By Tom Jacobs Do you dread leaving your dog home alone? Do you come back from dinner and a show to find chewed-up shoes, or foul-smelling puddles on your kitchen floor? If so, a newly published study suggests the blame may not lay entirely with Fido. Rather, this sort of acting out may be a symptom of a problematic relationship. Yours and his. Researchers from Hungary and Germany argue that the tendency to avoid close attachments to others—a personality trait that is a common source of friction within families—sometimes extends to one’s canine companion.