Rescue Dogs
85.9% Of Dogs Do This When You Leave.
I thought my rescue dog was fine on her own. Then I put a camera up. Here’s what I saw, and what changed two weeks later.
The number I didn't believe
In 2024, the Dog Aging Project found that 85.9% of US dogs show moderate-to-severe separation or attachment behaviours. Not a few. Not the anxious ones. Nearly nine in ten.
Around the same time, researchers at Texas A&M found problematic behaviours in nearly every US dog they studied. Nearly every one.
I read both of those and thought, not Honey. She doesn't chew. She doesn't bark. She doesn't scratch the door. She's the calmest dog I've ever met.
I didn't believe it until I put a camera up.
The first Tuesday, hour by hour
I bought the camera to check she wasn't getting into the bin. Here's what the first Tuesday actually looked like.
8:12amAt the window
I leave. She walks to the window and sits.
9:30amStill waiting
Window.
11:00amThe untouched toy
Window. The frozen Kong I left is untouched.
12:45pmA short break
She gets up, drinks, walks past her bed, goes back to the window.
2:15pmBack at the window
Window.
4:00pmA passer-by
Window. A delivery driver walks past. She doesn't bark. She watches.
5:38pmHome again
My car pulls in. Her tail goes. That's the first time she's moved in an hour.
Nine hours. She didn't destroy anything. She didn't make a sound. She sat at the window and waited for me, all day, every day, and I had no idea.
My neighbour told me later she'd stopped noticing "the dog in the window," because it was always there.
What I was told to do (and why it didn't touch the problem)
Everyone I asked had a suggestion, and I tried all of them. None of them were wrong, exactly. They just weren't about the right thing.
Leave the radio on. I did. The footage showed her at the window with the radio going behind her.
A frozen Kong. She'd eat it, eventually. Then she'd go back to the window. Ten minutes of licking doesn't fill a nine-hour day.
Walk her before work. I got up at 5:30am for an hour's walk. She came home tired, slept for twenty minutes, then took up her spot at the window.
A calming diffuser. The house smelled lovely. The footage didn't change.
Someone mentioned medication. I wasn't against it. But she wasn't frantic. She wasn't distressed in the way I'd been told to look for. She was just waiting, and I wanted to understand why before I went down that road.
The question the behaviourist asked
I showed the footage to a vet behaviourist. She watched about two minutes, then asked me one thing.
I started to answer and realised I couldn't. Everything Honey did was about me. Waiting for me. Walking with me. Eating what I gave her. Playing when I threw something.
"Retrievers were bred to work all day," she said. "She's got a job in her head and nothing to do it with. A dog with nothing to chase doesn't relax. It waits."
Then she drew the sequence every dog runs on.
- See. Something moves.
- Stalk. Low, slow, locked on.
- Chase. The part they'd do all day.
- Grab. Teeth on it.
- Shake. Done.
"Walks tire her legs," she said. "They don't run the sequence. When the sequence never runs, the dog doesn't switch off. It sits by the door and holds on until you come back."
That wasn't anxiety the way I'd pictured it. It was a working dog with the day off, and no idea what to do with it.
Something else that moves
I asked what I should buy. She laughed and said "not another Kong." Then she gave me five things a toy has to do to run the sequence without a person in the room.
- Move on its own.
- Move randomly, so the dog can't learn the pattern.
- React when the dog touches it, the way prey does.
- Work on the floor the dog actually lives on.
- Survive being caught.
Every toy in Honey's basket failed the first one. Ropes, plushies, balls, the Kong. All of them wait for a human.
The cheap self-rolling balls fail the second and fourth. Straight lines at one speed, and most of them stall on carpet. She said she'd watched a lot of clients waste money on those.
"There's only one I've seen that does all five," she said, and wrote a name on the back of my receipt.
The one on the receipt
It's called The Chase Buddy, from a small Australian brand called FloofyPups. A blue ball with two knotted rope arms. They call it "the first dog toy engineered around prey-drive science." After the sequence on the whiteboard, that line made sense.
Three ways to get the game going.
Gentle rolling and pauses for the first introduction.
Quicker movement, turns and changes of direction.
Touch reactivation gets the movement going again.
It has three modes, but for a waiting dog the one that matters is Interactive Mode. Here's why.
It waits. It sits there powered down, doing nothing, like every other toy. Then she nudges it, and it moves. It cuts sideways, spins, stops dead, bolts, and when she loses interest and stops, it goes still again. When she comes back and nudges it, it goes again.
They call it touch reactivation. What it meant for Honey is that she has something to do all day that isn't me. She decides when to play. It answers her. Then it waits for her, instead of the other way round.
Slow Mode is where you start, five minutes on day one, gentle rolling and pausing. Fast Mode is the full chase. The movement is properly randomised, so she still can't predict it.
