blue Dogs had its first “friend-raiser” in November at Woodstock Country Club, where Halma told his story and attendees could meet Marlee and Montana.
Turnkey Digital, Blue Ribbon Millwork, and Animal Hospital of Woodstock have made key donations.
The studio will offer shirts and hats with the True Blue Dogs logo for purchase to raise some funds.
While True Blue Dogs has gratefully received a number of smaller donations, it needs a continuous monetary stream to underwrite Marlee’s and Montana’s training and that of future dogs.
“Hopefully, we can train more and more dogs that can help people who need them,” Halma said.
Therapy Dogs Help Lower Stress
New research published in Academic Emergency Medicine indicates that for physicians and nurses working evening shifts in the emergency department, interacting with a therapy dog for several minutes may help lower stress.
In the 122-participant study, emergency providers randomized to a five-minute interaction with a therapy dog and handler had a significant reduction in self-reported anxiety using a visual analogue scale compared with patients randomized to coloring mandalas for five minutes with colored pencils. Also, at the end of the shift, emergency providers had lower salivary cortisol (a stress hormone) with either coloring or therapy dog interactions compared with controls.
“Many healthcare workers and laypersons believe that dog-assisted support can improve emotional well-being in the healthcare setting, but little hard data exist to scientifically evaluate this belief, especially in emergency care,” said lead author Jeffrey A. Kline, MD, of the Indiana University School of Medicine. “We provide novel data to suggest that emergency care providers enjoyed seeing a dog on shift, and received a small benefit in stress reduction after the interaction. We still do not know the extent to which the benefit was from the dog, the handler, or the combination of the two.”
Service Dog Has New Job At Elementary School
A service dog of seven years, the usually calm and relaxed dog began showing signs of separation anxiety. “Zephyr is a working dog, that is all he knows,” said Dawn Auten of Normal, Zephyr’s owner and mother of Tyler Auten, for whom Zephyr provides companionship and service. “He’s slowing down, my son is speeding up. I said, ‘What are we going to do with Zephyr?’ He’s going to retire, he’s not ready to retire, (and) the anxiety is heightened when we tried to leave him home without taking him with Tyler.”
Tyler, 13, has autism and requires significant help and support from his service animal. As Auten grew older, his mother noticed Zephyr was unable to keep up with her son. When it was time, Zephyr retired from his post and the family brought a new service dog, Disney, home on Dec. 24.
But Zephyr couldn’t understand this new arrangement. For seven years, he left the house and went everywhere with Auten. The dog began ripping out his fur and experiencing other symptoms of separation anxiety, prompting the family to discuss finding a new outlet for Zephyr.
Dawn Auten collaborated with kindergarten teacher Audrey Hensley and, after numerous talks with the principal and teachers at Colene Hoose Elementary, Zephyr started his new position on Jan. 22 as a therapy dog for students.
He loves every second of it.
“My hope is that he benefits these students in this school like he’s benefited my child.”
Service animals are trained to help people with disabilities, such as sight impairment, seizure detection and even providing comfort to their owner. They are also protected under the Americans with Disabilities Act and are permitted in public spaces such as restaurants and other businesses.
“When we first started looking at a service dog, our son was a huge runner and he gravitated towards water. It was a huge concern,” Auten explained. “He would get out of our house, sometimes during the day, sometimes at night, and we wouldn’t know where he went to. He has gotten out of our house, and Zephyr has had to track him and found him.”
Two years after bringing Zephyr home, Auten’s son began having seizures, which Zephyr alerted to.
Therapy animals provide comfort and emotional support to people, but they are not permitted to enter public establishments.
One of the biggest differences between therapy animals and service animals is that people other than the owner are not permitted to pet the animal, Auten said. People are encouraged to refrain from petting the dogs and engaging with them, which could distract the animal from performing its job.
Transitioning from working as a service dog to a therapy dog was difficult for Zephyr at first. He was not used to receiving attention and affection from people other than Tyler.
“That’s really what he needs, is to be loved,” said Auten. “So now, he gets to have that attention that he has worked towards.”
Zephyr’s new job begins promptly at 7:20 a.m. when Hillary Tanner, a social worker at the elementary school, picks him up. From there, Zephyr usually starts his day lounging in one of his corners in a classroom, providing comfort as needed to the students. Tanner said many of the students are already responding positively to Zephyr’s presence.
“Every classroom has seen different changes,” she said. “It’s definitely improved the level of happiness. He goes into the library with one classroom, and some kids who have never picked up a book because of some behavioral concerns are now picking up books and reading to him.”
While students are reading, Zephyr may wander the room, checking in on each child until he finds who needs him the most, said Tanner. Then he will sit down and let the student pet him or read to him. Some students with high anxiety are allowed special time with him, or students may earn time to visit Zephyr to reinforce positive behavior.
“I had a little girl who was crying really hard and he got up from where he was and went to her and put his chin onto her to calm her,” said Hensley, a kindergarten teacher at the elementary school who is friends with Auten and her family. Hensley, whose son also has autism, had first-hand experience with Zephyr prior to bringing him to the school. Auten and Hensely worked closely together to bring Zephyr to the school as a therapy dog. Though it was a tough transition at first, Zephyr is taking to his new role providing comfort and a sense of calmness to many children with behavioral and cognitive disabilities.
