A Dog with Separation Anxiety
Having a new dog – with anxiety issues – means you have to take it slow, so the dog gets used to different situations. In our camper, Maya seemed OK alone for up to three hours… that one evening in Iowa, pre-fireworks. During subsequent tries, she always got in trouble, somehow.
When we arrived at “our room above the garage” in Newburyport, Massachusetts a few weeks ago, it was another new situation for our dog. Leaving her downstairs on the porch while we ate three meals a day and cooked dinner, proved to be a non-issue after a few days. Once she was comfortable with the bedroom as our base, Mark and I increasingly left her alone, filming her behavior in real time with Skype. Whenever she jumped on the cabinet or scratched the door, we corrected her behavior, remotely.
While we saw improvement, we didn’t feel comfortable leaving her for longer than a couple of hours. That was an issue, as we had a fun evening with friends planned at a restaurant, two-hours away; four hours of just sitting in the car, without counting our social time. For days, we contemplated what to do. It would be too hot to leave her in the camper van on the parking lot and check in every hour or so. We’d be gone way too long to leave her home…
A Pet Sitter We Know
The solution: the three of us would drive to a friend’s place, join them to the gathering on Friday evening, and have teenagers (their responsible son and three friends) watch Maya. I even happened on a translation project that day, to tip our dog sitter. Before we left, we took Maya for a walk around the block and gave the kids instructions. I worried. Our small group of friends left to join the others. The plan was a good one… in theory.
Before leaving Maya to go out with friends.
