Five Signs Your Dog Misses You When You Are Gone

Whether you work long hours, take regular trips away, or even if you just pop out for a few hours each day, your dog may be missing you more than you think. 

Dogs are highly social beings and are well adapted to living in groups as they are pack animals. Even if they have never been around another dog before, they will still exhibit behavioral characteristics of a pack animal and will most likely see you, their owner, as their pack leader. 

However, since becoming companions to humans, dogs have evolved and become much more docile and less aggressive, but they still crave social interactions.  

Namely from you. 

That is why, if you have been gone from your home for any length of time, you will most likely be greeted with an energetic, enthusiastic and excited dog that can’t wait to spend time with you. 

They chew your belongings

If you have ever come home to find that your dog has chewed your favorite pair of shoes or that they have covered your best jumper in hair, you may think that they have been bored or just up to no good. However, it is a tell-tale sign that they are in fact missing you while you are out. 

Dogs have an incredible sense of smell and you are probably their favorite scent, so anything that they can find that smells of you, they will be drawn to. 

They whine when you leave

All dog owners will be familiar with that heart-breaking sound that your dog makes when you try to leave them. It sounds somewhere between a whine and an actual cry. Unfortunately, your dog is not putting this on to try and get you to stay, they actually experience sadness when they see you leave.

Thankfully, this shouldn’t last too long and your dog should recover after a few minutes of you being out of sight.

They make a mess

Of course, you can expect a little bit of disarray when you get home after leaving your dog alone all day, but if they have made a lot of mess or had an accident or two, this could be a sign that they are suffering from emotional distress due to being alone.

If this is the case, it may be a good idea for you to consider putting your dog into a doggy day care center such as Heart and Paw that can offer your dog companionship and social interactions during the day. 

They are over-excited when you come home

If your dog comes bounding towards you when you open the door, almost knocking you off your feet with excitement that you are home, this is a clear sign that they have missed you while you’ve been gone. 

On a more serious note, this also shows that they are coping with you being away as if they were in emotional distress, they would be much more likely to be withdrawn and uncommunicative. 

They follow you around the house

After a long day at work, you probably want to relax or catch up with some housework, however, don’t be surprised if you have a little shadow following you around. A sure sign that your dog has missed you is that now you are home they won’t leave your side. Try to see this as a positive, they simply love you that much.