How to prepare your pets for the end of working from home, starting right now

Two months into working from home, my long-held desire to adopt a rescue dog reached fever pitch, and I wasn’t alone. Google searches for the phrase “foster a dog near me” hit an all-time high in the U.S. as the coronavirus pandemic took hold; animal shelters celebrated being emptied, or close, as people found themselves sheltering in place with some extra time on their hands. As I dove into the various rescue and rehoming options in Sydney, the competition for any dog smaller than a horse was fierce.

We finally brought home a soft, nervy 6-year-old pug cross, christened Bruce by the young family in the outer suburbs who could no longer give him the time and attention he needed. Our lives rapidly recentred around him, and long walks around our pup-packed corner of the city — an adjustment for him after being relatively isolated. As I apologised to a fellow human whose cavoodle Bruce didn’t like the look of one morning, saying he was still settling in, she smiled knowingly. “Ah, a COVID puppy.”  Read more…

More about Pets, Working From Home, Coronavirus, Separation Anxiety, and Culture