The Separation Anxiety Monitor grades what it sees into four levels. This article explains what each one means, what it takes to trigger it, and why you won't get an alert every time a delivery van goes past.
The four levels
| Level | Name | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | Settled | Nothing unusual — no alert |
| 1 | Unsettled | A bit more barking or movement than expected |
| 2 | Distressed | A sustained, clearly raised level |
| 3 | Severe | The strongest signs the Monitor can detect |
Levels 1, 2 and 3 all send you a real notification. They differ in wording and illustration, not in whether you're told.
What it takes to reach each level
The Monitor scores barking and movement over short reference windows of about five minutes.
| Level | Barks in a window | Steps in a window |
|---|---|---|
| 1 — Unsettled | 10 | 150 |
| 2 — Distressed | 30 | 300 |
| 3 — Severe | 60 | 450 |
Step figures are adjusted for your dog's size, because a small dog racks up more steps covering the same ground: thresholds are raised for dogs under 10 kg, used as-is from 10–25 kg, and lowered for dogs over 25 kg. If we don't have a weight, the middle setting is used. Bark thresholds are never adjusted for size.
Tip: Keeping your dog's weight up to date makes movement-based alerts more accurate. The Monitor reads the Weight saved on your pet's profile, so update it there whenever it changes.
Why levels 2 and 3 need confirming
Level 1 fires as soon as either signal — barking or movement — passes its threshold in a single window.
Levels 2 and 3 deliberately need a second piece of evidence: either two windows in a row at that level, or both barking and movement reaching that level in the same window. That's what stops one bin truck or one delivery from being reported as distress.
What the notifications say
All three levels arrive with the title Separation Anxiety Monitor:
| Level | What the notification says |
|---|---|
| Level 1 | "{Pet} seems a little unsettled — 12 barks and 180 steps in the last few minutes." |
| Level 2 | "{Pet} has barked 12 times and taken 180 steps in the last few minutes. Maybe they're having separation anxiety." |
| Level 3 | "{Pet} is showing severe signs — 12 barks and 180 steps in the last few minutes. Maybe they're having separation anxiety. Consider checking in." |
Tapping the notification opens a full-screen alert titled "{Pet} seems a little unsettled", "{Pet} seems distressed" or "{Pet} may need you", showing the bark and step counts from the window that triggered it.
How often alerts repeat
- Repeat alerts at the same level are limited to one every 30 minutes.
- A step up to a higher level always alerts straight away, whatever the cooldown.
- Two calm windows in a row close the episode and reset things — so if your dog settles and then flares up later, you're alerted again from scratch.
How a whole session is judged
At the end of a session the Monitor forms an overall view: anxious if a Distressed or Severe alert ever fired, inconclusive if only Unsettled was reached, and calm if your dog was asleep for at least half the time with no more than 5 barks and 100 steps an hour, across at least 30 minutes of data.
Please note: There is no end-of-session summary screen in the app today. What you see is the alerts themselves as they happen, plus — after a Severe alert — the card left in your pet's location timeline.
Related articles - What is the Separation Anxiety Monitor? - How to start and stop the Separation Anxiety Monitor - Separation Anxiety Monitor problems and error messages