Tina Traster
During the day, Jane Green, an oboist who lives in Buena
Park, California, teaches music at home and whips through daily chores
before leaving for nightly performances. She also shuttles Dolly, her
Labrador mix, to and from doggy day care. Dolly doesn’t go to day care
because she’s destructive. She goes to day care—the fee for which is $6 a
day—because Green believes that Dolly deserves a full-fledged social
life and that having one makes her happy and well-adjusted.
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“I never thought I’d do something like this,” says
Green. “It feels exactly like raising a toddler. They need a lot of
attention, and they want to have fun all day. The best thing to do is to
make sure a dog is well-socialized and has a community.”
Green has learned from experience. Prior to Dolly, Green
lived with a rescued pit bull who suffered extreme “separation
anxiety,” a kind of panic behavior in which the dog falls apart
psychologically when the owner departs. The pit bull destroyed the house
when Green left him alone. He even went ballistic if she left him in
the car while she pumped gas. Eventually Green gave the dog to a family
with many children so he wouldn’t have to be left alone.
Up the Social Ladder
Dog guardians across America grapple with both a dog’s
emotions and their own when it comes to leaving their best friend home
alone. Not only to quell the symptoms dogs suffer but also to relieve
their own guilt over leaving them for 10-hour stretches, dog lovers are
jumping through hoops to give their companions a fuller and more
stimulating dog lifestyle. They are taking their canines to day care,
hiring pet sitters or dog walkers, matchmaking them with neighbors’
dogs, arranging play dates and, increasingly, taking them to the
workplace.
In the past, efforts to keep a dog occupied during the
day were undertaken in response to the bored and anxious animal’s
destructive behavior or to neighbors’ complaints about his unrelenting
barking or howling. Today, however, we just as often labor to create a
more enriched social world for our dogs—many of whom show no signs of
suffering—because we’re more sensitive to their need for company and
stimulation. According to a 2000 study by the Lakewood, Colorado-based
American Animal Hospital Association (AAHA), 75 percent of surveyed pet
owners feel guilty about leaving their animals at home while they go to
work, and 38 percent admit to calling home to talk to those animals.
Some posit that the new enlightenment about the complex emotional life
of dogs means that Canis lupus familiaris has achieved higher status in
American society. The dog who used to sleep in the barn now sleeps in
our bed. Dogs today have birthday parties, wardrobes, health foods and
spa services. A primary source of companionship, especially for millions
of singles, today’s dog is truly a member of the family.
Because we see our dogs as family members, many of us
are reluctant to give them “latchkey treatment.” This generation knows
some of the ills of being left home alone during its youth as well as
the guilt involved in relegating the care of their children to others.
Such pathos may explain why many dog lovers take pains to consider what
dogs need from us rather than focusing solely on what we want from them.
Dr. Stephanie LaFarge, psychologist and senior director
of the ASPCA’s Counseling department, says that humans have become much
more empathetic toward dogs’ needs. Even when dogs do not exhibit
distress at being left alone, we tend to “project” or to imagine that
the animal is sad. “Some dogs cope when left alone, so there’s a very
subjective component to assessing what an animal needs,” says LaFarge.
“But even if it’s the human need to make sure a dog is not lonely, that
is legitimate. It shows that we can empathize by putting ourselves in an
animal’s place. It’s only natural to empathize with creatures who are
part of our family.”
Social Skills
Experts stress the importance of socializing a dog
during her puppy years. “If you deprive a puppy of social experiences in
the well-intentioned goal of protecting her from [negative] experience
and disease, the net result is damaged social capacity,” says Dr. Rolan
Tripp, an animal behaviorist, author and veterinarian at VCA-La Mirada
Animal Hospital in La Mirada, California. “The point of day care and
puppy class and the dog park is that they are part of developing
emotional stability and flexibility.”
Many of the symptoms of separation are obvious and
painful for dog owners who need to go out and earn a living. An
estimated four percent of America’s 55 million dogs supposedly has
separation anxiety, and many dogs are relinguished to animal shelters
every year for behavior problems. While some owners will try
independence training, exercise and drug therapy, many experts say early
and frequent socialization with other animals or living in a
multi-animal home may produce a healthier dog.
“The worst mental punishment a dog can be given is to be
kept alone in a tightly confined space where nothing varies,” writes
biologist Desmond Morris in Dogwatching (Crown Publishers, 1986).
Experts agree that dogs get lonely when they spend much of their time
alone because they are pack animals. Descended from wolves, who live and
work in groups, dogs are social beings, and we have become their pack
members. If they are deprived of companions—both canine and human—they
suffer.
