my 11 year old rescue who has been with me four years just developed full blown separation anxiety the week i went back to the office and i am completely blindsided

Backstory because i think it matters. I adopted Pip when she was 7. Shes a cocker mix, came out of a hoarding situation, was scared of everything for the first six months and then turned into the most chill dog you have ever met. She slept through hurricanes. She did not flinch at fireworks. She did not care when i went to the grocery store, she did not care when i traveled for a weekend with a sitter, she did not care about anything. Four years of this dog being the easiest senior dog in the world.

Two weeks ago my company ended their remote policy and i went back to the office three days a week. First day she was fine according to the camera. Second day she paced for 90 minutes and then settled. By the end of week one she was panting and pacing the entire 8 hours, scratched the back door so badly the trim is shredded, and peed twice on the rug. This past monday my downstairs neighbor texted me at 11am asking if everything was okay because she could hear Pip howling from her apartment. Pip has literally never made a sound in four years. I came home tuesday to a puddle of drool the size of a dinner plate by the front door.

I have done all the obvious surface stuff. Kong with frozen peanut butter, calming music, a worn shirt of mine on her bed, leaving her with a long lasting chew. None of it is touching this. Shes not engaging with the kong, the camera shows it untouched at hour 2. Im going to the vet on thursday to rule out medical and to ask about anxiety meds because i genuinely think we are past the point of behavior work alone, but i also know meds without a behavior plan are not the move.

What im trying to figure out, from people who have actually been through this with an older dog: is this fixable with a real plan or am i looking at finding a different job, hiring a daytime sitter for 8 hours every weekday (i cannot afford this long term), or surrendering the dog i love because i broke her routine. I am not being dramatic, that is genuinely the menu i feel like im looking at right now. What worked for you. What did not. Please be honest.