What does my dog do when I’m away from home?

8th February 2023

Have you ever thought about what your dog gets up to when you’re not at home? If your dog is on their own in the house during the day, then it’s likely they won’t be getting up to much. Being largely inactive is pretty normal for dogs when they’re alone.

Monitoring activity

When not at home, the Animo activity tracker and behaviour monitor can be a great way of keeping track of what your dog gets up to. It’s a lightweight collar-mounted device which is designed to stay with your dog all the time. Data is stored in graph in the Sure Petcare – Animo app, helping you to track of your dog’s activity each day. By monitoring their activity when they’re not with you, you can determine how much you should exercise them when they are with you.

Barking behaviour

Animo can detect when your dog barks and highlight when there is a significant increase in barking behaviour. If you notice that your dog barks when you leave the house, they may be suffering from separation anxiety, so you could consider getting someone to look in on your dog during the day. If they bark at other specific times during the day, try to pinpoint what could be causing it and find ways to resolve it, such as housing them in a different area of your home where they are less likely to be disturbed by external sounds.

Encouraging activity

If you notice that your dog doesn’t do much while you’re away from home, you could get a friend, family member or pet sitter to take them for a walk during the day or leave a food dispensing toy for them to play. Toys that offer a reward such as food are likely to get the best response from your dog. 

Home comforts

Making your dog’s home as comfortable as possible can help to keep them happy when you’re not around. Make sure your dog has access to a comfortable bed so that they can nap during the day and close the curtains if they find outdoor scenes distracting. To help your dog feel calmer, consider using an Adaptil pheromone diffuser, which emits comforting messages, similar to those emitted from a mother to its puppies.