References
Abstract
There are currently approximately 10.1 million pet dogs in the UK, equating to about 26% of the UK adult population owning a dog. Early research indicates that dogs have played an essential role in helping their owners to cope throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. This article explores the potential impact of lockdown on the canine experience and the risk of developing separation-related behavioural problems, as well as how first referral veterinary practices can support their clients through this.
The UK has now experienced three significant periods of lockdown, during which people have spent considerably more time in their homes. Key features of this included the closure of non-essential businesses and schools; lack of access to childcare; increases in working from home; furlough from employment and unemployment.
Less than 3% of UK employees worked exclusively from home before the pandemic. This figure increased to over 30% in April 2020, before declining to 21% in September 2020 (University of Essex, 2020). It is not yet clear how this will evolve, but the results of a YouGov survey (2020) showed that three quarters of staff who were working from home thought it was likely that their employer would continue to let them do so (Parry et al, 2021).
The People's Dispensary for Sick Animals (PDSA) annual Animal Wellbeing (PAW) Report series provides useful comparative statistics on the amount of time that dogs were left alone pre- and post-lockdown (PDSA, 2019, 2020). A more detailed breakdown of the data was provided on request (Table 1) and indicated that the most substantial increase was in dogs being left for 0–2 hours per weekday, which rose from 39% to 63% between February 2020 and August 2020.
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