‘I don’t want to go anywhere without Alfie’: What the future holds for our pandemic pets

Millions of people acquired a new pet during lockdown. As restrictions ease, Kate Ng talks to pet owners about how they plan to balance their newfound freedom with the demands of their furry friends

(The Independent)

At the beginning of 2021, my household became one of 3.2 million that acquired a pet during lockdown. The new addition to my small family, which comprised of my husband and I, was Bertie, a black cat taken off the streets by one of London’s many rescue agencies.

Pets became a lifeline for many throughout the harsh months of lockdown, myself included. As a key worker, my husband spent most of the working week at his office, but I was working from home, which meant being completely alone for long periods of time.

With millions more people saying they were lonely “always or often” over the course of lockdown, the company of pets became increasingly appealing. According to a University of York study, more than 90 per cent of people who took part in the research said their pet helped them cope emotionally with the lockdown. Having a pet was also linked to better levels of fitness, with 96 per cent saying their pet helped them stay active.

The soaring demand for animal companionship resulted in puppy prices more than doubling over lockdown, with dogs costing almost £1,900 on average up from £888. Popular breeds saw an even steeper price hike, with mixed-breeds like cockapoos and cavapoos costing over £1,000 more than usual. Supermarkets were also forced to issue a warning over a “national shortage” of some dog and cat food products due to the “unprecedented” surge in pet ownership.

While animal shelters have issued warnings that the number of animals being abandoned or given up for adoption will increase as restrictions ease across England, the idea is unthinkable for most who have welcomed a furry friend into their home over lockdown.

We spoke to a number of people to find out how their pandemic pets made a difference in their lives in lockdown and how they are gearing up to adapt to leaving their new family members behind when they make the journey back into the office, after almost 18 months at home.

Angelica Malin, 30, owner of cavapoochon, Alfie

“I don’t really want to go anywhere without Alfie”

Angelica Malin, 30, with her cavapoochon Alfie (Angelica Malin)

I spent the first lockdown on my own, I found it super difficult because I was living alone for the first time after a breakup. There was so much alone time and such a lack of human contact, I’m an extrovert so I really struggled with that amount of time to myself.

I had been thinking about getting a dog for a while, so Covid became an impetus to do it. It was the motivation I needed to seriously start looking into it. The process was quite quick, I found a breeder for cavapoochons (a cross between three breeds: a Cavalier King Charles spaniel, a poodle and a bichon frise) in Wales that I liked and was put on a waiting list.

He had a litter pretty soon after and we had a FaceTime meeting, where I could see the puppies. Alfie was the only one who was asleep and I chose him. At the time, lockdown meant I couldn’t travel into Wales to get him, so I paid for him to be delivered to me.

I got him in October and then I caught Covid in January and had to self-isolate. It was quite a challenge, I was frantically googling ‘How to tire out a puppy indoors’ and we played with a lot of tennis balls inside. I spent a lot of time on YouTube looking for tricks to teach him.

Alfie is a handful. He’s really clingy and wants to be by my side always – I have no privacy anymore! Having a dog has been amazing, not only is it his company that’s been fantastic but I’ve also never spoken to as many people as I have now that I have a dog. There’s such a community. I go for walks with my friends and they say they’ve never seen me stop and talk to so many people before. I really love that aspect of being a dog owner.

Alfie sits at the dining table (Angelica Malin)

It has definitely gotten a bit more challenging since things have opened up. I have to be really organised if I want to travel without him, I’d have to organise doggy daycare or enlist the help of friends to dog-sit. But I’m not too worried, because everywhere in London is so-pet friendly, and I don’t really want to go anywhere without Alfie. I even went to the Hart Hotel in Shoreditch, which has a doggy room service menu!

I’m self-employed so I work from home easily, but sometimes I like to go to a co-working space. The last time I brought Alfie, he jumped up and ate someone else’s Nando’s lunch… So that was a bit embarrassing. I think I will try giving it another go until he gets used to it, that’s the only way it would work.

Even though he’s really clingy, I love him more than anything. Alfie’s company is so invaluable and he’s changed my life for the better.

