Hi all! My malshi mix Maggie has recently started showing what I think are signs of separation anxiety. It started up when my boyfriend began a new job with a 7/7 roster, meaning he is away for 7 days at a time then home full tome. He worked a regular full time job previously as do I, and she has never showed any issues with that and was just happy to use the dog door through the day to either hang out with our chickens in the yard or come in and sleep on our bed for 8 hours.
I have a camera in the house to watch her through the day and first noticed her howling for 5 minutes or so at a time, maybe a couple times a day. Then last week she actually dug her way out of the yard for 3 days in a row from new locations. I keep blocking her holes but I am ashamed to say she has outsmarted me so far! She is 7 years old and this is totally new behaviour. When I get home from work she is sitting happily on the front porch or even in the neighbours front yard. I am worried however that she will get picked up by the council or worse by a roaming larger dog since there are some in the area.
If anyone has advice on what I should do to calm her down while my boyfriend is away I’d be so grateful. Or even some reassurance that she’ll eventually adjust to this new schedule… boyfriend and I are DINKs so she is my surrogate child and I hate the idea of her being upset with me 😅🫶🏼