Anxiety is one of the most common behavioral disorders in dogs. As an emotion, fear is a normal and vital response that helps individuals survive in threatening circumstances. When the fear is excessive and interferes with the dog's life, it is called a behavior problem. Excessive fear can significantly harm the dog's well-being and is also known to weaken the dog-owner relationship.
Social anxiety in dogs is particularly associated with fear of unfamiliar people and dogs. At the University of Helsinki, risk factors that predispose dogs to social anxiety were examined, using a dataset of nearly 6,000 dogs. The dataset was selected from a larger set of data, a behavioral study of nearly 14,000 dogs.
Based on the survey, inadequate socialization of puppies in different situations and stimuli had the strongest link with social anxiety. The living environment also seems to make a difference, as dogs living in urban environments are more anxious than dogs living in rural environments.
“This has not been studied in dogs before. What we do know is that psychological problems in humans are more common in the city than in the countryside. However, further research is needed before more can be said about the living environment,” said Jenni Puurunen, postdoctoral researcher at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Helsinki.
In support of previous research, social anxiety has been shown to be more prevalent in neutered females and small dogs.
In addition to size and gender, activity is another factor associated with anxiety. Anxious dogs were less active than cheeky dogs and their owners involved them in training and other activities significantly less often. Professor Hannes Lohi of the University of Helsinki speculates whether this is a cause or effect.
“Activity and stimuli already appear to have a positive effect on behavior, both in dogs and in humans. Of course, the less activity of anxious dogs can also come down to their owners wanting to avoid exposing their dogs to stressful situations. It could be that people are just not that active with fearful dogs,” Lohi notes.
In addition, significant differences between races were found in the study. Spanish Water Dogs and Shetland Sheepdogs showed the most social anxiety, while Wheaten Terriers were among the bravest breeds. The Cairn Terrier and the Pembroke Welsh Corgi showed little fear of other dogs.
“Racial differences support the idea that genes have an effect on anxiety and on many other mental health problems. This encourages us to do further research, especially in the area of heredity. Overall, this study provides us with tools to improve our best friend's well-being:diverse socialization in puppyhood, active lifestyles and carefully made breeding choices can significantly reduce social anxiety,” Lohi summarizes.
