Back to school: the day the house empties.

For six or seven weeks, your dog lived in the best of all possible worlds.

There were people in the house mid-morning. Someone watching television at eleven. Doors opening all day, food falling off the table, three different people volunteering to take them out. Above all, company at hours when there's normally nobody.

And then one Monday, with no warning and no transition, all of it stops at once.

It isn't the solitude, it's the contrast

A dog who has spent mornings alone for three years is fine: that's their routine and they know it.

The hard part isn't being alone. The hard part is that yesterday you weren't. Six weeks of a full house and then, on an ordinary Tuesday, seven hours of silence. Anyone would feel that.

That contrast is why the end of the summer is, every year, one of the times most people notice their pet seeming "off". The animal didn't change. Everything around them changed, in a single day.

The two things that help

There isn't much more, and be suspicious of anyone offering you ten.

First: don't let the change be abrupt. If there's still time, the week before is worth more than anything you do afterwards. Short departures from the house, without ceremony. The door opening and closing without it being an event. Mornings that look a little more each day like the ones that are coming.

Second: give the morning something in it. Not a new toy — something to do. An outing before everyone leaves, even a short one. Something to solve with their nose, which tires them more than walking does. The difference between seven empty hours and seven hours with a good stretch at the start is enormous.

What we're not going to tell you

If your dog has a genuinely bad time alone — not uncomfortable: bad — that has a name, has treatment, and has someone who handles it, and it isn't us.

We're not going to tell you what it is, what to give them, or how to train them. We'll tell you something more useful: write it down with the date, describe what you saw without interpreting it, and take it to your vet. "From 24 to 28 August, every day, this happened" is information. "I think he has anxiety" isn't, and it closes the conversation before it starts.

And one more thing

Worth saying, because almost nobody does: houses feel the end of summer too. Not only the dog.

September is quieter for everyone who stays behind. Making sure your pet's mornings have something good in them is, most of the time, a decent plan for you as well.

Why we're building Maskotis

Because "I noticed something odd in August" helps nobody in November, and with a date attached it does.

Today in Maskotis you can register your pet and keep their care events there, with dates. What's worth recording is here.

---

Maskotis does not give medical recommendations and this article is not a substitute for a veterinary consultation. Any change in behaviour is assessed by the person who can examine your pet. Take them to the vet you trust, or to the nearest clinic — they'll help you there.