It works on our floorboards, on the rug and on carpet. The shell is chew-resistant ABS and TPU, reinforced for heavy chewers, and it's safe for small, medium and large breeds. It charges over USB-C in about 90 minutes and gives up to 24 hours of play, which covers a workday easily.
Meet Honey’s New Reason to Get Up"The Chase Buddy is one of the most thoughtfully designed dog products I've seen this year. It actually addresses the underlying behavioural issue, not just the symptom."
Dr. Sarah Bennett, Veterinary Behaviourist, 2026
Two Tuesdays. One very different day.
Here are the same moments from my first Tuesday and two weeks later. Pick a time to compare the entries.
8:12am
I leave. She walks to the window and sits.
I leave. She watches the door for a minute, then nudges the Chase Buddy. It takes off. She follows.
9:30am
Window.
Asleep in her bed.
11:00am
Window. The frozen Kong I left is untouched.
Up. Nudges it. Ten minutes of chase. Back to bed.
12:45pm
She gets up, drinks, walks past her bed, goes back to the window.
Drinks, plays, lies down in the sun by the sideboard.
2:15pm
Window.
Bed.
4:00pm
Window. A delivery driver walks past. She doesn't bark. She watches.
A delivery driver walks past. She lifts her head and puts it back down.
5:38pm
My car pulls in. Her tail goes. That's the first time she's moved in an hour.
My car pulls in. Her tail goes. She was already awake, chewing the rope arm.
An illustrated timeline of Priya’s story. These entries describe one dog’s experience; results vary.
My neighbour mentioned it before I did. "Haven't seen Honey in the window lately. Is she okay?"
She's better than okay. She's busy.
Not just Honey
I'm one owner with one camera. Here's what I found when I looked wider.
"Our boy loves it, quick delivery too!"
Zoe D."A friend told us about this and it hasn't disappointed."
Chloe T."This toy has been a lifesaver for tiring our boy out."
Sasha P."Our Staffy loves his new toy."
Karen L.Your dog is not being naughty. They are under-stimulated. Honey wasn't even being naughty. She was just waiting, and nobody could see it.
See What’s Beside Honey’s BedThis isn't about making them love you less
I worried about that, honestly. That if she had something else, she'd need me less. She doesn't. She still meets me at the door. She still sleeps on my feet. The difference is she's not holding her breath for nine hours to get there.
The guarantee, in plain words
They call it the 30-Day Happy Dog Guarantee. Use it for a month. If your dog isn't happier, email them and they refund the whole thing. You keep the toy. You don't post anything back.
Fewer than 1 in 50 people ever use it. If it doesn't work for your dog, you've lost nothing. If it does, you get to watch the footage change.
Try Adding More Play for 30 DaysWhat it costs
The Chase Buddy is $49.99 AUD. Right now it's Buy 1 Get 1 Free. Two for $49.99 AUD.
If you've got a second rescue, that's one each. If you haven't, I gave mine to the friend who talked me into the camera in the first place. Her Lab does the same window thing. Buy 2 Get 2 Free is $99.98 AUD for multi-dog homes.
Shipping is free on every order. They ship within 24 hours, and it's 3 to 5 business days in Australia, 5 to 10 overseas. They send to the US, UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
If your dog waits for you, give it 30 days. Slow Mode, five minutes, day one. Then put the camera up and see what a Tuesday looks like.
Put Something New in Their DayCommon questions
Will it work while I'm out all day?
That's what Interactive Mode is for. It powers down when your dog stops and wakes when they nudge it, so they play in bursts through the day on their own terms. Up to 24 hours of play on a charge covers a workday.
Does it work on hardwood and carpet?
Yes. It runs on carpet, tile and hardwood. Ours is floorboards with a rug in the middle and it's never stalled on either.
Is it suitable for a larger dog?
It's safe for small, medium and large breeds. Honey is a full-size Golden Retriever, and the reinforced ABS and TPU shell has held up to her.
How do I introduce it to a nervous rescue?
Slow Mode for five minutes on day one, while you're home, and let her watch and stalk. Most dogs engage within minutes. Move up to Interactive Mode over the first week before you leave it with her.
What if my dog doesn't like it?
You're covered by the 30-Day Happy Dog Guarantee. If your dog isn't happier after 30 days, you get a full refund and keep the toy. Fewer than 1 in 50 ever use it.
P.S. If your dog is at the window right now, two things. It's Buy 1 Get 1 Free, so two Chase Buddies for $49.99 AUD with free shipping, one for your dog and one for a friend's. And it comes with the 30-Day Happy Dog Guarantee. If your dog isn't happier, you get a full refund and keep the toy. The only thing you risk is finding out what the footage looks like.
Make Tomorrow a Little More Playful →This is an advertorial. Priya S. is a FloofyPups customer sharing her own experience. Results vary from dog to dog. The Chase Buddy is a toy and is not a substitute for veterinary or behavioural care.