The Log Dog Blog: Separation Anxiety

It is no secret that Ginny is a very nervous dog when she is anywhere that is not her house or her car. I don't know why. I cannot explain it. She has been showered with loved and spoiled beyond any degree of reasonableness for her almost-eleven years with us. I don't get it! We just accepted this about her many years ago and are mindful of this when we take her anywhere.

Well, you may remember that I was worried about Ginny having separation anxiety when I returned to work because she'd grown so attached to me over the quarantine. The school year started for me on August 17, and I've been at school most days. While I am still worried about the possibility of contracting the virus and passing it on to my mom, I'm very careful about hand washing, social distancing, and wearing a mask, and generally speaking, there aren't many people in the building on any given day. Just as others have had to make decisions based on what what works best for their particular situations, I've given a lot of serious thought to whether I should work from home or from my office. I ultimately decided that whenever possible, I'm going to work from my office at school. There are three main reasons for this: 1) all of the reading resources are at school and since I'll be working with different grade levels throughout the day, it will be easier to quickly access any needed materials if I'm in the building; 2) my mom shouldn't feel like she needs to tiptoe around the house every day and not make any noise and I don't think it's fair to expect her to do anything of the sort; and 3) I'm hoping it will be easier to identify the line between work and home, which has not always been easy over these past six months.

All of that being said, I had overestimated the separation anxiety Ginny would experience with me not being home. She's got my mom with her throughout the day and C is home as well, and although he is in the basement working all day, she does get to see him whenever he comes up to the kitchen for a snack or drink. So while she definitely misses me, she's doing just fine.

However, I am a different story! I seriously UNDERestimated the separation anxiety I would experience with me not being at home! I have missed her something awful every day I've been at school! Schools without students in them always feel like weird, abandoned buildings to me, but now, with so few other adults in the building, and the ones who are there being in their rooms with the doors closed (because that's the only time we're allowed to have our masks off)? So bizarre! It's a weird, eerie, lonely place!

A few days ago, I decided to bring Ginny to school with me for a few hours; it was the day before the long Labor Day weekend and I was excited about the thought of her hanging out in my office with me.

I'll be honest. It was a failed experiment. She was so nervous the entire time! Panting and pacing around until I put her bed up on my desk so she was beside my computer, which is where she spends her days when I'm working from home - up on the dining room table beside me. That helped a little, but overall, it was not a good morning. The plan was for C to pick her up when he brought me lunch, and when the time came, I don't know who was more relieved to see him - Ginny or me! I felt terrible about putting her through a stressful situation just because I was lonely at school! Clearly I've grown even more attached to her since mid-March than I'd realized!