Ben and Lou Austin, 40 and 39, owners of dachshund, Frankie and labrador, Ralph

“He brought a whole new energy and spark to our family”

Ben Austin, 40, with Ralph and Frankie (Ben Austin)

When lockdown hit in March 2020, the digital marketing business that Lou and I run together went fully remote. All of a sudden we weren’t travelling at all. Lou began to struggle with anxiety and depression from being sat indoors all day, every day and after work there was no release, so all we talked about was the business. We couldn’t go out to get our mind off things, and it became quite difficult to cope with lockdown.

We decided to get a dog. In October 2020 Frankie, our dachshund, came along, he brought a whole new energy and spark to our family. It was someone to cuddle with, to care for, look after and play with. Things went so well with Frankie that by New Year’s Eve, we got another dog: a silver labrador we named Ralph. The pair of them completely transformed our lives.

It was a big shock to start with, going from no dogs to two dogs quite quickly, but we love them to bits. Before they came, Lou developed social anxiety and it got to the point where she wouldn’t leave the house so getting the puppies has helped her with going out and about for walks with them. She’s come so far with managing her anxiety that today she was able to go into a real-life client meeting.

We’ve got our own private acre of woods as we live out in the countryside in Essex, and the dogs absolutely love it. Frankie loves chasing and hide and seek, so the woods are more his area, but Ralph absolutely loves swimming when we can go to the beach. He sticks his head underwater and tries to eat the bubbles, it is really funny to watch.

Frankie (left), the dachsund, and Ralph, the silver labrador (Ben Austin)

Naturally, when you get a dog your life changes.  Before the pandemic, we were really free, so now there is more planning involved, but we wouldn’t have it any other way. Just the other day we were talking about going for a drive to the beach, just the two of us, but the more we talked the more we realised we don’t actually want to leave the dogs at home. We’re thinking a lot more about things we can do that include the dogs.

Our business is now fully remote and there are no plans to go back to the office. In fact, since we let the office go, it’s worked really well for us. We put it to a vote among the staff in August to ask if they wanted to stay remote forever, work out a hybrid model or come back to the office full time, but everybody wants to keep working remotely. Some people have gotten their own pets so it’s really changed for them as well.

Holly Winter, 42, owner of hamster, Coda

“He came into my life at exactly the right time”

Holly Winter, 42, with her hamster Coda (Holly Winter)

A year ago yesterday, my Dad died unexpectedly. He had gone for his regular morning run, came home and went to sit in his study. My Mum found him 40 minutes later, already dead. She tried calling me several times that morning but I had missed her calls. When I saw how many missed calls there were, I thought it was strange and steeled myself for some bad news. When I finally got through to mum on the phone, I asked her if everything was alright? And she said the words that have haunted me since: “No, it’s really bad darling. Dad died this morning.”

The shock was absolutely horrendous, no one could have seen it coming. Before I got through to her on the phone, I was just thinking I should sit down, Dad’s probably in hospital. I just hadn’t expected him to have actually died.

Just before this happened, I adopted Coda, a rescue hamster, during lockdown. His previous owner had to give him up because they had moved and couldn’t take him, and he had been living in a cage that was too small for him, so he was really in need of a new home.

Coda the hamster (Holly Winter)

We needed to go and be with Mum in Sheffield, so I packed things up very quickly, including Coda and his hamster house. I’m a bridal designer and dressmaker, and at the start of lockdown I had my entire high season cancelled. So I thought I would offer to make wedding dresses for brides who were working on the NHS frontline who have had to postpone their wedding because of Covid. I was halfways through making these dresses when Dad died, so in the boot of the car we squeezed in Coda’s hamster house next to pieces of wedding dresses I had yet to sew together, and my sewing machines.

Having Coda with me amid all the chaos was such a welcome respite at the end of each day. Having something cute and fluffy and happy to see me, that had nothing to do with all the grief, gave me the mental respite that I needed from everything. He was something separate from the sadness and it didn’t affect him. Concentrating on Coda was grounding and you had to watch him so closely because he was so fast at the time, he would take all my attention. It was so nice to be occupied by something so cute and small.

