I’ve written three other posts about puppy separation anxiety and puppy blues since we got Chauncey a little over a year ago. The journey with his general anxiety and his separation anxiety have taken us on a rollercoaster that we were ill equipped to ride. Over the last few months especially, as we moved back east, it was apparent that we needed extra help.

Later this week I’ll be sharing a Q+A with our dog trainer and she answers some of the top questions you all had on the subject. I’m hoping both that post and this one (a bit more personal one) will help you through your puppy separation anxiety journey.

Before we got a puppy in 2020, my boyfriend and I spent just as much time traveling as we did in NYC. Our work required us to travel often and visiting family meant getting on short flights regularly. While I know I don’t want to go back to the level of travel I was doing pre-covid, I know travel will still be a part of our lives and we considered this when getting a puppy.

Our move to Portland was the first time we went on a plane with Chauncey and he did so well. I had the benefit of having his emotional support animal paperwork completed which allowed me to take him out of his carrier and cuddle him, both for my support and his.

Over the last few months at least 60% of my Google searches have included the words “puppy” and “separation anxiety.” When we first got our mini-dachshund he didn’t present anxious. He was vivacious, hilarious, and super cuddly. He still is all of those things, but in addition over the last year he’s struggled with both social anxiety and separation anxiety.

After talking to many vets, his overall experience isn’t that strange for a puppy who has been brought up in quarantine times. We are the only humans he interacts with regularly and for a long time in his puppyhood he didn’t even have the chance to really interact with other dogs.

There were so many things that I couldn’t have imagined would come with puppy parenthood — long nights, unexpected “do we think he actually ate that?” accidents, and lately a big focus on both our puppy’s mental health and our own.

We got Chauncey last spring when we were already a few months into lockdown in New York City. Given his age (he’ll be 1-year-old on March 9th!) the only world he’s really known includes us being home all the time and having very limited contact with other humans or the outside environment. We didn’t realize just how much this small world setup would impact him until he got all his shots and was able to start going on walks in NYC. He hated it. We would have to drag him to make it as far as the corner and we’d both be frustrated and anxious that we would just turn back around and go home.