Behavioral medications are valuable tools for dogs with anxiety disorders, enabling welfare improvements when combined with behavior modification that training alone cannot achieve.
Anxiety disorders in dogs cause genuine suffering. Dogs with severe separation anxiety experience acute panic when left alone, showing panting, vocalization, destructive behavior, and self-injury. Phobias cause extreme fear responses during triggers like thunderstorms or fireworks. Generalized anxiety creates chronic stress affecting the dog's baseline wellbeing every day. Owners often feel guilty about medicating dogs, but appropriate behavioral pharmacology substantially reduces suffering and enables behavior modification that would otherwise be impossible. Untreated anxiety disorders represent a major, common welfare problem in the companion animal population.