We know how difficult it is being stuck at home but the good news is that we continue training during lockdown via online platforms. For those of you who are just bringing a puppy into your home, this time can be both fun and challenging and we’ve got some great resources below to help see your puppy through in a beneficial way.

We encourage you to take advantage of our free resources on this page and under our Tips & Tricks, join the Sit Happens Whānau Facebook Group for additional content, and of course please reach out to us if you want to schedule an online training session.

So, what do you need to know? 
Here’s something blindingly obvious: Lockdown restrictions can impact our dogs’ behaviour, just as they impact our own. 

What isn’t so obvious is how this plays out, and that’s where we can start running into issues such as:

1. Reactivity & Bites

2. Developing Separation Distress

3. Inadequate Socialisation in Young Dogs

Yikes...
Good thing you’re on top of it! Here is a break down of the practical things you can do starting right now to nurture your pup’s wellbeing and your family’s health this lockdown.

1. Learn about Stress 

Yes, learning is a practical thing you can do right now! Knowledge can equip you with the foresight to make the best decisions for your dog and preempt possible challenges. 

You can read our Sit Happens Whānau group article on stress here.

In short, both happy and ‘bad’ stress is experienced the same way within the body. That means having a pumped up game of tug-o-war can cause a similar physiological response as getting charged at by the neighbour’s dog through the fence. This process is self-regulating unless there is inadequate recovery between exposure to triggers. 

Trigger Stacking is the name used for exposure to stress after stress without appropriate recovery time or opportunities in dogs, often leading to an ‘outburst’ that guardians describe as ‘out of character’. It’s the same mechanism we use to describe our own behaviour when we say our over-the-top reaction was the final straw on the camel’s back. 

In the context of lockdown, lots of dogs are now required to process an uptick of stimulation in their homes, usually without as much rest time. Rest is an incredibly important facet of stress-recovery, which brings us to our next point.

2. Let Sleeping Dogs Lie! Enforce a Safe Zone and Rest Times

A safe zone is a relaxed place in the house for your dog to go to rest, like a pen area, crate, or bed. If your dog takes themselves to this area, they are to be left alone - no pestering them or approaching them. This is really important! While every dog is an individual, ~18hrs is a general rule for recommended resting time in a 24hr period. Most dogs will have found that their once-quiet days are now filled with noise and movement and may struggle to tear themselves away from it to rest (FOMO, anyone?). If your dog is struggling to rest, help them out by giving them something to lick or chew in this space. Make sure other people in the house, especially the little ones, are respecting this space and allowing your dog to rest as much as they need.

3. Practice Happy Alone Time

While it can be nice to be able to not have to worry about separation during lockdown, it’s definitely not something you want to start thinking about when you’re trying to get back into the swing of things, and it’s not nice for your dog either. Be sure your dog gets to practice plenty of happy-alone-time. This means not just leaving them to it, but setting them up so they’re likely to have a nice time, and keeping it to a duration you know they’ll be comfortable with. This time can be in their safe-zone time in a different room from you, or leaving them at home while you go for a quick walk around the block or to do some essential shopping. The key for reducing and preventing separation distress is ensuring that your pup is content while it’s happening. 

4. Safe Socialisation for Young Dogs

Socialisation can be a misunderstood concept. To clear the air, it does not necessarily mean having your dog interact with others. In fact, most socialisation doesn’t require contact at all! Yes, it’s important for pups to play with others and meet different kinds of people and so on. Absolutely. However, a critical component of good socialisation is happy co-existing. This means your pup noticing other things in the world and feeling relaxed and confident anyway. 

You can find our socialisation checklist here to work off.

5. Make Stress-Relief Activities the Norm

One of the best things you can do for your dog right now is bringing in stress-relieving activities into their daily life. Sniffing, licking, and chewing are all actions that will help your dog relax. 

Focus on decompression walks rather than training walks during stressful times, like right now. Sniffing lowers the heart rate. You can encourage more sniffing at home by scattering some of their meal or treats into the grass. Make a treasure hunt. Teach them how to track a toy. Bring home some novel scents or take them somewhere new and led them lead with their nose. 

Licking and chewing releases calming and feel-good neurochemicals in your dog's noggin. Providing them with opportunities to do so helps promote this natural self-soothing behaviour in an appropriate way. 

6. If Children are at home - Supervise, Supervise, or Separate
Few were prepared for the uptick in bites within the home throughout lockdowns globally. After reading to this point, you’re probably getting a good idea of why this happened, and why we want you to be set up as best you can to avoid such a situation. We are always big on supervising children around dogs - they are at the highest risk of being bitten, and often on the face. Children are not well equipped to interpret canine language and are vulnerable to the outcomes of serious miscommunication. Within the context of a lockdown, we cannot encourage supervision enough. If you cannot supervise a child <12, separate. For some people, this might just mean having your dog or child follow you from room to room. For others, utilize safe zones, barriers, crates, leads, and other rooms.