My dog isn't barking so they must be fine

People often tell me their dog is fine for a certain amount of time when they ask about working with me. They usually say this because the dog isn't barking.

I always suggest getting a camera set up because most of the time, they aren't monitoring their dog. What we often find is that the dog's fear is actually triggered much, much earlier than the owner ever imagined. This is why I'm a big advocate for getting a professional assessment.

Here's one example:

The family set up a camera for a reason unrelated to the dog. To their horror, they discovered he was pacing round the living room, up the stairs, onto the landing, then down the stairs and back to the living room for the entire time they were at work. He kept this up for hours without once lying down, drinking, or resting.

When they got home, he'd greet them completely normally as if nothing had happened. They had no idea he had developed this compulsive behaviour to cope with their absence.

This is a perfect example of why we should always monitor our dogs when they are home alone. They may not be barking, but if they suffer from a fear of being left alone, they will show any number of severe stress signals as they try to find relief from that fear.

We need to give them that relief and help them recover from this phobia sooner rather than later. After all, we don't want any dog to suffer fear on our watch, do we?

All the best, Victoria