Expert warns pets are struggling to compete with devices for their owner's attention

Human relationships aren’t the only ones that suffer when you spend too much time on your phone.

Experts say our growing attachment to technology could have negative effects on our pets, too.

Dogs especially may feel sad when their owners focus most of their attention toward a screen, and may even develop behavioral issues as a result, veterinarians warn.

Human relationships aren’t the only ones that suffer when you spend too much time on your phone. Experts say our growing attachment to technology could have negative effects on our pets, too. Stock image

‘We’re a nation obsessed by our mobile phones,’ veterinary surgeon and founder of VetUK, Iain Booth, told Metro.

‘But this gadget dependence is jeopardizing the important relationships we have without pets, particularly dogs and to a lesser extent house cats.’

Much of this boils down to dogs’ role as pack animals, the expert explained.

Woman texting while walking dog by Shutterstock

Without feedback from the human with whom they’ve bonded, the pets may become sad and emotionally distant, Booth said.

‘To understand what’s going on we have to look at the basic principles of how a dog interacts physically and emotionally with a human,’ Booth told Metro.

‘You administer ever facet of its life – you collect, you feed, you show it where it’s allowed to go and you – hopefully – nurture its development.

‘But if you’re perpetually attached to your phone, that vital bond breaks down and the dog is hit for six.

‘That dog requires constant feedback and interaction. It wants to please you – that’s simply how its evolutionarily hard-wired.’

Dogs especially may feel sad when their owners focus most of their attention toward a screen, and may even develop behavioral issues as a result. Stock image

It’s not the first time veterinary experts have warned that technology is impeding our relationships with our pets.

Last year, veterinary nurse Amber Pickworth from the UK clinic The Vet warned that our current lifestyle habits may be linked to a recent spike in unruly dogs.

According to UK campaign group 'Digital Detox', adults spend an average of 9 hours and 30 minutes a day on screens - more time than they are asleep.

ARE YOU ONE OF THE NEARLY 50% OF SMARTPHONE USERS ADDICTED TO THEIR HANDSET?

Worrying research published in December 2017 revealed we reach for our smartphones around 4,000 times a year for no apparent reason.

Each day we unlock our phone 28 times - and over a third of the time this is compulsive and unnecessary.

The apps we crave most are Facebook, followed by WhatsApp, Gmail and Instagram, the survey found.

Experts from Malta-based online casino Casumo.com looked at 2,000 UK smartphone users in order to find out whether checking their device was out of habit or necessity.

The average American clicks, taps or swipes on their smartphone screen more than 2,600 times a day, with some reaching an astonishing 5,400 times

They found more than 40 percent of the 10,000 times users check smartphones each year is 'compulsive'.

The top ten percent of users check their phones more than 60 times a day. 

More than one in three people think they are addicted to checking their phone with the average user spending nearly an hour each day on their phone.

The survey also found Google Maps is considered the most useful app while WhatsApp and Gmail come second and third.

Google Chrome is fourth and Facebook comes in fifth. 

'I'd urge people to put their phones away when they're with their dogs', said Ms Pickworth.

'You might think you're spending quality time with your animal when you take it for a walk, but the minute the phone comes out, the dynamic changes without you even realising it', she said.

'After all, as the saying goes - a dog might be a small part of your world, but you're their entire world'.