Back to School Means a Quiet House — Here's How Your Dog Handles It

Sometime in the next two weeks, your house is going to change. The kids head back to school, the summer schedule ends, and the dog who spent June, July, and August surrounded by activity suddenly finds himself alone in a very quiet house.

Dogs notice. Some handle it fine. Others start showing it — pacing, chewing, barking at nothing, greeting you at the door like you've been gone a month instead of an afternoon. A dog who had constant company all summer isn't being difficult when the empty house rattles him. He's adjusting to a schedule nobody explained to him.

Daycare is the easiest fix there is. A day or two a week at Woof gives your dog what the summer gave him — company, activity, play, and a reason to be pleasantly tired by dinnertime. Dogs who come regularly settle into the rhythm fast, and the quiet days at home stop being a problem because they're balanced by full ones here.

September is when our daycare schedule fills, because half of Glenburn and the Bangor area figures this out the same week. If you're thinking about it, this is the week to set it up.

One more thing while you're planning fall: boarding. If there's an October getaway, a November hunting trip, or holiday travel anywhere on your calendar, the boarding book fills earlier every year. Reserving now costs nothing but guarantees your dog a spot in a place he already knows.

The house going quiet doesn't have to be hard on anybody — including the dog.