{"id":6893,"date":"2021-12-15T09:48:18","date_gmt":"2021-12-15T14:48:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/?p=6893"},"modified":"2025-06-27T15:58:38","modified_gmt":"2025-06-27T19:58:38","slug":"where-two-pandemic-puppies-are-today-and-how-theyre-managing-anxiety","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/2021\/12\/15\/where-two-pandemic-puppies-are-today-and-how-theyre-managing-anxiety\/","title":{"rendered":"Where Two Pandemic Puppies Are Today and How They\u2019re Managing Anxiety"},"content":{"rendered":"

The holiday season for many is a time to give and receive gifts. For some this year, the gift may be in the form of a four-legged friend. Adopting and surprising family with a puppy this year may be on some people\u2019s holiday agenda. But for others this season will be a time to reflect on the growing pains the COVID-19 pandemic gave their pups.<\/p>\n

At the start of the pandemic, many individual routines shifted. Heather MacKay, who worked in insurance at the time, was doing a desk share pre-pandemic. \u201cI was hoping to start working from home prior to the pandemic,\u201d she says. \u201cAnd then the pandemic happened, and everyone immediately went home.\u201d\u00a0 According to PEW Research Center, Heather\u2019s transition was similar to the transition of 71 percent of employed Americans.<\/p>\n

Months before COVID-19 sent Heather home to work remotely, she and<\/p>\n

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Phoenix on her paw-rents boat when she was a puppy.<\/p><\/div>\n

her partner had begun having conversations about adopting a Great Dane puppy. \u201cOur friends have Great Danes,\u201d she explains. \u201cThe breeder they use down south had a co-breeder that was having puppies. It just happened to be at the perfect time.\u201d Phoenix Storm, the Great Dane puppy, was born in February 2020. Eight weeks later, Heather\u2019s breeder drove Phoenix from Alabama to her new home in Maine. Working from home, Heather was able to be with her puppy all the time. \u201cI would take her out and make sure that she was eating,\u201d she says. \u201cThere was a lot of education involved as well. I was juggling that.\u201d Heather says she began to see Phoenix\u2019 fondness of having her around. \u201cI noticed she was very attached,\u201d she says. \u201cI believe regardless of the pandemic that would have happened, especially working from home.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Phoenix at school, towering over her classmates now.<\/p><\/div>\n

Aware that puppies need socialization, Heather began looking for outlets for Phoenix. At four months old and 65 pounds, Phoenix began attending school. \u00a0\u201cWe decided to start her in school\/daycare,\u201d she says, \u201cso that she could play and be a dog during the day with natural surroundings and socialization.\u201d Heather added that she brought Phoenix to visit with family members during the worse parts of the pandemic and socially distanced for Phoenix to still get socialization. \u201cShe was around chickens, too,\u201d she laughs. \u201cAnd other dogs and cats.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Over a year later, Heather is back to working in an office. With Phoenix\u2019 school temporarily closed awaiting relocation, Heather has started leaving Phoenix at home with her son, who does college remotely from home. She believes Phoenix might suffer from separation anxiety due to being brought home during a pandemic. \u201cGreat Danes are known for that (separation anxiety),\u201d she says, laughing a little. \u201cThey\u2019re big babies. I can leave her home for a maximum of two hours. I don\u2019t want to do it more than that.\u201d When left unsupervised, Phoenix has been known to comb through garbage, as she can open the cabinets with her teeth. She has also nervously chewed several shoes in the past. \u201cBut the dog is our baby,\u201d Heather says. \u201cWe don\u2019t leave our baby.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Finn hanging out under the lifts during a walk at Sugarloaf.<\/p><\/div>\n

Similar to Phoenix is her \u201ccousin,\u201d Finnley. Jack Bisson, Finn\u2019s owner, believes Finn suffers from some level of separation anxiety. \u201cBut not as bad as some dogs,\u201d he says. \u201cWhen my girlfriend and I are home, Finn desires constant attention. He always wants to be close to, if not right on top of, you.\u201d Finn, a purebred black Lab, was born May 2020, in the height of the pandemic. He was raised on a farm for a short period before being rehomed two more times, eventually finding his forever home with Jack and his girlfriend, Abi Davis, in May 2021. \u201cFinn sort of fell into our laps,\u201d he says. \u201cI could tell he was very anxious when we opened the door and seemed a little scared even.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Bisson with Finn and Davis on a road trip to Sugarloaf.<\/p><\/div>\n

Jack rents a house with a yard that gives Finn room to play. \u201cWe\u2019ve had him around eight months now,\u201d he says. \u201cI think he knows that we are his forever home. Or at least we do.\u201d Finn\u2019s anxiety has been noticeable in several situations. Jack recalls an incident hiking, where Finn became nervous around another group of hikers and would not stop barking. On other occasions where the couple has left Finn home alone, Finn has destroyed slippers and other items. Jack and Abi recognize Finn\u2019s struggles with anxiety and searched for ways to help him. \u201cWe give Finn CBD infused dog treats,\u201d Jack says. \u201cWhich he loves. These help with his anxiety and constant need to be touching us. I have seen improvement with Finn using CBD treats and would recommend them for anyone looking to help manage their dog\u2019s anxiety.\u201d Both Jack and Heather feel that with time, both their dogs will only get better.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The holiday season for many is a time to give and receive gifts. For some this year, the gift may be in the form of a four-legged friend. Adopting and surprising family with a puppy this year may be on some people\u2019s holiday agenda. But for others this season will be a time to reflect […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":93,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7381],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6893","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-archives","et-doesnt-have-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6893","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/93"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6893"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6893\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8222,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6893\/revisions\/8222"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6893"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6893"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6893"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}