So I've been working from home since November 2007, nearing 2 years... and it's been really great. I've been given a lot of opportunities to do things that I wouldn't have normally had, because I have some flexibility and freedom.
One of those is adopting 2 pups... Princess Lucy and Bentley the Regal Beagle... pictured here:
It was tough at first, but we stuck it out... and it's been quite rewarding (and expensive).
But that's not the point I want to get across... For any other dog owners, it's a well known fact that some dogs have separation anxiety. When they can't quite figure out why their owner has left and they feel anxious. Crazy things can happen. Like this:
Erratic behavior. Ultimately something your heart goes out to them for and they are forgiven quickly.
But what about humans? Would one get separation anxiety from leaving their animals?
Yes
I can fully say, that when I have plans to leave my house for extended periods of time (> 5 hours), I often have anxiety. For shorter durations during the summer, I get worried about the dogs being outside in 100F weather... For longer durations I get worried about them not having fun or missing us. Of course, mostly irrational fears, and it always works out...
But it's something that happens to me and I'm sure it's a direct effect from working from home and raising these two pups every single day for the last year or more.
I'm not quite sure how I'm going to get rid of the anxiety, but with the wedding coming up, we're going to board the dogs for 2 whole weeks. I'm not sure how I'm going to handle it. I already got nervous making the reservation. I know it's the logical thing to do as we're going to be super busy and with no fenced in yard where we'll be, we can't take them. They will be well taken care of and we're paying good money to make sure that that happens. But I still can't stop thinking about the idea of being away from my dogs for 2 weeks...
Who knows what I'd do if one ran away... Eek!