“I think what’s so cool about him is that he adapts to the role of the room,” Hensley said. “He kind of learned that first week what the expectations were, but he’s just amazing like that.
“He’s enjoying retirement now.”
Is Your Pet Stressed During Pandemic
To the surprise of no one, most dogs seemed to relish the first few weeks of their humans’ staying home. More walks, more attention, more fun—what’s not to like? But veterinarians report an uptick in injuries from dog-to-dog bites, and owners who’ve walked their dogs regularly are dealing with an invasion of “new” dogs and people on their usual routes. Many of those “new” dogs have been walked rarely, if ever, and they’re not only untrained, they’re also under-socialized . . . so it’s a challenge! Certainly, if walking your dog has become unpleasant lately for both you and for the dog, it makes sense to reconsider your options, at least for as long as the stay-at-home lasts. Would there be some place a little farther away that might be safer for you to walk? Do you have the time to drive there? You might reconnoiter a route without your dog first. Even in your own neighborhood, reassess where you walk to avoid areas where owners and dogs congregate, like the informal dog park—especially if owners there take their dogs off-leash in an area that’s legally on-leash only. Those dogs and their owners are strangers to you and your dog. Keep it that way, for the safety of all concerned.
No one was surprised, in those first few days of the stay-at-home, that dogs were happy to have their owners around more . . . and no one suggested that cats might feel the same way! From the start, the internet voted overwhelmingly that cats would not be happy about having their owners around more. A million memes remind us! Cats might be expressing their “delight” (sarcastic font) with the “joy” (ditto) of having their owners home 24/7 in ways that are stressing their owners.
Mark Cuilla(Washington) Let me know when you do a “Are you stressed by your pets during the stay-at-home order?” Francine (one-year-old cat) has been jumping onto the counters and to the top of the fridge and seems to be “acting out.” She has never done this before. I’m working from home and, during the day, she clings to me. I can’t go from one room to another without her under my feet. She’s broken a porcelain figurine and a glass, and is constantly getting into the bathroom garbage to steal things.
I’ve given her and the other cats new toys to play with, but I can’t seem to keep her busy. It definitely seems like a stress response of some kind.
I found out yesterday we won’t be returning to work until at least mid-September.
For cats as young as Francine, instituting a completely different work and living schedule overnight, for what is the first time in their lives, certainly could be stressful. It’s a big change!
Older pets have experienced change in their lives before and possibly that will help them during this new lifestyle upheaval, however long it lasts.
Older pets may also have some established behaviors that have not been major issues—until now. It can take some thought and creativity on the part of their owners to figure out the problem and to devise a solution. When that solution works, it’s a win!
Teri and James Stripes(Washington) are both working from home for the duration. They have two boxers, Max and Amy, eight years old. Increased foot traffic at their front door from grocery and package deliveries resulted in a work-at-home problem for Teri and James, as their dogs’ reaction—more frequent barking and growing agitation—was not good for the dogs or for the humans.
Their solution? Get the deliveries as far from the front door as possible.
How? Teri and James bought a lockbox, which they installed securely next to their garage at their end of their driveway, where it is screwed into the concrete, a long way from the front door. When they place orders, they now include the location of the lockbox and a code. When deliveries arrive, the drivers use the code to open the lockbox to deposit the packages in it. When the driver closes the lid, the box is again locked.
The result for the Stripes’ dogs is greatly reduced agitation. They only rarely alert to delivery trucks on the street, and no deliveries are arriving at their front door! The result for Teri and James is a much better chance that boxer barking and agitated behavior will not occur during live video conferences. The humans are feeling very good about figuring out the problem and finding a solution.
What about working dogs? Service dogs, usually out and about with their handlers, are now on a stay-at-home, too, and guess what? Working dogs get bored fairly easily when they have little to do! Jules Weber’s solutions for her service dog Pretzel would very likely work well for any dog experiencing boredom because he can’t do the whole job he’s been trained for right now.
Jules Weber(Maryland) Zero stress from any of our fuzzies (two dogs and two cats). However, my main “thing” is keeping up with my service dog’s training. Because he’s SO BORED! His official name is SSD Pretzel Rod, but we just call him Pretzel. He just had a birthday in April so he’s four. Yellow Lab.
We take walks around the driveway (his main tasks are balance and brace work). We do shaping exercises via clicker training, we have cuddle sessions in bed (so it’s easier for me to pet him), my husband runs around the house and plays with him, our other dog plays with him, and to the best of his ability—although it seldom works—Pretzel tries to play with the cats. And then there are the zoomies, where he picks up a toy and runs full Labrador speed around the house and shows everyone the toy (usually squeaking it constantly, LOL). He’s still on his regular schedule of eating meals and going out. And for the most part he can self-entertain, but because we are not doing anything anywhere, the moment I saw a hint of boredom, we supplemented.
