Can Getting Another Dog Help Separation Anxiety?

• Getting another dog is not considered a reliable treatment for canine separation anxiety.

• True separation anxiety usually involves distress about losing access to a particular person, rather than simply being physically alone.

• Research has not found clear evidence that dogs in multi-dog households cope better with owner absence.

• Another dog may help some dogs whose problem is social isolation, boredom, or lack of companionship rather than true separation anxiety.

• Videoing your dog while you are away can help reveal whether they are anxious, bored, frustrated, or simply unsettled.

• Evidence-based treatment usually involves gradual desensitization to being alone, environmental management, and sometimes medication.

• Only get another dog if you genuinely want and can care for a second dog, regardless of whether your first dog’s anxiety improves.

It helps to think about what separation anxiety actually means.

A dog with separation anxiety is not necessarily thinking, “I hate being by myself.”

Their emotional experience is closer to, “I cannot cope when you disappear.”

Dogs form strong attachment relationships with humans, and for some dogs, separation from an attachment figure triggers an intense stress response. Signs can include barking or howling, pacing, panting, drooling, destructive behavior around doors or windows, inappropriate urination or defecation, attempts to escape, and an inability to settle.

Some dogs become distressed even when other people remain in the house because the particular individual they are attached to has left.

That distinction explains why bringing home another dog often fails to solve the problem. The new dog can provide companionship, but they cannot replace the person whose departure triggers the anxiety.

Research examining risk factors for canine separation anxiety has also found that simply having other pets in the household was not associated with a lower likelihood of separation anxiety.

More recent research continues to highlight fear and anxiety as major components of separation-related problems. A 2026 study involving 730 dogs found that general fear and anxiety were particularly important predictors of separation-related behavior.

In other words, this is primarily an emotional and behavioral problem, not a shortage-of-dogs problem.

One particularly useful study looked directly at this question.

Researchers recorded 77 dogs while they were home alone, including dogs from both single-dog and multi-dog households. They measured behaviors such as activity, vocalization, resting, location in the home, and interactions with other animals.

Interestingly, dogs living with other dogs were actually more physically active, particularly during the first hour after their owners left. Male dogs in multi-dog homes also vocalized more than males living without another dog.

Perhaps most strikingly, dogs in multi-dog households spent very little time interacting with their canine housemates while their owners were gone.

The researchers concluded that they found no evidence that living with another dog provided better coping during separation from humans.

Of course, this does not mean every dog will respond in exactly the same way. Behavior is wonderfully inconvenient like that. Dogs do not read research papers before deciding how they feel.

But the findings fit what veterinary behaviorists commonly see clinically: another dog may be pleasant company, yet the anxious dog can still spend the entire absence waiting by the door for their person.

There are circumstances in which canine company may make being home alone easier.

The crucial question is whether the dog truly has separation anxiety or whether something else is happening.

Some dogs are uncomfortable being completely alone but are perfectly relaxed as long as someone is there.

That someone might be another person, a dog, or occasionally another familiar animal.

For example, imagine a dog who barks when the entire household leaves but sleeps peacefully if the owner leaves while their partner remains home. If the same dog is also relaxed when left with a familiar canine companion, their problem may involve isolation rather than a specific attachment-related anxiety.

In those cases, another compatible dog might help.

But I would test the theory before adopting one.

Arrange for the dog to spend time with a familiar, relaxed canine friend and record what happens when you leave. If your dog settles comfortably, that gives you useful information.

If they continue pacing between the window and front door while barely acknowledging their friend, you have learned something equally valuable.

There are several clues that the anxiety is specifically associated with your departure.

A dog may become restless while you are getting dressed for work, follow you from room to room, react when you pick up your keys, and begin whining within minutes of the front door closing.

Some dogs will refuse food once their owner has left, even when offered something they normally love.

Others stay near exit points, scanning and waiting rather than interacting with another animal.

Research into separation-related problems suggests that symptoms frequently begin very soon after departure. In one review, vocalization was reported to begin after an average of just over three minutes and destructive behavior after around seven minutes in affected dogs.

That rapid escalation is much more consistent with anxiety than simple boredom.

A second dog sitting nearby is unlikely to interrupt that emotional response.

Potentially, yes.

Bringing home another dog is a major environmental change, and anxious dogs do not always welcome major environmental changes.

Suddenly your dog may have to share sleeping areas, food, toys, attention, space, and access to you. Even dogs who enjoy meeting other dogs outside the home do not automatically enjoy living with one.

There is also the possibility of social facilitation, where one dog's behavior influences another dog's behavior.

Instead of Dog B teaching Dog A how to relax, Dog A may teach Dog B that the sound of car keys means it is time for everybody to sprint toward the door and bark.

Multiple-dog households can also develop problems around competition, fear, frustration, or resource guarding. Veterinary behavior literature has long recognized that some behavioral problems can actually be amplified by interactions between dogs living together.

Worst-case scenario, you could end up with one dog with separation anxiety and another dog who has begun joining in.

