Behaviour /doing surveillance on pets

How to do surveillance on pets

and how to spy on your pets when you are not home

Spying on your pets when you are not home is not only interesting and fun, but it's also very useful if you are researching 'home-alone' behaviours.

Spying on your pets allows you to determine when, where and how often unwanted behaviour occurs. It also allows you to determine the other side of the argument - when, where and how often wanted behaviours are occurring.

That means you can amplify the wanted behaviours and dilute the unwanted ones.

Because we have found some excellent free or low-cost means of spying on your pets, you can find out all you need about your pet's home-alone behaviour by following the links that appear below.

But what are you trying to achieve?  Your goal with surveillance is to determine where in your home your dog is the CALMEST because the majority of behaviour remedies focus on creating that CALM STATE.

Let's start with excessive vocalisation as an example.

Barking and excessive vocalisation when you are not home

One of the main reasons pet owners need to spy on their pets is because they have received complaints from their neighbours or their local council about their dog's excessive barking.

In Australia there used to be legal limits to how much barking is allowed. While this has now changed, most Councils still use the '6 minutes per hour' guide as a yardstick. The details for the Brisbane City Council can be found here.

Councils usually consider barking a nuisance if it occurs for more than:

• six minutes in any hour between 7am and 10pm on any day 
• three minutes in any 30 minute period between 10pm and 7am on any day 

You should not regard that as being a defined limit because most Councils will favour neighbours if they have special needs such as shift workers or those with illnesses that require adequate rest.

Behaviourally and considering the welfare of pet dogs, we always advise dog owners to limit their dog's barking to:-

• two minutes per hour of 'normal' barking
• one minute per hour for vocalisation that involves distress such as howling, crying or screaming.

Mostly that's achievable when the reasons for the barking are determined.

Solving other home-alone behaviours

You will also be interested in measuring your pet's home-alone behaviours if your pet suffers from:-

• separation-related problems
• noise phobias
• escaping and roaming behaviours
• destructive behaviours
• inter-dog aggression that occurs when you are away
• self-injurious compulsive behaviours

Measuring your dog's distress or alternatively, his or her contentment while you are away can greatly speed the cures of such home-alone hassles.

Contents of the next page (membership required)

1. Simple Spying Strategies

2. Sound-Activated Recorders

3. Webcam Software

4. Mobile Phone Surveillance