Is Having Another Dog in the House Helpful in Reducing Separation Anxiety?
The majority of dogs exhibited modest levels of verbal and physical activity, regardless of how much time they spent alone at home.
Physical activity was greater when more than one dog was present in the home, and this was particularly true in the first hour after a dog was separated from its owner.
Male dogs in multi-dog families were more prone than canines in single-dog households to bark and vocalize.
Much of what we think we know about dog behavior and remedies to common canine behavioral issues may be false, as science has shown us time and time again.
According to the most recent research, a popular cure for canine separation anxiety may fall into this group.
Anxiety Associated With Separation
According to a recent poll, 73 percent of dog owners leave their dogs at home when they go to work. However, a significant proportion of these canines do not stay calmly in their home while their owner is gone. Almost one of every two dog owners reports that their dogs are now exhibiting problematic agitation and anxiety when the owners leave the house, or have done so in the past.
The dogs’ most common response was extended barking, whining, crying, or howling. The destructive activity of some included gnawing on furniture, drapes, or shoes as well as clawing and ripping at the walls or doors. Others, who were previously housebroken, relapse into improper urination or defecation while their owner is absent. Separation anxiety is the term used to describe this kind of behavior condition.
Separation anxiety is an issue that unfortunately affects a large number of people. One study of veterinary clinic medical records discovered that separation anxiety was present in 14.4 percent of their behavioral caseload, making it the second most frequent behavior issue after difficulties with aggressiveness.
A Well-Known Solution to the Issue
If a client comes to a canine behavior expert with a dog that is exhibiting signs of separation anxiety, one of the most typical advice that the specialist will make is that the client consider obtaining another dog to keep the first dog company. The reasoning for this is straightforward. According to this logic, if the dog is displaying anxiety because he or she is feeling isolated and alone, then just supplying them with a partner should alleviate the loneliness and resolve the issue. The problem with this idea is that there is no scientific evidence to support the claim that dogs are less nervous in a multi-dog home than they are when they are alone.
Observing Dogs Who Have Been Left Alone at Home
Several researchers at the Academy for Animal Naturopathy in Dürnten, Switzerland, lead by Gerrit Stephan wanted to investigate directly if dogs are calmer and exhibit less anxiety while their owners are away from home if they are presently sharing their house with another dog. In this investigation, three video cameras were installed in each residence. These were oriented in the direction of the locations where the dogs generally remain when separated. There were 32 dogs in single-dog families and 45 dogs in multi-dog households included in the study, all of whom were left alone in the house as part of their normal routine.
The Videotape
Dogs were not extremely active after their owners departed, according to the data collected. They spend the most of their time peacefully lounging in their favorite spots. Dogs exhibited some modest activity (raising their heads, sitting, or standing) for 22 percent of the time, while their activity levels reached any high level (such as rushing about) for less than two percent of the time.
Aside from their neuter status, there were no statistically significant variations in activity between female and male dogs. Male dogs, in particular, seemed to suffer the most from separation anxiety, and they were the ones that were most likely to be discovered laying near the departure door. The possibility that they are at that area grows in direct proportion to the length of time that they have been apart.
Does Having a Canine Companion Help You Feel Less Anxious?
Actually, there was a statistically significant difference between dogs living alone and dogs living in a multi-dog home — but, the difference did not go in the way that conventional ideas would suggest.
When it comes to vocalizations, female dogs tend to bark less when left alone at home. If there is another dog in the home, they make more noise. Male dogs that live in a multi-dog home, on the other hand, exhibit the greatest levels of barking and other vocalizations. It seems that having another dog in the home really worsens the symptoms of separation anxiety in dogs, contrary to popular belief. These indicators of concern are most noticeable in the first hour after the owner’s departure, but they gradually diminish with time.
A Attempt at a Solution That Failed
The authors’ conclusions on customary advice, such as introducing another dog to the home in order to alleviate separation anxiety, are as follows: ‘They’ claim,
As a result of the increased resting and decreased vocalizations seen in dogs under single-dog settings, we were unable to substantiate the notion that familiar conspecifics may aid in dealing with separation trauma. Although further study is required, our findings show that the contrary is true.
In other words, dogs that live with a companion do not seem to be any more relaxed than dogs who live alone. Once again, scientific evidence does not support the “obvious,” popular, and straightforward view of how dogs should act.
Susceptibility To Social Anxiety
Researchers have made significant progress in unraveling a web of complications that they think is responsible for the development of social anxiety disorder.
Specifically, they have gathered evidence that suggests that problems in a neural circuit that runs between a part of the cerebral cortex known as orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) and the BLA, which is a part of the amygdala, an area deep in the brain involved in processing emotions, are linked to susceptibility to social anxiety disorder.
It was discovered by the team, which was directed by two members of the BBRF Scientific Council, that a key growth factor known as BDNF was not present in adequate numbers in the damaged areas, notably during adolescence. This was the root of the issue in the OFC-BLA circuit.
Researchers Francis S. Lee, MD, PhD, of Weill Cornell Medical College and B.J. Casey, PhD, of Yale University, as well as colleagues Conor Liston, MD, PhD, and M.D.-Ph.D. candidate Anfei Li, conducted imaging experiments in humans as well as a variety of experiments in mouse models of anxiety. The findings were published in the journal NeuroImage. It was discovered that some of the mice were bred to possess the human form of a genetic mutation (called Val66Met) in the BDNF gene, which affects their capacity to release the BDNF protein. Val66Met is a polymorphism in the BDNF gene that has been linked to schizophrenia.
The researchers discovered that the OFC-BLA circuit is disrupted in both humans and mice that have the BDNF genetic mutation, especially throughout adolescence, as a result of “insufficient BDNF bioavailability,” according to the findings.
Beginning in maturity, experimentally restricting the availability of BDNF in mice had no effect on the mice’s sensitivity to social anxiety behaviors. Only when young animals lacked the capacity to release adequate levels of BDNF to sustain correctly functioning OFC-BLA circuitry did the harm occur. It seems that increasing the expression of BDNF in adolescent mice with the unfavorable variant seemed to allow these mice to be free of social anxiety once they reached adulthood.
Beginning in maturity, experimentally restricting the availability of BDNF in mice had no effect on the mice’s sensitivity to social anxiety behaviors. Only when young animals lacked the capacity to release adequate levels of BDNF to sustain correctly functioning OFC-BLA circuitry did the harm occur. Normal rats that were deprived of BDNF throughout adolescence were shown to be more prone to social anxiety, according to independent research. On the other hand, it seems that increasing the expression of BDNF in adolescent mice with the unfavorable variant appears to help these mice to be free of social anxiety until they reach adulthood.
It is not completely understood why high levels of BDNF during a critical period of development translate into a significantly lower risk of social anxiety years later, although the team speculates that this may be due to the critical role played by BDNF in the proper development of this specific circuit that regulates social behaviors.
The team acknowledged that the circuit in which the defect occurs “is likely to be a component of a bigger and more complicated social network,” which includes additional circuits that have not yet been fully defined by them. In their opinion, dysfunction of the OFC-BLA circuit is “social-specific,” and rather than impairing sociability in general, it seems to influence social conduct in particular when a person is confronted with “difficult social settings.” The researchers speculate that because of their ability to “rescue” young mice born with the genetic variant that affects BDNF secretion—by increasing BDNF levels—that therapies and medicines able to elevate levels of BDNF, such as exercise, environmental enrichment, and antidepressants, may one day be tested as correctives for people who have behavioral alterations caused by the BDNF genetic variation.
