Impact of Changes in Time Left Alone on Separation-Related Behaviour in UK Pet Dogs

Abstract

Separation-related behaviours (SRBs), including but not limited to vocalisation, pacing, destruction and toileting, occur in the absence of human company. As well as being problematic for the dogs’ owners, such behaviours indicate that the dogs’ emotional state is compromised. As part of the COVID-19 pandemic, time spent alone decreased considerably for many pet dogs, leading to concerns about the development of SRBs when dogs are left alone more again. The main aim of this study was to test the hypothesis that dogs whose time left alone decreased most (compared to a February 2020 pre-COVID baseline) would be at greatest risk of developing new signs of SRB when time left alone increased again. To achieve this aim, we utilised survey data gathered from dog owners between 4th May and 3rd July 2020, during the first COVID-19 ‘lockdown’ period in the United Kingdom (UK), and a follow-up survey of the same dog-owner cohort, completed when restrictions had eased between 10th October and 2nd November 2020. Individual dogs fluctuated considerably in whether they showed signs of SRB or not across the study period (n = 1807). Overall, the prevalence of SRB in the population decreased from 22.1% to 17.2%, as did the time dogs were left alone for between February and October 2020. However, 9.9% of dogs had developed new signs of SRB by the follow-up survey in October 2020, with dogs whose leaving hours decreased most during lockdown restrictions being at increased risk of developing SRBs. These findings have implications for our understanding of the etiology of SRB, by showing a link between changes in owner routine and SRB risk.

Do owners know how impulsive their dogs are?

“…Thus, our findings are not necessarily representative of dogs generally, and this could potentially be another population difference between our sample and that of Brady et al (2018). Furthermore, the recent COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in people staying home more, which could potentially influence separation anxiety in dogs (Heirs & Graham, 2021;Harvey et al, 2022). Further work is needed to investigate this, but it is important in considering recruitment and interpretation of dog cognition research.…”

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on a cohort of Labrador retrievers in England

“…This study had several limitations which have not yet been discussed. We recommend that readers do not rely solely on the P -values reported to infer statistical significance and interpret our findings, but consider the confidence intervals and other results [ 49 ]. Questionnaire data such as Dogslife is limited by social desirability bias (the tendency of survey and interview respondents to give answers they feel will be socially acceptable rather than those which reflect the truth) and ‘recall decay’ (the decrease in participants’ ability to accurately recall events as time to reporting increases).…”

“…Several surveys have reported negative changes in dogs’ behaviour during COVID-19 lockdown restrictions [ 16 , 40 , 45 – 48 ]. A recent study that surveyed dog owners, during and post COVID − 19 lockdown restrictions, reported that a decrease in the time spent alone by dogs increased their risk of separation related behaviour [ 49 ]. Additionally, an increase in the frequency of dog bites was reported by paediatric departments during the 2020 lockdown in Italy [ 50 ], Canada [ 51 ] and the UK [ 52 ].…”

Impactos de la pandemia de coronavirus en el bienestar animal

“…Informações obtidas através de questionários permitiram avaliar os impactos da pandemia e do isolamento social em cães no Reino Unido, onde 1 a cada 2 cães que manifestavam clínica compatível com Síndrome de Ansiedade por Separação apresentaram melhora no quadro durante o período de isolamento, enquanto os tutores frequentavam suas casas por mais tempo. Entretanto, 1 a cada 10 cães desenvolveu novos sinais de Síndrome de Ansiedade por Separação após o retorno de seus tutores as atividades normais do cotidiano (Harvey et al, 2022).…”