Going Back to the Office: A 6-Week Plan for Your Dog

Start six weeks before your first office day with one filmed absence. If your dog settles, six weeks is enough to rebuild how often and how long it is left alone. If it does not, the six weeks are a countdown to your date. They will not fix separation anxiety on their own, but they are enough to start the full training protocol this calendar plugs into and to arrange cover. Whether they get you to a full working day depends on your dog's starting threshold, so plan for both.

Key Takeaways

• Start six weeks out with one recorded absence. It tells you whether your dog just needs time alone back, or has separation anxiety and needs the full protocol.
• A dog with no signs needs frequency first: short absences on most days of the week, then your real morning routine, then longer stretches. In a UK cohort, dogs whose days alone per week dropped most during lockdown were more likely to develop new signs (Harvey 2022).
• If your dog has signs, start the protocol now and book cover for every hour above threshold after your start date.
• Even a relaxed dog should not face the whole office day alone. The RSPCA and Dogs Trust advise a maximum of about four hours, and the ASPCA suggests four hours at first, so plan a midday visit or walker.
• If the date comes first, cover the gap rather than speeding up the protocol. An abrupt change in how long a dog is left alone is a recognized trigger (ASPCA).

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Why the return to the office is a risk point

What carries the risk is a sudden change in how often and how long your dog is left alone. In the ASPCA's words, "An abrupt change in schedule in terms of when or how long a dog is left alone can trigger the development of separation anxiety." Its own example is a guardian who works from home, then gets a new job that means leaving the dog alone for six or more hours (ASPCA).

2020 ran that experiment on a national scale. A Dogs Trust survey of 6,004 UK owners found that the share of dogs not left alone for more than five minutes on any day of the week rose from 14.6% before lockdown to 58.0% in May 2020. The share left for three hours or more at a time fell from 48.5% to 5.4% (Christley et al., 2021). A follow-up of 1,807 dogs from the same Dogs Trust program tracked how often they were left: 46.2% were left on five to seven days a week in February, 8.7% in May and June, and 23.0% in October (Harvey et al., 2022).

• Left alone on 5 to 7 days a week · Harvey 2022

  February 202046.2%
• May to June 20208.7%
• October 202023.0%

• Left alone for 3 hours or more at a time · Christley 2021

  February 202048.5%
• May 20205.4%

• before lockdown
• during the first lockdown
• October follow-up

That drop in days alone matters: in Harvey's cohort it went with new signs (the frequency finding below). It is one reason waiting for it to pass is the expensive option. A 2020 natural experiment does not prove the same will happen to your dog. But the trigger the ASPCA describes is an abrupt change in schedule. Your dog does not need to be a lockdown puppy for it to apply.

Six weeks out: film one absence and pick your track

If you are not sure what separation anxiety is and how it differs from ordinary unsettledness, start there.

Film one ordinary absence, such as a trip to the store. Do not stage a long test absence to "see what happens". For a dog with separation anxiety, that is an absence above threshold, and it works against you.

A few minutes of noise that ends in sleep belongs in track A, with a caveat: read about a short protest that settles into sleep before deciding. If the footage shows chewing or barking without clear distress, remember that boredom and distress look different on camera. And if there is house soiling, rule out a medical cause with your vet first. The ASPCA lists incontinence and other medical problems to rule out (ASPCA).

History matters too. In a University of Lincoln longitudinal survey of 1,106 UK dog owners, dogs showing separation-related signs before COVID "were also more likely to develop more problems during lockdown" (Sherwell et al., 2023). If your dog struggled before you worked from home, assume track B until the footage says otherwise.

The six-week calendar

Follow your column, and move to the next row only when your dog is ready.

Track A at two weeks out does not mean eight hours alone. The ASPCA says a dog that can do 90 calm minutes "can probably handle four to eight hours", but adds: "Just to be safe, try leaving him alone for four hours at first." The RSPCA and Dogs Trust set about four hours as the limit, so a full day still needs a midday break. The track B column has no numbers on purpose, because where your dog is at each row depends on its progress in the protocol.

Track A in detail: rebuilding time alone

Build how often before how long.

Why frequency first? In Harvey's final model for new signs, only two predictors remained: signs during lockdown, and the change in days per week the dog was left. The change in the longest time alone was not significant (p = 0.341) (Harvey et al., 2022). This effect is small, and the authors frame their conclusion around leaving hours in general, so treat it as a sensible priority. In practice, short absences on most days come before one long Saturday.

Dogs Trust agrees: "It's important to build up time apart very gradually and associate it with something positive, like a long-lasting treat." It adds: "Monitor how your pup responds, and shorten the time left if they show any signs of anxiety" (Dogs Trust).

