Preventing Separation Anxiety

Hello Sumarians!

Behavior is an interesting topic, whether it’s the human animal or our furry companions. One of the challenges is trying to discern how the actions are related to the underlying motivations. That can be hard to tease out. Here are a couple of studies that attempt to help.

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Incidence Of Behavior Problems In Dogs

This article critically reexamines previously published estimates of canine behavior problem prevalence derived from mini C-BARQ data collected through the Dog Aging Project (N = 43,517 dogs). The earlier report concluded that behavior problems were nearly universal among U.S. pet dogs, estimating that 49.9% exhibited moderate to severe anxiety, 55.6% showed aggression, 85.9% demonstrated separation anxiety, and over 99% had at least one moderate to serious behavioral issue. The current authors argue that these figures substantially overstate the true prevalence due to methodological decisions that inflated severity classifications. 

The primary concern centers on how survey items were grouped and scored. The mini C-BARQ is structured around statistically derived behavioral factors, meaning related items should be averaged within established subscales. The previous analysis instead treated individual items as independent and combined loosely related behaviors into broad categories, such as merging separation-related behaviors with attachment/attention-seeking traits. This approach ignored the validated factor structure and artificially increased prevalence estimates. 

Additionally, the earlier study classified behaviors as “problematic” when owners selected a score of 2 or higher on a 0–4 scale. However, a score of 2 corresponds to “moderate” or “sometimes,” which may reflect normal canine behavior rather than clinically significant problems. Using a more stringent threshold (score ≥ 3) and analyzing behaviors according to their validated subscales produced substantially lower estimates. Reanalysis showed moderate-to-severe fear ranging from 14.1% to 28.2%, aggression from 1.2% to 30.4% depending on subtype, and separation-related behaviors at 9.3%. 

The authors emphasize that behavioral survey data are sensitive to scoring thresholds and categorization choices. Because perceptions of “problematic” behavior vary widely among owners and cultures, such classifications are inherently subjective. They conclude that caution is essential when using survey instruments like the mini C-BARQ to generate population-level prevalence estimates, particularly when findings may influence public policy. 

James A. Serpell, Lauren R. Powell, Prevalence and severity of behavior problems in dogs in the United States: A re-assessment, Journal of Veterinary Behavior, Volume 83, 2026, Pages 8-13, ISSN 1558-7878, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jveb.2025.11.005. 

Bottom line — It is always good to critically examine conclusions

Preventing Separation Anxiety

This exploratory double-blind study examined whether simple preventive advice given to new puppy owners could reduce separation-related behaviors (SRBs) during the first six months after adoption. Thirty-four owners were randomly assigned to one of four groups: a control group that received general responsible ownership advice, a Calm group that also received guidance on keeping departures and reunions low-key, a Habituation group that also received advice on gradually teaching puppies to tolerate being alone, and a Combination group that received both types of separation advice. Owners filmed their puppies during home-alone periods and in a standardized separation test, and researchers scored behaviors such as vocalizing, panting, lip-licking, playing, eating, and resting. 

The study found no clear evidence that the advice reduced overt anxious behaviors such as barking, whining, or howling. However, puppies in the Calm group showed more inactivity, such as lying quietly, than puppies in the Control and Combination groups across owner-initiated departures, and puppies in both the Calm and Habituation groups were more inactive than Controls during the standardized separation test. This suggests that these approaches may have helped puppies settle more quietly when alone, even if they did not clearly reduce all anxiety-related behaviors. 

Across all treatment groups, owners who more closely followed habituation-style advice tended to have puppies with lower passive anxious behavior, such as panting, lip-licking, and watching the door. Puppies left with another dog showed less passive anxious behavior than those left entirely alone. In contrast, when a radio or television was left on, puppies showed more passive anxiety and less positive active behavior, suggesting that background media may not always be calming. 

The authors emphasize that the findings are preliminary because the sample size was small and owner compliance was modest. Overall, the study suggests that calm departures and gradual habituation may help puppies rest more when alone, but stronger evidence from larger studies is needed before firm recommendations can be made. 

Fiona C. Dale, Rachel A. Casey, Charlotte C. Burn, Efficacy of advice for preventing separation-related behaviors in puppies: A video trial and separation test, Journal of Veterinary Behavior, Volume 83, 2026, Pages 52-68, ISSN 1558-7878, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jveb.2025.11.002. 

Bottom line — calm departures and gradual habituation may help

Nebulized Steroids For Horses

Severe equine asthma (SEA) is a chronic, non-septic inflammatory airway disease characterized by bronchoconstriction, mucus accumulation, and marked peripheral airway obstruction triggered by environmental dust and mold. Although systemic corticosteroids improve lung function, prolonged use can cause serious adverse effects, prompting interest in aerosolized alternatives. This randomized, masked, 3 × 3 Latin square crossover study evaluated whether nebulized dexamethasone sodium phosphate (DSP), administered after nebulized albuterol, could improve lung function and airway inflammation in horses with SEA while minimizing systemic absorption. 

Seven horses with experimentally induced asthma exacerbations received three treatments for seven days: albuterol followed by intravenous DSP (0.04 mg/kg), albuterol followed by nebulized DSP (0.01 mg/kg), or albuterol followed by nebulized DSP (0.02 mg/kg). Pulmonary function testing, bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) cytology, cortisol dynamics, and dexamethasone concentrations in plasma and pulmonary epithelial lining fluid (PELF) were assessed. 

All horses showed improvement in clinical scores over time, likely influenced by reduced antigen exposure. However, only intravenous DSP produced meaningful, though not statistically significant after adjustment, improvements in pulmonary mechanics. Neither low- nor high-dose nebulized DSP significantly improved maximum transpulmonary pressure, lung resistance, dynamic compliance, or BALF neutrophilia. Airway inflammation persisted in all groups, likely due to continued allergen exposure and the severity of the experimental model. 

Importantly, nebulized DSP achieved lung deposition comparable to intravenous administration, as evidenced by similar BALF concentrations, but resulted in minimal systemic absorption and no suppression of adrenal responsiveness to ACTH. In contrast, intravenous DSP suppressed basal cortisol concentrations. 

Overall, nebulized DSP following bronchodilation was safe and achieved pulmonary deposition but failed to improve lung function or airway inflammation in horses with ongoing antigen exposure. Higher doses or alternative formulations without potentially pro-inflammatory additives warrant further investigation. 

Kira N Tyson, Laurent L Couetil, Kathleen M Ivester, Laura Murray, Abhijit Mukhopadhyay, Jackeline Franco Marmolejo, Amber Jannasch, A randomized, masked, crossover, clinical trial of the efficacy and safety of nebulized albuterol sulfate and dexamethasone sodium phosphate in asthmatic horses, Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine, Volume 40, Issue 2, March-April 2026, aalag030, https://doi.org/10.1093/jvimsj/aalag030 

Bottom line — Safe but not as effective as hoped.

Just putting things in perspective …