Dog Loneliness Crisis
Our human life can get very hectic. And when on top of that we have a dog to take care of, our days can feel like too much.
On this page, we like exploring dogs' perspective, so today we would like to think about a dog's role in our hectic lives. Most of us would say that we brought a dog in our lives to be a companion for us. But is their role really a companion now?
Do we have enough time to spend with them and share their interests? Or our interactions with our dog are mostly made up of the basic care tasks?
If your answer is the latter, there might be something going on in your household what does not benefit both you and your dog. How is that?
First of all, constant care-taking can put a toll on your own wellbeing. Caretakers' fatigue / burnout is one of the most common and damaging states in human psychology.
And from the dog's point of view, only getting bits of attention when their basic needs are being met, can feel very lonely.
In the modern dogs' life, loneliness is becoming more and more common even if we are talking about dogs who live in comfortable people's homes.
We see several reasons why:
🟧Our lives are getting busier and more hectic. We work long hours, run more errands, and have more responsibilities besides taking care of our dog. So when we get home, we only have energy to satisfy their basic needs like food, toilet, and maybe a tiny bit of mental enrichment.
🟧When we have time, the internet tells us to spend it on long walks to exhaust our dogs physically "to make them happy". We talked about why intense physical activity is not what dogs need here: https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1B1p5fSK5Q/
🟧Even dog-dog social contacts are limited, with most dogs separated from their mom and siblings too early and then isolated in the human home. When out on walks, most dogs are only allowed to briefly greet each other, and not having an opportunity to develop meaningful relationships.
At the same time, dogs (just like humans) are highly social creatures, and loneliness will have a whole array of negative consequences for their mental and physical health.
In human studies, loneliness is associated with higher risks of heart disease and stroke, type 2 diabetes, depression, and anxiety. In addition, social pain is a phenomenon that was recently unravelled by science, and shows that individuals experiencing social pain will also feel more physical pain.
As dog behaviour specialists, we notice that the canine loneliness plays a big role in forming of the "problem behaviours" already from the puppy stage.
Can we do something to resolve this canine loneliness crisis? The good news is YES! There are simple and enjoyable ways to reduce the caretakers' fatigue for humans and improve the quality of life for dogs.
Here are a few ideas:
🟩Take a look at your dog's life, do you think you got caught up in caretaking tasks and your dog might feel lonely and bored? Start thinking of your dog more as a companion in your life and considering if you share quality time regularly.
🟩Instead of long walks and fast-paced activities, dedicate more time to sharing meaningful moments, both for you and the dog. Usually it means that the dog gets to make choices and do something independently. A slow-paced nose work activity, a slow sniffary in a new place together are just two simple ideas.
🟩The advantage for the human part is that you get to see your dog's personality and intelligence shine through. Sharing joy beyond care-taking tasks also helps to battle the caretakers' burnout.
🟩Does your dog have real canine friends? Invest time in finding and spending time with well-balanced calm dogs and their humans. Dogs can enjoy exploring together, while humans chat.
The last two ideas can be very beneficial for shelter dogs too!
In summary, we feel that two problems that become overwhelmingly common: human caretakers’ fatigue and canine loneliness, can be approached from the same angle. Finding time to slow down, spending quality time together and bringing out joy in being together beyond basic needs.
