Back-to-School Blues: Helping Your Dog Adjust to New Routines
Once the long days of summer retreat to the back-to-school routine, the quality of sunlight isn’t the only thing that
changes. As the days get shorter and the weeks get longer, the entire household begins the shift from the carefree summertime to the Sturm und Drang of return to obligations and time limitations. What often gets overlooked, though, is how dramatically this shift affects the family dog. For several months now, our dogs have played a central role in our activities. They are with us daily, often accompanying us on vacations to the mountains or the beach. They have spent weeks surrounded by constant activity and companionship and suddenly find themselves alone for hours. The omnipresent stillness of a now-empty home, absence of interaction, and lack of stimulation can encourage behaviors many owners thought they had already conquered.
Accidents in the house, destructive chewing, barking, or clinginess aren’t signs of a “bad dog.” They are signals that your dog needs structure and guidance to adapt. If you catch yourself wondering why your once-well-trained dog seems to have gone mental, addressing these little things now, before they become big things, will go a long way in retaining harmony and clean floors now that the kids are back in school, and your schedule is tighter.
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Why Dogs Struggle with the Shift
Dogs thrive on predictability. When their schedule changes abruptly, confusion and anxiety can appear. A summer with a full household and tons of social interaction suddenly becomes long stretches of silence. The result can be housebreaking setbacks, destructive behavior, or nonstop barking.
It’s tempting to dismiss these problems as temporary, but that’s not how dogs work. Dogs establish behaviors quickly and it doesn’t take long for habits to become permanent. A dog who is allowed to practice stress barking or house soiling while left alone is rehearsing those behaviors. The longer they continue, the harder they will be to change.
The good news is that with a thoughtful approach, you can prevent these problems before they take root. The key is returning to the basics.
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Review Crate Confinement
For most dogs, the crate is the most productive way to prevent anxiety-induced behaviors. If owners would understand that the crate doesn’t represent punishment, it can become an essential tool in helping your dog remember its manners. It provides security when things change, or schedules have been disrupted. If you resisted using the crate during the summer months, now is the time to review its use.
Reintroducing the crate intermittently when you are home. Feeding in the crate isn’t really necessary, but if your dog has become resistant to being confined, it may afford an opportunity for the dog to get reacquainted with confinement. Remember, door closed! You are the one who determines when the dog can leave the crate. Not the dog!
Teaching your dog to relax inside with appropriate species-specific entertainment helps establish positive associations. A dog who is content while being crated is far less likely to dirty the crate, use the house as a latrine, make inappropriate demands, or panic while left alone. If you aren’t sure how to get back on track, you can review my guide to crate training here.
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Housebreaking Review
Even mature dogs can regress when their schedule abruptly changes. A dog who has been reliably housebroken may begin having accidents when left alone if the schedule has changed. It’s not stubbornness or spite. It’s a biological reset because feeding schedules and exercise schedules have changed dramatically.
The solution isn’t to punish or think it’s a ‘phase’ that will pass, but to review the same principles you used when your dog was first learning the housebreaking rules. A predictable routine, active supervision, and clear expectations help your dog regain reliability. Success isn’t about hoping they remember, but about making the right choice the easy choice. If you need a refresher on how to do this effectively, take a look at my step-by-step guide to housebreaking.
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What Will Your Dog Do All Day?
Normally, the vast majority of your dog’s day is spent sleeping. When the daylight shifts and the house empties, many dogs get worried, and you may want to give your dog something to ‘do’ in your absence. If the back-to-school schedule has created a bit of uncertainty, I’ll crate a dog with a sturdy ‘pacifier’ toy to occupy him or her in between naps. Animated toys and puzzle feeders might look appealing, and they certainly get a lot of press as *the* panacea for dogs ‘home alone’, but many of them only exacerbate the problem. Often, once the dog tires of the food puzzle or animated toy, they look for something else to stimulate them, and when left to their own devices, this can translate to destructive chewing.
A better solution is long-lasting chews, raw meaty bones, or other approved items that satisfy the dog’s natural urge to chew and settle. These provide both physical outlet and mental relaxation. A dog who spends an hour working on a marrow bone is far more likely to rest quietly afterward than a dog who’s been bouncing around between noisy plastic gadgets.
Choosing the right tools makes all the difference, and not all toys are created equal. If you’d like to see the options I recommend, I’ve put together a resource to determine the right type of pacifier toys to help support quiet relaxation.
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Creating Self Reliance Through Obedience
What dogs need during transitions like these are boundaries, discipline, and structure. Providing your dog with a constant stream of unearned affection because you feel guilt at leaving them home all day is a surefire way to make him or her an endorphin junky looking for that quick emotional fix that leads to full-fledged separation anxiety. Being able to self-regulate their own emotional state is the goal here, not creating an hysterical mess of a dog who cannot function outside that feedback loop created by misguided owners who lavish the dog with praise an affection as they are leaving the house.
One of the most valuable exercises you can practice is the “stay” command. Teaching your dog to hold a stay while you leave the room, while distractions happen around them, or while family members come and go builds true confidence. Obedience exercises like these reinforce discipline and teach your dog how to control his own emotional state when life moves around him.
Reasonable expectations for appropriate behavior don’t happen by accident. They are the product of consistent, structured practice. If you’d like practical guidance on how to start, I’ve written about separation anxiety solutions that pair perfectly with our crate training guide.
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Why Training Makes the Difference
The best way to find out where your dog’s training is weakest, is the crucible of profound and sudden change. Many owners discover that the dog who looked “finished” in July struggles the moment their routine changes. That’s because good behavior doesn’t run on autopilot. It must be maintained through structure and discipline.
‘Tips’ and ‘tricks’ might seem clever, or promise quick results, but lasting change requires a calculated plan and consistent application. Without a strategy, success is unlikely. With them, dogs can adapt beautifully to new schedules and environments.
This is where expert coaching helps. Sometimes the dog isn’t the hard part — it’s knowing how to apply the training when life is hectic. Whether through private training, puppy programs, or virtual coaching, I can help you navigate the rough spots and establish a clear plan of action.
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The Real World
Every fall, I work with families whose dogs had been reliable for months but begin behaving oddly once school starts. All of them assumed it was a phase and waited for the problems to pass. Instead, they got worse.
Once we re-established appropriate crating, addressed feeding and elimination schedule, and incorporated the review and application of obedience during high distraction situations, the problems resolved quickly. The changes didn’t happen because the dogs ‘got used to it’, It happened because the owners addressed the issues with pragmatism and a cohesive plan.
This stuff is more common than you would think. Dogs can’t fix their own bad habits. They can only change when their owners give them the guidance and consistency they need.
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Don’t Let New Habits Become Bad Habits
This hectic time of year doesn’t have to derail your household or your dog’s progress. With the right programming, you can prevent housebreaking disruptions, destructive behavior, and anxiety before they become features of your dog’s behavior.
If you’re feeling uncertain about where to start, I am happy to help.
Schedule a free virtual consult today and take the first step toward a smoother, more reliable routine for your dog this fall.
