Digging and begging are the biggest misbehaviours

The most common misbehaviours in pooches are digging and begging, followed by excessive barking, destructive chewing, and chasing. Dogs at the age of one are most likely to misbehave, probably due to their excess energy.

The most common damage dogs have done in the home are digging up flowers or grass in the garden, followed by chewing clothing or shoes, and weeing or pooing on home furnishings, resulting in them being stained.

Dogs Chewing Clothing

Most common damage to the home:

Chewing clothing or shoes

Dogs aged between four to six were most likely to cause damage and destruction, and 16.2% of our respondents said they caught their dog doing something they shouldn’t every single day.

62% of dog owners said their dogs had caused damage to their home at some point, with the average cost of fixing it totalling £165.47 each year. That would mean if a dog were to live to the age of 12, they could cause approximately £1,985.64 worth of damage over their entire lifetime!

Dog digging up garden

Most common misbehaviours:

Digging and begging

Dog peeing on sofa

Most common damage to the home:

Weeing or pooing on home furnishings

With many dogs causing quite the mess, it makes sense that you’d have this covered in your insurance, yet 53% of our respondents said they hadn’t informed their home or contents insurance provider that they have a dog.

Digging and begging are the biggest misbehaviours

Dogs feel the most comfortable in the kitchen/dining room

We ran a heart rate experiment to see where dogs felt the most comfortable in their home when left alone based on the increase in BPM for their combined average resting heart rate of 68.2 BPM. Heart rates were lowest in the kitchen/dining room (71.2 BPM), followed by the living room (71.8 BPM). In contrast, dogs were the most distressed when left in the bedroom or porch.

Simply hover over the heart rates to see which room in the home they correspond to - the higher the heart rate, the more anxious the dog is.

71.2
bpm

Most Comfortable

Kitchen/dining room

Living dining
71.8
bpm

Most Comfortable

Living Room

Living Room
100.4
bpm

Least Comfortable

Bedroom

Bedroom
99.8
bpm

Least Comfortable

Porch

Porch

While most owners do leave their pooches in the kitchen, dining room, or living room when they’re out, if you’ll be heading out for work soon and leaving your dog alone, consider which rooms they feel most comfortable in. Alternatively, you could allow them to roam the house freely like 26% of our respondents, but keep valuables out of sight.

36.2% will keep their dog home alone once they go back to work

Top tips

Top Tips To Effectively Manage Separation Anxiety

19.8% of dog owners said their dog barked or howled when they were left alone, and 13.5% said their pups got upset and started crying. Dogs aged three to five were found to be the most likely to react negatively to their owners leaving.

For dogs who've had their owners around them daily for a whole year, it's sadly natural for them to feel lonely as you leave them to go to work. Here Dr. Heather Venkat reveals her top tips on helping keep your pooch as calm and happy as possible during the transition process.

Ensuring your pooch is happy and healthy is no doubt one of the most important things to you, so make sure you follow our tips on how to reduce their feelings of anxiety and put them in the room they feel the most relaxed in, to help with this.

And if you still don’t believe us, just take a look at this behind-the-scenes footage, to see exactly why you shouldn’t keep your prized pooch in a room that’s full of valuable items!

Sneak peak of our most mischievous pups

Methodology

We polled 1,000 UK pet owners in March 2021 to determine their plans for their dog once they return to work, as well as the common misbehaviours and damaged caused to homes by their dog.

Our heart rate experiment was undertaken in February 2021 with five different dog breeds. Each dog was placed in each room of the home for 30 minutes, each time, over two weeks, and the increase in their BPM from their resting heart rate was measured throughout using Petpace: Smart Dog Collars.

Brought to you by the home insurance experts at comparethemarket.com