Separation anxiety is one of the most common and welfare-significant behavioural problems in dogs, requiring evidence-based treatment combining behaviour modification and medication.
Separation anxiety causes genuine fear and panic in affected dogs during every separation event. The welfare impact is significant and daily. Dogs with severe separation anxiety may injure themselves trying to escape. The condition is often misunderstood as naughtiness, delaying appropriate treatment. Without treatment, separation anxiety typically worsens over time. Effective evidence-based treatment dramatically improves welfare by reducing or eliminating the fear response to separation.