Pets

Tips to Help Your Dog Cope with Life Changes

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of The J.M. Smucker Company. The opinions and text are all mine.

Tips to Help Your Dog Cope with Life Changes

Our dog is family and I’m sure many of you feel the same way about your pets. Sometimes we forget what sensitive creatures dogs are, but they are so perceptive and pick up on everything. They know when life has been turned upside down, for the good or bad. These tips to help your dog cope with life changes should help make those big transitions a little smoother.

My parents are in the middle of a move and frequently have to leave the house for showings, house hunting, and the dog (Chloe) is frequently toted around (more than she’s used to). My mom was just telling me some of the things they’ve been doing to help lessen the stress on Chloe, and we were talking about how sensitive dogs are. Whether you realize it or not, they frequently know if you’re sick, sad, stressed, or if life is just different.

Tips to Help Your Dog Cope with Life Changes

1) The first thing you can do to ease the burden on your sweet pup is to offer high quality treats. If your dog is like mine (or my mom’s) then they know what the word “treat” means. It’s important to not overuse treats, but definitely reward that good behavior of tolerating our human stress and upheaval with a high quality treat like Milk-Bone Farmer’s Medley Whole Grain Recipe with Chicken Biscuits.

Tips to Help Your Dog Cope with Life Changes

We’ve recently started using Milk-Bone Farmer’s Medley biscuits and Lucy loves them. I love that they make a grain free treat, which is fitting because we feed Lucy grain free dog food as well. Whether you want whole grain or grain free, Milk-Bone Farmer’s Medley has you covered. The treats also have no fillers, corn, artificial preservatives or flavors! Pick up one of the following varieties at Walmart and earn $2 with Ibotta too!

  • Whole Grain Recipe with Chicken Biscuits
  • Whole Grain Recipe with Beef Biscuits
  • Grain Free with Lamb & Spring Vegetables Biscuits
  • Grain Free with Turkey & Pumpkin Biscuits

Tips to Help Your Dog Cope with Life Changes

2) Now that your dog’s belly feels rewarded, make sure to feed their heart with lots of love. Life gets busy and sometimes we forget to pay attention to those furry little friends. Make sure to spend some time each day, petting and/or brushing your dog. Some attention and tender lovin’ can go a long way to help our dogs not feel like everything in their world is changing.

3) If you’re having to leave your dog for more hours during the day than they’re used to, make sure their needs are taken care of before you leave. Dogs can get bored during the day too, so be sure to leave out food and water, but also some chew toys and things to keep them occupied and out of trouble.

4) Exercise those little legs. While exercise is proven to help us humans deal with our stress, it can help dogs too. Take your dog for extra walks, or play fetch at the park. Dogs can have nervous energy they need to work out too.

Tips to Help Your Dog Cope with Life Changes

5) If the dog’s primary human is leaving home, for one reason or another, it’s wise to gradually get the pup used to other family members, and start cutting back time with their main human. Dogs can be eased into situations just like us humans like to be sometimes. Sometimes we don’t have a heads up before big changes, but if you know a change is coming, then try to ease your dog into the circumstance.

The important thing to remember is dogs can feel stress and can also get stressed. Let’s be sensitive to their needs in addition to our own, when going through big life changes.

About the author

Emily Buys

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