14 DAY TRIAL // Later this year, Channel 4 is to release a documentary dubbed “Home Alone Dogs.” The documentary details how dogs react to being left home alone.
Apparently, many of them get depressed and aren't shy about showing how they feel.
Thus, they pace around the house, spin on the spot, howl and defecate. In some cases, the dogs feel so sad that they end up harming themselves.
“For some dogs the consequences can be shocking, including pacing and spinning on the spot. Others were seen barking and howling for long periods, defecating and even self-harming,” a spokesperson for the Home Alone Dogs documentary stated, as cited by The Telegraph.
Specialists explain that, because they are both highly attached to their owners and used to interacting with them on a regular basis, dogs can't really handle being left alone for several hours.
This is why, for the time being, 1 in 4 of the dogs kept as pets in the United Kingdom shows signs of depression.
“Dogs have a very powerful link to humans. You can train a dog to do all sorts of things and understand our gestures. We expect to turn all that off by saying [to our dogs], ‘We’re going out – relax, have a kip, chew a bone, we’ll be back soon’,” Dr. John Bradshaw explains.
However, “They don’t understand that.”