Animal behaviorists agree that dogs need environmental
stimulation, just as humans do. Dogs will work to see other dogs by
pushing a panel with their muzzles. They find activity rewarding. To
remove a dog from her own pack without providing a substitute pack can
cause great distress to the animal. Those who suffer from separation
anxiety demonstrate despair by tearing up furniture or other household
items, urinating or defecating, vocalizing, digging, running away or
even self-mutilation, which is behavior that provides some sort of
distraction. Of all the behaviors that demonstrate despair, incessant
barking tops the list. Dogs may suffer silently and without symptoms, as
well.
Changing Times
Dogs have had to adapt to society’s changing perception
of what a dog is. During the first half of the twentieth century, most
dogs “worked” all day, hunting and herding. Many slept outdoors. By the
1950s, however, many a dog’s life took a turn toward “cushy.” By then,
many lived inside and were comforted by the companionship of moms who
still stayed home to raise children.
Fast-forward through the ’60s, ’70s, ’80s and ’90s—four
decades of tornadic change in the structure of the American family. More
and more, both adults worked, and children spent elongated days at
schools and day-care centers. “Singles” proliferated, with their long
work hours and busy schedules. And with stricter health laws and the
sprawl of suburbia, dogs were no longer welcome at the food mart or drug
store. Consequently, dogs were not only spending weekdays home alone,
but on weekends they were left again as we ran around town doing our
chores.
“Dogs were created to do jobs,” says Jacque Lynn
Schultz, a certified pet dog trainer and director of special projects
for ASPCA Animal Sciences. “It’s as if we’ve taken their jobs away from
them and created unemployed workers. There’s a lot less for them to do,
and they need outlets for their energy and drive.”
“Working dogs do need a job,” agrees Dr. Marty Becker, a
veterinarian and coauthor of Chicken Soup for the Cat/Dog Lover’s Soul.
“Retrievers want to retrieve. By shoehorning dogs into our ecosystem,
we’ve dumbed them down. They’re accustomed to a world that is rich with
color. We’ve slowly dimmed it down, and it’s time that we return some of
their genetic potential to them.”
Enriched Environments
Becker points to the trend in modern zoos to keep
animals in groups and offer them more stimulation and challenge. “What’s
happening to domestic dogs is what happened at zoos two decades ago
when zoologists began to consider that animals need to express
themselves, and [their environment] needs to be enriched.” Becker
believes that if dogs must be left for a lengthy span, they should be
given long, exerting walks before their guardians depart and left with
chew toys or food puzzles so they have some stimulation while we’re
away.
The growing awareness of the dog’s psyche helps explain
the explosion of doggy day-care centers. People in metropolitan areas
are willing to spend $100 a week to make sure their dogs are happily
occupied while they’re at work.
“Animal psychology is far more accepted now,” says
Joseph Sporn, who in 1987 founded Yuppie Puppy Petcare Inc. in New York
City, the first doggy day-care center in the country. (Sporn says there
were more than 500 independent centers nationwide in 2001.) “People are
more receptive to thinking about what their dogs are thinking about.”
Sporn agrees that dogs thrive in a pack environment.
“It’s what they crave,” he says, recalling that when he first opened the
center, he was the butt of jokes. “As word spread, people began to
realize it wasn’t only good for their dogs, but it was good for them,
too, because it eased their guilt.”
At Yuppie Puppy, which charges $22 per day, dogs have
indoor and outdoor play space, a kiddy pool, sprinklers, Murphy beds and
constant supervision. Sporn conducts an interview before admitting a
dog. There have been a couple of bites over the years but no fatalities.
Dogs who have not been spayed or neutered are ineligible, as are those
with a history of aggression. Sporn says that most dogs are good
candidates for doggy day care, even the shy, reclusive ones. “Animals
are antisocial if they were separated from their pack too early or were
not socialized as puppies,” says Sporn. “Even so, I think a dog is
better off with other dogs, even if he is not interacting, because at
least he’s able to stimulate himself with observation.”
At some centers, day care means more than just food,
companionship and a walk. At a growing number of day cares, dog
“parents” can keep an eye on their companions via video cameras wired to
a private Web site—an idea borrowed from the nanny cam, which is
popular among working parents. The video cameras offer live coverage of
an animal’s daily activities, from sleeping and eating to socializing.
Two’s Company
Not everyone who has a dog can afford doggy day care,
nor is every dog a good candidate. In The Latchkey Dog (HarperCollins,
2002), New York City-based veteran dog trainer and author Jodi Anderson
cautions, “Doggy day care has its advantages, but too much time around
other canines might just teach your dog to become more competitive with
them… be sure to keep in close touch with the caregivers who monitor
your dog’s daily behavior.” Anderson also warns that too much of a good
thing can backfire. “Twice a day with the dog walker,” she writes, “and
three times a week at day care. Three weekends a month at the country
house and one weekend with the dog sitter. Dogs who have what I call
‘extended packs’ (dogs who live with their immediate pack but spend a
good deal of time with other people, or outside pack members) are the
quintessential latchkey dogs.”
