Corgi separation anxiety during deployment

A deployment is hard on everyone, including the dog. Your Corgi has lost their primary person, moved in with someone unfamiliar, and had their whole routine upended — that's a lot of change at once, and separation anxiety in that situation is completely understandable. Separation anxiety is one of the most distressing things for both dog and owner to go through, and while products can genuinely help, they work best alongside some structure and consistency. Before I suggest anything, I want to understand what you're actually dealing with: is it mild whining and restlessness, has he started being destructive or refusing to eat, or is it full panic — panting, escape attempts, the works? And how long has this been going on since the move?

That's moderate anxiety — the shadow-following and appetite dip are classic signs he's lost his anchor and is trying to compensate by attaching hard to whoever is there. That's actually a workable starting point. A few quick questions before I point you toward something specific: does your mother-in-law keep any kind of routine at all — regular mealtimes, a consistent place he sleeps? And does Biscuit have any of your husband's worn clothing with him, or anything from your usual home?

Definitely send a worn t-shirt or pillowcase — unwashed, so it still smells like him. That alone can make a real difference for a dog in this situation. Now for the product recommendation: I'd go with the Adaptil Calm Home Diffuser. It plugs into the wall and releases a synthetic version of the pheromone a mother dog produces to calm her puppies — it has no sedative effect, it's odourless to humans, and it works continuously in the background. For a dog dealing with environmental upheaval rather than a single trigger, it's more reliable than sprays or collars because it maintains a constant low-level calming signal throughout the space where he spends most of his time. Your mother-in-law just plugs it in and forgets about it, which matters given her situation. One diffuser covers up to 70 square metres and lasts about four weeks. It won't fix the anxiety on its own, but paired with the worn clothing, consistent mealtimes, and a short predictable walk or garden sniff session each day, it gives Biscuit a much calmer baseline to settle into.

Yes — it's odourless and the pheromone is species-specific, meaning it only has an effect on dogs. It won't trigger asthma and there's no scent at all for humans. It's not a chemical sedative or an air freshener; it's a dog-specific signal. Completely safe to run in a room with your mother-in-law present all day. The main practical note is just to plug it into a socket that won't be blocked by furniture, ideally in the room where Biscuit spends most of his time resting.

Start with just the diffuser plus the worn clothing — adding too many things at once makes it hard to know what's working. If after two weeks his appetite still hasn't improved or the whining is constant, the next step I'd consider is a snuffle mat to give him some low-energy mental stimulation that your mother-in-law can manage easily without long walks. But honestly, three weeks in with a loving if overwhelmed caretaker and a bit of environmental support, a lot of dogs do settle. Give it time, keep the routine as tight as she can manage, and check back in if things aren't improving.