How to find out whether your dog barks when you’re out, and how much

Record one ordinary absence of at least an hour, with video if you can. Merck’s veterinary manual calls video an invaluable diagnostic tool for home-alone problems, because when the barking happens and what the dog is doing tell you the cause. The first 30 minutes after you leave matter most.

What are the ways to check?

How do I read what I find?

• Short bursts when something passes, calm in between: alert barking. Manage the window and the hallway.
• Starts after a while, on and off, with wandering or chewing: boredom. More exercise before you leave, food puzzles, a midday break.
• Starts within minutes and doesn’t stop, with howling, pacing, drooling or scratching at exits: separation distress. Merck notes these signs typically begin in the first 15 to 30 minutes. See your vet. More here.
• Nothing at all: it happens. Ask the neighbour which days and times, and record those.

How much barking is normal?

Some. Barking is how dogs talk, and no noise rule expects silence; Seattle’s, for example, says residents are expected to tolerate occasional barking. What neighbours and ordinances object to is barking that runs for minutes at a stretch or returns many times a day. If your recording shows a few short bursts across an afternoon, you have a normal dog and possibly a sensitive neighbour.

Why keep tracking after the first recording?

Because one day is an anecdote. A week shows the pattern, and a month shows whether what you changed is working. This is where a detector earns its place: DogHush counts barks on the iPhone you leave at home and shows them by day and by hour, and it answers each one with your recorded cue if you want it to. If a complaint is involved, read how to log barking as evidence.

This guide is general information about dog behaviour, not veterinary advice. A sudden change in barking, or barking with signs of distress, is a reason to see a vet.