Can our pets feel our own anxieties? How to help furry friends in need of emotional support

In this age of heightened anxiety, many of us turn to our pets for emotional support.But is our behavior increasing our furry friends’ fears?The answer isn’t simple, says Frankie Jackson, a veterinary nurse and animal behavior consultant, and the owner of Canine Counseling in Smyrna, Georgia.

She said she’s seen an increase in anxiety among her animal and human clients, but that it’s hard to unwind the cause and effect.“Dogs are incredibly responsive to our expressions, our body language and our scent,” she says.“There is a feedback loop — the owners are nervous; the dog gets nervous.

Our cortisol levels rise and fall in tandem.”Dr.Becky Peters, a veterinarian and owner of Bath Veterinary Hospital in Bath, New York, has also noticed a link between the anxiety of pets and their owners, particularly in the exam room.“If owners try to over comfort them — lots of ‘you’re OK!’” in anxious voices, the animals do get more anxious.

If we stay calm and quiet, they do too,” Peters says.Peters attributes much of the rise in pet anxiety to the social upheaval of the COVID years.Many animals who were acquired during the pandemic had limited opportunities to socialize with other people and pets during their peak developmental stages.

After COVID, pets who were used to having their family at home experienced separation anxiety as their owners returned to work and school.“A lot of pet anxiety comes from changes to their households,” Peters says.“It can also occur from a lack of routine and structure and not enough physical activity.”Other components that could contribute to our pets’ anxiety include unmet needs, past trauma and insufficient open spaces.“We are asking our dogs to live in a world that isn’t made for them,” she says.Low-level stress responses in dogs, such as eating less and excessive self-grooming, are forms of communication that precede lunging and barking, Jackson says.

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