The RSPCA sets a useful milestone: "Once you reach the stage where your dog is happy to be left for up to an hour, you should then have no problems leaving them for longer periods." Its advice on the time before you leave fits the morning rehearsal three weeks out. Take a walk, "returning home half an hour before you are due to leave", then "feed your dog a small meal shortly before leaving" (RSPCA).

Keep departures and returns calm and low-key. Stop when the footage says stop: if a recording shows signs that start early or keep going, you are in track B now. Switch to the full protocol from that point.

Track B in detail: plugging the protocol into a real date

The date sets your logistics, not your speed.

According to the ASPCA, "most of your dog's anxious responses will occur within the first 40 minutes", and you will need to spend "a significant amount of time" building up to that (ASPCA). The timeline guide covers how long the protocol realistically takes.

One condition shapes everything else, as the ASPCA puts it: "during treatment for separation anxiety, your dog cannot be left alone except during your desensitization sessions." Every hour above threshold outside a session works against the training. That is why cover is part of the plan.

For fitting sessions around a working week, the ASPCA suggests "several daily sessions on the weekends and twice-daily sessions during the work week, usually before leaving for work and in the evenings" (ASPCA). A hybrid schedule fits this well. Home days carry the extra sessions, and office days are covered. We found no research on hybrid schedules specifically, so treat this as practical advice.

The rule for moving up (three calm repetitions in a row) and the session log are in the training guide. A start date does not change them. Lopaw is an app for running this part: it logs each session, tracks your dog's threshold, and works out the next step.

What to do if the date comes before your dog is ready

Close the gap between your dog's threshold and your working day with cover.

Dogs Trust is blunt about it: "Avoid leaving your dog alone, or for longer than they can cope with." Its suggestions: "Seek the help of friends, family, dog sitters and daycares if you can." It also notes that "some workplaces will let you take your dog with you if they're relaxed and confident there" (Dogs Trust). A VCA guide lists similar options: "hiring a dog walker or pet sitter, taking your pet to daycare, bringing your pet with you or, if possible, temporarily working from home" (VCA). Its authors are veterinary behaviorist Ellen Lindell, DACVB, and Monique Feyrecilde, LVT. Here is every cover option compared, with costs and who each one suits.

It is also worth talking to your employer. Ask about a phased return, extra hybrid days for the first weeks, or a short period of working from home. A clear plan with an end date is easier to agree to than an open request.

If your dog injures itself, refuses food, or tries to escape, bring in a professional. The ASPCA points to a Certified Applied Animal Behaviorist or a board-certified veterinary behaviorist (Dip ACVB) for help with a desensitization plan (ASPCA). We break down what professional help costs, including cover separately. Ask your vet whether medication has a place in your dog's plan. In the UK, you can call Dogs Trust's behavior team for free on 0303 003 6666 (Dogs Trust).

The first two weeks back

Film the first office day. It shows how the real absence went and gives track B owners a new baseline.

Keep to about four hours alone at a stretch, even for a relaxed dog. The RSPCA advises "that they are left for no longer than four hours so they have opportunities to exercise, go to the toilet, and spend time with people" (RSPCA). Dogs Trust agrees: "Generally, if they're relaxed, we'd recommend a maximum of four hours on their own" (Dogs Trust). A full office day plus a commute is at least twice that, so a midday walker or visit is a welfare need.

Time alone tends to creep up. In the RVC's Pandemic Puppies cohort, 55.2% of 868 owners were leaving their dog alone for longer at 21 months than in puppyhood, and 12.0% for more than four hours at a time. The authors found that this change was not itself a risk factor in their population, but they still advise owners to plan for sudden increases, for example through the "use of daycare if owners' time outside of the house increases" (Brand et al., 2024).

If behavior slips in the first weeks, remember that a schedule change is one of the ordinary triggers for a regression. Step back to a duration your dog managed comfortably and build from there.

FAQ

How far in advance should I start preparing my dog? Six weeks gives you time to film, choose a track and book cover. For a dog with signs of separation anxiety, earlier is better, since nobody can predict how fast the protocol will go.

How long can I leave my dog alone on an office day? About four hours at a stretch, even for a relaxed dog, according to the RSPCA and Dogs Trust, and the ASPCA suggests four hours at first. A full working day needs a midday visit or walker.

My dog was fine alone before I started working from home. Will it be fine again? Often, but it is not guaranteed. In one UK cohort, dogs whose days alone per week dropped the most were more likely to develop new signs (Harvey 2022). Film one ordinary absence and check.

Does hybrid work help? It can. Home days carry the training sessions, and office days are covered by a sitter, daycare or a friend. It is a logistics tool, and no study has tested it as a treatment.

What if my start date is next week? Arrange cover for every hour above your dog's threshold, then start the protocol. See what to do if the date comes first .