Monitoring separation anxiety treatment progress in dogs requires video-based objective assessment rather than relying on subjective owner impressions or absence of complaints.
Video monitoring transforms separation anxiety treatment from guesswork into evidence-based management. An owner who believes treatment is working because their dog is quiet when they return may not realize that the dog panics for 30 minutes then exhausts itself and collapses. Only video reveals what actually occurs during absence. This honest assessment matters for welfare: continuing a treatment program that is not achieving adequate improvement prolongs unnecessary suffering, while accurate progress measurement enables timely protocol adjustments. Video monitoring is not surveillance — it is welfare assessment.