Separation Anxiety

True separation anxiety, where a dog is so distressed at being left alone that they simply can’t cope, is estimated to affect between 14% – 17% of dogs in the UK.  However, thousands more dog owners would say that their pet pooches suffer from a lesser form of anxiety when left alone, symptoms of which can include barking, howling, toileting in the house, chewing or destroying furniture or general restlessness until the owner returns.

The Dog Express Team have many dogs between them and as with all responsible pet owners, leaving our dogs alone, even if for only a short period of time, is upsetting and concerning; especially as many owners don’t actually know if their dog suffers upset whilst they are out (unless neighbours inform of barking or there are tell tale signs in the house).

Dogs are pack animals and don’t like to be left alone. They view their owner as the pack leader and it can be very stressful when they feel they have been left to fend for themselves, even though you know they are perfectly safe. But fortunately there is help at hand…… 

Digital Dogsitter

Digital Dogsitter was invented by Juuso Kaari in response to the separation anxiety experienced by his own dog, a Welsh Corgi named Väinö. It is a simple piece of software that uses the owners voice to help calm and reassure the dog when it is alone. The software involves recording the owners voice and then using these recordings to play back to the dog via computers, laptops etc even when the owner has left the house. The clever software uses your PC’s microphone to listen for sounds made by your dog and then reacts to them by responding with a pre-recording of the owners voice.

The Dog Express Review

As with all Dog Express reviews, we only ever recommend a product or service when we have tried it ourselves and are satisfied that it works and is in the best interest of both dog and owner. As already suggested on The Digital Dogsitter website, this software works best when a dog can be calmed using the owners voice alone. It is a good idea to try your dog in another room and when they bark, talk to them through the door. This way they can get used to knowing you are still there without actually seeing you.

Having downloaded a free trial of the Digital Dogsitter software, loading it onto the PC was very easy and straightforward and there are excellent manuals and guides available on the website to help with the initial use of the program. Using Ellie, the Border Collie as our test dog (because we know she can be soothed using her owners voice alone). We set up the software with voice recordings and she was left in the house for a short period (the owner actually stood outside the front door to better hear the results of the software).

Within a few minutes Ellie barked (she’s not a constant barker, but intermittent every 2-3 minutes) and the Digital Dogsitter sprang into life after hearing the sound through the PC microphone and the recorded owners voice spoke through the computer speakers. There was instant silence as the dog was obviously trying to listen for other sounds of her owner still being in the house.

You can choose to record numerous voice sound clips and of varying lengths and Digital Dogsitter recommends that you test different clips and durations and delete those that are unsuccessful. The first recording that played was a simple “quiet Ellie”, and whilst she stopped to listen for a few minutes, she then obviously decided that her owner was still in the house and she wanted back into the lounge so started barking again. The next clip in the sequence that played in response to the barking was the more successful “Ellie wait”. This command already works well with this dog as she knows she can enter the room shortly, but has to wait a while (usually used when the owners has workmen in the house or is cleaning). This clip worked wonders as it was another 20 minutes before the owner re-entered the house and Ellie did not bark once again during that time.

Our Verdict

We were delighted and impressed by the simplicity, low cost and effectiveness of the Digital Dogsitter software and whilst we appreciate that not all dogs with separation anxiety will be soothed by this method, we also feel that thousands of dogs will really benefit from this cost effective software (as will neighbours who have to put up with barking).

Spending just a short while with your dog and the software to ensure you get maximum benefit is all this product takes to be successful. Train your dog to be in another room to you and be calmed by the sound of your voice alone and then record the words, duration and tone that calms your dog. It really is that simple.

Digital Dogsitter Details

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