Does my dog have separation anxiety?

The tell is in the timing. The ASPCA's list of signs is urinating or defecating indoors, barking and howling, chewing door frames and window sills, digging at doors, trying to escape hard enough to get hurt, pacing the same route, and eating its own stool. What makes it separation anxiety rather than a house-training or boredom problem is that these things happen when the dog is alone or about to be left, and, in the ASPCA's words, do not usually occur in the guardian's presence.

A phone propped up to film the first twenty minutes after you leave answers the question better than anything else. A dog that settles after five minutes of complaint is not this. A dog that paces, pants and claws at the door for the whole twenty is.

What sets it off, and what else it can be

The ASPCA names a change of owner or family, a sudden change of schedule, a move, and the loss of someone in the household. Before calling it anxiety it wants two other lists ruled out. Medical: a urinary infection, incontinence, a medicine that makes the dog drink or leak, bladder stones, kidney disease, Cushing's disease. Behavior: submissive urination, house training that was never finished, urine marking, a young dog chewing because it is young, boredom, and barking at things outside.

What treatment is

For a mild case the ASPCA suggests counterconditioning: a food-stuffed puzzle toy that appears only when you leave, so leaving starts to mean something good. For a moderate or severe case it says desensitization and counterconditioning need a trained professional, a certified applied animal behaviorist or a veterinary behaviorist, because the steps are small and the order matters.

Its rule that matters most: do not scold or punish. Anxious behaviors are not disobedience or spite, and punishment adds fear to fear. At least 30 minutes of exercise a day, work for the head, and caution with crates, which make some anxious dogs worse.

The two medicines with a label for this

Two drugs are approved by the FDA for separation anxiety in dogs, and both labels say the same thing: the pill goes with the behavior work, not instead of it.

Clomicalm, clomipramine. The label says it is to be used as part of a comprehensive behavioral management program to treat separation anxiety in dogs older than six months. Not with an MAO inhibitor within 14 days, not for male breeding dogs. The common reactions in the trials were lethargy, vomiting, diarrhea and raised liver enzymes.
Reconcile, fluoxetine. The label says it is for canine separation anxiety in conjunction with a behavior modification plan. Not under six months or under 8.8 pounds, not with MAO inhibitors, and the label warns of seizures even in dogs with no history of them. The common reactions were less appetite, lethargy, tremors, vomiting and restlessness.

Both pages on Petipedia are written from the label, without doses. The dose is the vet's.

Sources

Read 18 September 2026.