Plus twice the veterinary bills.

That is why I would never recommend adopting a second dog primarily as treatment for the first dog's anxiety.

The simplest starting point is often a camera.

Set up a pet camera, phone, tablet, or home security camera and record your dog during several normal departures.

Watch what happens during the first 30 to 60 minutes.

You are looking not just for barking or destruction, but for the dog's overall emotional state.

An anxious dog might pace repeatedly, pant when the room is not hot, drool, whine, howl, scratch at exits, repeatedly check windows, remain hypervigilant, or seem unable to lie down and sleep.

A bored dog is more likely to alternate between exploring, chewing something interesting, resting, and perhaps causing some opportunistic chaos.

Those distinctions matter because the treatment is different.

Researchers have also emphasized that “separation-related problems” describe a group of behaviors rather than one single underlying diagnosis. Dogs destroying furniture, barking, or toileting while alone may be doing so for different reasons.

If the behavior is severe, sudden in onset, or difficult to interpret, speak with your veterinarian. Medical problems, cognitive decline, pain, urinary disease, gastrointestinal disease, noise fears, and other conditions can sometimes contribute to behavior that initially looks like separation anxiety.

The cornerstone of treatment is teaching the dog that being separated from you is safe.

Unfortunately, we cannot explain that in English and ask them to trust us. We have to change the dog's emotional expectation through experience.

The most established behavioral technique is systematic desensitization, meaning exposure to absences that are short enough not to trigger significant anxiety, followed by gradually increasing their duration.

Initially, that might mean stepping outside for five seconds rather than five minutes.

If your dog remains relaxed, you repeat the exercise and very gradually build from there.

The principle is simple, although implementing it with a severely anxious dog can require patience. Current veterinary guidance notes that graduated departure programs may take months and recommends using video to ensure the dog stays below their anxiety threshold.

Counterconditioning may also be useful, particularly for milder cases. This means associating departures with something positive, such as a stuffed food toy.

However, severely anxious dogs often will not eat while their owner is gone. If your dog normally has the appetite of a small vacuum cleaner but ignores chicken when you leave, that itself is useful evidence that anxiety levels are high.

No.

Repeatedly exposing a dog to something frightening at an intensity they cannot cope with is sometimes called flooding.

Rather than teaching the dog that nothing bad happens, repeated panic can strengthen the association:

Owner leaves → I become terrified.

During treatment, the ideal approach is therefore to minimize absences longer than the dog can currently tolerate wherever realistically possible.

That may involve dog sitters, family members, working from home temporarily, taking the dog with you when appropriate, or arranging daycare for dogs who genuinely enjoy it.

These strategies are management, not treatment, but they can prevent repeated panic while training progresses.

Punishment should also be avoided. A dog who has destroyed a door or urinated on the floor during an anxiety episode is not being spiteful. Punishing the dog after you return cannot teach them to feel safer during your next absence and may add another source of stress.

For moderate or severe cases, yes.

Medication does not replace behavioral treatment, but it can lower anxiety enough for the dog to learn.

In the United States, fluoxetine and clomipramine are specifically approved for canine separation anxiety when used alongside behavioral management. Current veterinary guidance also discusses shorter-acting medications that may sometimes be used when unavoidable absences occur.

A 2024 evidence review found moderate evidence that both fluoxetine and clomipramine can reduce anxiety-related behaviors in adult dogs.

Medication should always be discussed with your veterinarian because the best choice depends on the dog's health, current medications, severity of anxiety, and specific behavioral pattern.

For particularly complex or severe cases, your veterinarian may recommend working with a veterinary behaviorist or another suitably qualified clinical behavior professional.

Absolutely, if you want another dog.

Just make that decision because you have the space, finances, time, and enthusiasm for two dogs, rather than because you expect Dog Number Two to function as Dog Number One's anxiety medication.

Consider whether your existing dog actually enjoys sharing their home and resources with other dogs. Look at temperament, activity level, play style, age, size, and individual preferences rather than simply choosing another dog because they are available.

Ideally, introduce potential companions gradually on neutral ground and give both dogs opportunities for separate beds, feeding areas, attention, training, and downtime.

And assume from the outset that your original dog's separation anxiety will still need treatment.

If it improves as a bonus, wonderful.

If it does not, you have still made a decision that works for the whole household.

Getting another dog can occasionally make alone time easier, particularly for dogs whose main difficulty is social isolation rather than separation from a particular person.

But for genuine separation anxiety, another dog is unlikely to solve the underlying problem.

One of the clearest studies comparing single- and multi-dog households found no evidence that familiar canine company substantially improved dogs' ability to cope when their humans left.

So before expanding the family, investigate what your dog is actually experiencing.

Use a camera. Look at when the distress begins and what your dog does while you are gone. Speak to your veterinarian if symptoms are significant.

Then focus treatment on gradually teaching your dog the skill they really need: being able to feel safe even when you are not there.

A second dog might eventually become their best friend.

They just should not have to arrive carrying the job description of therapist.