For some dogs, being thrust into a social situation is
as painful as it is for the wallflower to go to the prom. Such dogs
might be happier to have another dog—or cat—at home. Throughout the ages
dogs have bonded with all kinds of creatures including lions, horses,
even birds. According to the AAHA study in 2000, 44 percent of
participating pet guardians acquired an animal simply to keep another
animal company. In its 2001 survey, AAHA found that 31 percent of pet
owners plan visits with others who have pets just to allow their pet to
socialize.
Becker believes that dogs share a bond and give each
other things that humans cannot duplicate. “I can’t look in the park and
see a bird’s eyeballs or smell a pheasant,” he says. “This is something
dogs share. It’s like being a woman and never being able to talk to or
confide in another woman.” Becker concedes, however, that it’s not cruel
to have only one dog, and a dog is far happier on a couch than in a
shelter.
Introducing a second dog, or even a cat, takes special
consideration. For dogs who have trouble being alone, it could even be a
mistake because a new dog might learn to mimic the same undesirable
behavior. “If your dog has been diagnosed with separation anxiety,
bringing in another dog is unlikely to solve the problem,” says Rolan
Tripp. Like others, Tripp believes that bringing a second dog or even a
cat into the home can be productive if the original dog is well-adjusted
and if the dog owner takes strategic steps in bringing the animals
together.
In the case of dogs, Tripp recommends that the two
animals first meet on neutral territory. They should be held with
leashes slightly slackened and given a chance to do nose-to-nose
sniffing. Once that progresses to genital sniffing, the guardian must
gauge whether one of the dogs is willing to be passive and whether the
encounter is “nonaggressive.” If the dogs show signs of aggression to
one another, it might be best to try another potential housemate or
playmate. If, however, you’re determined to bring two animals under the
same roof and there is tension between them, Tripp says you must work
with each dog separately to alter its perceived place in the pack.
Tripp believes that a cat may ease an “only dog’s”
loneliness. “Dogs know that a cat’s not a dog, but if a young kitten is
raised with a dog, there’s a chance the pair will bond and sleep
together.” Tripp warns that the key to starting a good relationship
between a cat and a dog is a slow introduction, with the dog on a leash
and the cat in its carrying case with the door closed. The dog should be
allowed to smell the cat slowly and the cat should be able to assert
herself. Tripp recommends allowing the cat to alight where the dog
cannot reach her when the carrying case is first opened. “If you make
the horrible mistake of letting the cat run loose, the dog’s prey
instinct will be triggered, and the cat’s first response will be, ‘I’m
outta here!’”
Other Options
Urbanites who do not have enough space for a second
animal are honing matchmaking skills. They spot a dog in their
neighborhood or apartment building—often another of the same breed—who
looks like a companionable mate for their own canine. That’s what Judith
Speyer of Manhattan did, and she says that she and Chloe, her shih tzu,
are much happier for the arrangement.
Speyer and a neighbor with a shih tzu arrange play
dates, share the walking responsibilities and rely on one another to
dog-sit when either goes out of town. “Dogs need company,” says Speyer.
“I don’t like leaving Chloe alone all day in the apartment. When I tell
Chloe that we’re going down to see Chelsea, she gets all excited. She
understands that this is part of her life in the same way that I look
forward to seeing a friend. She has an enriched social life, and this
has made her a much happier, more secure dog.”
For some, the only way to avoid leaving a dog alone is
to take him to work—and fortunately for guardians, there’s a growing
national trend to allow dogs in the workplace. AAHA reports that 19
percent of pet owners surveyed in 2000 took their dogs to work at least
once a month during the year.
Laura Endicott of Forest Hills, New York, is lucky
because she can bring Mufasa, her akita, to work. Endicott says Mufasa
is quite content at work, although it wasn’t because of separation
anxiety that she took him with her in the first place. In fact, she
acknowledges that it was her own assumption that Mufasa would feel bored
and lonely that motivated her to bring him to work every day.
“I only got a dog because I knew he could come to work
with me,” says Endicott. “I didn’t think it would be fair to leave him,
especially because I work long hours. I never thought I’d become this
attached, but he’s like my child. Sometimes I wonder if I’m just being
anal. He would probably do just fine at home because he sleeps most of
the day. But I just love him so much, and I want to make him happy.”
Tina Traster is a freelance writer based in New York City.
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