Anxiety and fear disorders are among the most common and welfare-significant conditions in companion dogs, reducing quality of life and often going unrecognized or undertreated by owners.
Dogs with anxiety disorders live with chronic or episodic fear responses that cause genuine suffering comparable to anxiety disorders in humans. The physical manifestations — trembling, panting, hiding, and escape attempts — represent real distress, not merely inconvenient behavior. Without treatment, most anxiety disorders worsen progressively. The combination of appropriate medication and systematic behavior modification addresses both the biological predisposition and the learned fear associations. Building public understanding that dog anxiety is a welfare issue requiring treatment rather than training alone improves outcomes for millions of anxious companion dogs.