This was the question I was asked last weekend by one of our Devotees.
When she goes out and leaves her dog she often comes back to find her slippers scattered around the sitting room and her pyjamas half way down the stairs, instead of both these things being stored neatly in and under her bed. (The pyjamas in the bed obviously…)
So why does her dog do this odd behaviour?
Dogs are social animals. They aren’t pack animals, despite what some websites still state and base their training around. Dogs don’t form packs like wolves do, but they do form bonds within social groups. And for most pet dogs that group is their human family.
Certain breeds, such as the companion dog breeds, form particularly strong attachments to their humans, as do many dogs with one, single owner. If you get one of these breeds as a puppy, or live on your own with a dog, it’s really important to teach them right from the very start to be comfortable being left on their own. I tell you how to do this in my book, the puppy bible Pesky Puppy to Perfect Pet, available from our website or from Amazon.
Now this particular dog is a companion breed who unfortunately had a difficult first year of life being passed through no fault of her own through four different homes until she found her dream home with our Devotee. But that difficult first year caused her to hate being left alone – she was totally stressed by it.
Our wonderful Devotee worked hard and dedicated six months of her life to helping this wee dog cope so she can now be left for 2-3 hours several times a week. Huge credit to our Devotee – not all owners will put in the enormous time, effort and expense that’s needed to help a dog through significant separation problems.
Dragging pyjamas and slippers downstairs is not because the dog is being naughty.
It’s not because the dog is bored and tries to find things to do that will annoy the owner.
It’s not because she’s decided to make a mess.
She’s choosing these things because they smell most strongly of her owner and finding these things and keeping them close to her means she’s surrounding herself with her owners smell, which she finds comforting.
What can you do about it? If your dog isn’t damaging the things they move then you could do nothing – just put things away when you return. Or you could give your dog something that smells strongly of you when you go out, such as an old jumper you wear for an hour before you leave, then put it in your dog’s bed for her to lie on while you’re out.
And keep working on helping your dog be happy and comfortable to be left alone.
Keep training,
Carol