Hamsters only live for about two years, and Coda will be two next month. He’s an old man now and looking a bit bald, one of his eyes has gone rather cloudy. The hardest part about liking hamsters is whenever you have one you know that within two years you’ll have to deal with the pain of losing them. I have had several over the years, and I do love them. Coda is really special to me, he was there during a really difficult time in my life. I was intending to be the one who rescued him and didn’t realise how much I was going to need him. He came into my life at exactly the right time.

Deborah Tan, 29, owner of rats, Blossom, Bubbles and Buttercup

“In looking after my pets, they’ve helped me look after myself too”

Deborah Tan with one of her three rats, Blossom, Bubbles and Buttercup (Deborah Tan)

Blossom, Bubbles and Buttercup are my three rats and they are all sisters. I got them in June and they have been really great for my mental health, which took a hit over lockdown due to stress and homesickness.  I haven’t been able to go home to Malaysia to see my family for more than a year.

I’m technically not allowed pets in my house share in Dublin, but I thought rats were a good idea because they can live quite happily in a cage, they’re not roaming around, making a mess and destroying anything, and I can supervise their time outside the cage closely. They also only live for two years, so it’s not a 10-year commitment or anything like that, and I was okay with this.

I also really needed the emotional support. After work, when you’re stressed and tired, the last thing you want to do is look after yourself – but in looking after my pets, they’ve helped me look after myself too. They take my mind off work and you have to be in the moment with them because if you let your mind wander, and one of them disappears, that’s it! They’re gone, possibly forever! So they bring me into the present moment.

Blossom, Bubbles and Buttercup the rat sisters (Deborah Tan)

When you’re an animal person without a pet, it can feel like something is missing. In lockdown before I got the rats, I felt I had nothing to care for, and it’s very different when you have a pet. If you’re not okay, then they’re not okay either.

All three rats have really different personalities, it’s been so nice to watch and learn about them. Blossom likes a bit of rough and tumble, she loves to play. Buttercup enjoys food the most and is the fattest, whilst Bubbles is really quiet and likes her alone time. She’s the most anxious but is the nicest to take out and put on your lap because she’ll snuggle up when she’s comfortable.

I’ll take them with me if I move elsewhere in the next couple of years, of course I will. And I know they have short lives, but I think that’s the beauty of pets – it’s sad when they have to go but they teach you to enjoy the moment and enjoy them while they’re around.

Sam Sellers and Libby Barrett, 31 and 32, owners of labradoodle, Finn

“We’re both over the moon that we chose Finn”

Sam Sellers and Libby Barrett, 31 and 32, with their Australian Labradoodle Finn (Sam Sellers)

We had been looking at getting a dog for a while and once we found a breeder we liked, the waitlist was a year to 18 months. When we put our names down on the waitlist in March last year, we assumed that lockdown would be over by the time he arrived. Well, none of that worked out.

Before we got Finn, we did try to prepare for what to expect. We read a different book each and made ourselves go and look after a friend’s dog for a week. But when he arrived we realised we absolutely no idea what we were doing

Having a puppy in a flat was admittedly incredibly stressful. We were living on the fifth floor of a big block at the time and were very conscious of noise with the neighbours below. The first couple of months were much more stressful than we had hoped, but we got through it together!

Finn the Australian Labradoodle (Sam Sellers)

Finn is an Australian Labradoodle, and he is now four and a half months old. Practically, having Finn means we get out a lot more and it is really nice to go out for walks. Day to day, puppies have extremes of energy so when he’s at a medium-level or calm, it’s lovely and we have cuddles on the sofa.

Finn is a lovely thing to have around and he’s a fun distraction. We both work from home, which has been amazing to look after Finn, I don’t know how it could have worked otherwise. Going forward, we’ll both have a mix of office and work-from-home time, so will be able to balance out the week, which is perfect.

He’s quite a chilled dog, we’ve been very lucky with his calm temperament. We had a choice of two puppies in the litter and they were on opposite ends of the spectrum. We’re both over the moon that we chose Finn.