Many pet-owning office workers have to leave their dogs alone at home during the day. So, do dogs get bored when they’re alone at home? What do dogs do when they are bored? Let’s take a look with the editor.

When it’s bored, it just runs around or sleeps, searching for things everywhere. Yes, my younger brother and his family went on a trip and asked me to take care of their house. Both families have dogs. Before the trip, my brother planned to let their dog stay at my house, but my dog is timid and his dog is fierce, constantly bullying my dog, so in the end, they had to take their dog back.

Before their trip, my brother specially bought several surveillance devices (because previously their family experienced a home burglary during a trip, so they were extra cautious this time). Thus, I could observe their home situation through the surveillance and also see what the dog was doing.

My brother’s family usually comes back home after 4 PM. Before this time, the dog is lying on the sofa, sleeping.

After 6 PM, the dog notices nobody is home yet and starts getting anxious, running back and forth between the sofa and the door.

After 7 PM, the dog clearly senses something is wrong, no one has come back, so it starts whining (the surveillance has a MIC).

After 10 PM, the dog is probably about to break down, barking more fiercely and continuously...

Around 11 PM, it ran to the balcony to bark angrily at the neighbor’s dog.........................

Around 1 AM, I checked and couldn’t find him, probably asleep.

The next morning around 7 AM, I saw the dog running around inside the house.

Then it kept running around until about 6 PM, and started whining again.

Then I turned on the speaker on the surveillance and called it. It started wagging its tail excitedly and kept trying to find where the sound was coming from. No matter how much I rotated the camera, it never saw the camera moving. It just excitedly ran around sniffing everywhere, probably looking for me.

Since it heard my voice, it stopped barking for a while because it thought there was someone inside. After a while, finding no one, it started barking again and ignored me calling it.

So at this time, it probably got scared again.

Then it kept barking like this all night...

Early on the third day (forgive me, actually I planned not to go over if no unknown person entered, but suddenly all surveillance cameras lost the video feed, so for safety, I went to check). I went there and found this little guy hadn’t eaten his dog food or drunk water. He kept circling around me since I entered. Wherever I went, he followed. Later I found the network problem caused the surveillance failure. Restarting the network fixed it. Then I checked the home’s security, confirmed no problem, and sat down to see what the little guy wanted. After sitting for more than an hour, it started calming down (though still running around) to eat and drink.

After playing with it for a while, I left, but it started restlessly howling again... then continued the previous cycle...

From my home’s surveillance footage, my dog sleeps lying still when no one is home during the day.

When someone is home but not playing with it, it will do things that will get it scolded.

For example, I don’t allow it to rummage through the trash can. If it does, I definitely scold it (though I feel this is not good, but other methods only make things worse). However, about once a month when someone is home, it will rummage through my room’s trash bin in front of me. As soon as I stand up or shout at it, it runs away. If I don’t chase it out, it comes back to continue. If I chase it away, it barks at me at the door of my room.

Also, it sometimes runs to drink water in the bathroom, similar situation. Although it has water in its bowl and knows it will be scolded for drinking in the bathroom, the surveillance shows it never runs there during the day alone. Only when people are home does it do this.

I don’t know if these behaviors indicate the dog wants attention or to play when it’s bored. Everyone has their own view~

Someone asked about the surveillance. My brother’s surveillance was specially bought before their trip because they experienced a burglary after a previous family trip.

My home’s surveillance was purely out of curiosity after seeing my brother’s setup; it was just for fun.

The answer is definitely yes. Dogs alone at home are definitely bored because dogs are animals that are used to living in groups. So when you leave your dog alone at home, dogs generally get bored.

1. When the owner is away for more than 30 minutes, the dog’s stress level peaks. When the dog senses the owner putting on shoes and saying goodbye, its heartbeat, breathing rate, and stress hormones increase. Emotionally, it feels sad and lonely. If the owner does not come back soon, the dog may whine, cry, scratch the floor, destroy furniture, or pace anxiously.

2. Not every dog left alone feels lonely or sad. But it also doesn’t mean every dog left alone feels sad or lonely. Some dogs eat and sleep normally, only feeling bored because no one plays with them. This depends on the breed, personality, and the dog's mode of interaction with humans.

3. Having another dog doesn’t necessarily reduce loneliness. Some owners think having another dog or cat can provide companionship and relieve loneliness, but that’s not always true!

If the two dogs’ personalities don’t get along or if they compete for territory, it may have the opposite effect and increase their anxiety!

4. Train its independence from an early age. Dogs’ socialization period is between 3-14 weeks old. Owners who want to cultivate the dog’s independence can gradually extend its alone time or increase opportunities to be alone to reduce dependency. Of course, at this young age, owners shouldn’t leave the dog home alone for days.

5. Prepare a “safe baby box” for it. How to reduce a dog’s anxiety when alone? Owners can prepare a “safe baby box” filled with its favorite toys or place favorite snacks around the box. Before leaving, spend some time playing with the dog using the toys in the box. This lets the dog know when the owner is not home, the box contains familiar and favorite toys and snacks, so it won’t be as anxious!

So, dog owners, you can train your dogs more in daily life, so next time you go out, you can rest assured.