A 2025 UK survey found that 75% of dog owners believe their pet experiences stress or anxiety. Yet a Kennel Club study found that 88% of those same owners didn’t know that yawning is one of the clearest stress signals a dog can give. Anxiety in dogs is common. Recognising it accurately is harder than most people assume.
This article covers what anxiety looks like in dogs, what causes it, and how to help, including what works and when to involve a vet.
How common is anxiety in dogs?
Research from Helsinki University found that up to 72.5% of dogs show at least one anxious behaviour, whether that’s fearfulness, noise sensitivity, or separation-related distress. Noise sensitivity alone affects around 32% of dogs, making it the single most common anxiety trait.
In the UK, 20 to 25% of dogs show fearfulness of strangers or unfamiliar situations, and between 14 and 20% have clinically significant separation anxiety. That means a substantial number of dogs are dealing with anxiety that goes well beyond the occasional startle.
Signs of anxiety in dogs
Subtle signs that often get missed
The signs most owners notice first, like barking or trembling, are often the later, more escalated signals. Dogs communicate discomfort much earlier through body language that’s easy to overlook or misread.
Yawning is one of the most reliable early stress signals, yet 88% of UK owners surveyed by the Kennel Club didn’t know this. Lip-licking when there’s no food involved, slow movement toward something, and a lowered body posture all indicate discomfort before the dog reaches a point of visible distress.
Other early signals include a paw lift, leaning or turning away, and what’s sometimes called an appeasement grin: the corners of the mouth pulled back horizontally. This is often mistaken for a smile, but it’s a sign the dog is trying to reduce tension.
More visible signs
Once anxiety escalates, the signs become harder to miss. In a 2025 UK survey of 1,000 owners, the most commonly reported signs were barking (44%), tail-tucking (42%), pacing (34%), and trembling (29%).
Other signs at this stage include panting without physical exertion, excessive drooling, hiding, or the opposite: following the owner from room to room. Destructive behaviour and accidents indoors often appear with separation anxiety specifically. Some dogs become reactive or aggressive when anxious, which can be misread as a temperament problem rather than a stress response.
What causes anxiety in dogs?
Separation
Separation anxiety affects an estimated 14 to 20% of dogs. It typically develops when dogs haven’t learned to be comfortable alone, sometimes because they were never gradually introduced to time by themselves, and sometimes after a change in routine such as a return to the office, a house move, or a bereavement.
Dogs with separation anxiety often show signs within minutes of being left. Barking, destructive behaviour, and toileting indoors are the most common, though some dogs show internal signs like drooling and pacing that owners only discover via a camera.
Noise
Noise sensitivity is the most prevalent single anxiety trait, affecting around 32% of dogs. Fireworks are the most discussed trigger in the UK, but thunderstorms, traffic, construction noise, and certain low frequencies can cause the same response.
The problem tends to compound if nothing is done. A dog that startles at fireworks may gradually generalise that fear to similar sounds. Desensitisation done gradually and correctly can reduce this sensitivity, but it takes time and consistency to work.
Unfamiliar people and environments
Around 20 to 25% of dogs show fearfulness in response to unfamiliar people, dogs, or situations. This is distinct from aggression, though it can look similar, and it’s often rooted in inadequate socialisation during the puppy stage (typically before 12 to 16 weeks).
Poor early socialisation doesn’t mean a dog can’t improve. It does mean progress tends to be slower and requires more patience than it would in a well-socialised dog.
Age and health
Older dogs can develop anxiety as a secondary symptom of cognitive dysfunction syndrome (CDS), the canine equivalent of dementia. Disorientation, disrupted sleep, and confusion are common in CDS and can produce anxiety-like behaviours even in dogs that were confident for most of their lives.
Pain is another overlooked cause. A dog that has become reactive or anxious without obvious reason should have a physical check-up, because discomfort from arthritis, dental disease, or other conditions can present as behavioural change before owners notice anything physical.
How to help an anxious dog
Build a predictable routine
Anxiety is made worse by unpredictability. Dogs regulate themselves more easily when they know when walks happen, when food arrives, and when they’ll be alone. Keeping daily patterns consistent, especially around the times that trigger anxiety, reduces the overall stress load.
This doesn’t mean rigid schedules. It means the broad shape of the day stays recognisable. Feeding times, toilet breaks, exercise, and rest periods are the main anchors to keep stable.
Desensitisation and counterconditioning
These are the two evidence-based behavioural techniques for reducing anxiety. Desensitisation means gradually exposing the dog to the trigger at a level below their reaction threshold, then slowly increasing intensity over time. Counterconditioning means pairing the trigger with something the dog enjoys, usually food, to shift the emotional response.
Both take time and need to be done carefully. Pushing too fast or over the dog’s threshold makes things worse. A qualified clinical animal behaviourist can design a programme and help troubleshoot when progress stalls.
Safe spaces and management
A dog that has a reliable retreat, whether a crate, a bed in a quiet corner, or a specific room, can remove itself and regulate more easily during stressful events. The key is that the dog chooses to use it rather than being placed there by default. If the space is associated with being shut in when alone, it may not function as a calming refuge.
Management matters alongside training. If fireworks are the trigger, planning ahead for bonfire night with white noise, closed curtains, and staying home if possible reduces the impact while longer-term desensitisation work continues.
Calming supplements and pheromone products
Adaptil, a synthetic version of the pheromone mother dogs produce, is widely used for situational anxiety and has some research behind it. Calming supplements containing alpha-casozepine (sold as Zylkene) are another option that some dogs respond well to.
These products work best as support alongside behavioural work, not as standalone fixes. They can take the edge off enough for a dog to engage with training, but they don’t change the underlying fear response on their own.
Medication
Prescription medication is appropriate for dogs with moderate to severe anxiety, especially where anxiety is constant rather than situational. SSRIs and tricyclic antidepressants are the most commonly used, typically over months rather than days.
Medication isn’t a quick fix or a last resort. It’s a tool that can reduce baseline anxiety enough to make behavioural work possible. Vets use it alongside training, not instead of it.
When to see a vet
Any anxiety that is severe, worsening, or has started suddenly warrants a vet visit. The first job is to rule out physical causes. Pain, hormonal issues, and neurological changes can all produce anxiety-like symptoms, and treating the wrong thing wastes time.
If physical causes are ruled out, a vet can refer to a clinical animal behaviourist and discuss whether medication is appropriate. Early intervention tends to produce better outcomes. Anxiety that’s poorly managed over months becomes harder to address than anxiety caught early.
