Stressed-Out Humans Make For Stressed-Out Pets

According to DVM360, a survey conducted by OnePoll for PetMeds gathered data from 2,000 pet owners about separation anxiety when leaving their pets. The survey revealed that leaving pets alone at home is a major source of stress for pet owners, with 44% expressing concerns about their pets experiencing separation anxiety. Additionally, 40% indicated they would be willing to take a pay cut or lower salary to work from home and be with their pets.

Here are some more interesting results from the survey:

When leaving for work…

• 48% said that their pets follow them to the door and look sad.

• 33% said that their pets whine.

• 22% said that their pets seem anxious and pace around.

Additionally…

• 41% arrange for a friend or family member to check on them.

• 31% use pet cameras to keep an eye on their pets' activities.

• 42% have observed a change in their pet's mental health and behavior in the past 2 years.

• 52% reported seeing overall separation anxiety in pets.

Some of the top concerns pet owners have when they are away from their pets include:

• Loneliness or boredom (52%)

• Separation anxiety (44%)

• Access to food and water (36%)

• Health issues or emergencies (33%)

• Pet escaping or getting lost (31%)

• Destructive behavior (25%)

• Other people's handling of the pet (14%)

So this study confirms everything that we as pet parents feel — and honestly know.

^{But here’s where it gets really interesting…}

Psychology Today interviewed Kim Brophey, behorial ethologist and author of Meet Your Dog: The Game-Changing Guide to Understanding Your Dog’s Behavior, is an applied behavioral ethologist. When asked if anxious dogs inherit character traits from anxious owners, she answered, “Yes, indeed. Dogs belonging to high stress/anxiety clients are often higher than average in their stress levels, and exhibit more anxiety or hyperarousal.”

The most frequently observed results center around the characteristic commonly referred to as "neuroticism." Individuals with high scores in this trait frequently encounter negative feelings, including fear, guilt, anxiety, and stress. Here are some studies that confirm these findings:

• A research team lead by veterinary behaviorist Nicholas Dodman examined the relationship between Big Five personality traits of 1,564 dog owners and 17 problematic behaviors in their pets. Owners who scored low on the “emotional stability” trait (had high neuroticism scores) had dogs with problems on 13 of the behavior issues. These included aggression directed toward their owners, aggression toward other dogs, fear, attention-seeking and separation anxiety, and persistent barking.

• Researchers at the Clever Dog Lab in Vienna and the Family Dog Project in Budapest had owners complete the Big Five Personality Inventory for themselves and a canine version for their dog. On all of the Big Five traits, owners rated their dogs' personalities as similar to themselves, but the owners' and dogs’ personality scores were most similar for neuroticism. In the study, the researchers controlled for the possibility that owners might be projecting their insecurities on their pets—they also had family members rate the personalities of the owners and their dogs. Again, owners rated by family members as being high in neuroticism also had dogs that were anxious and fearful.

• In a 2019 study, researchers at Michigan State University gave the Big Five personality inventory to 1,681 dog owners. The owners also completed the Dog Personality Questionnaire for their pets. The owners with higher “negative emotionality” scores (their term for neuroticism) had pets that tended to be more fearful, more excitable, less responsive to training.

So…what’s the point? Why am I writing about this? Because I just learned about it this week, and it’s actually started to change how I act around my dog. I had no idea the impact my own stress levels had on my pet. So the next time I might wanna get angry about being on hold with Best Buy for almost an hour…maybe the sight of my happy little dog (and knowing how my behavior affects them) will be enough to calm me down and prevent me from stomping around the living room like a little baby.

TL;DR - neurotic owners help create anxious dogs. So stop worrying. It’s all gonna be fine. If you think I’m talking to you, I’m mostly talking to myself.

Doggy Daycare Introduces “Anxiety Zone” For Nervous Pups

If you just finished the last piece and you’re anything like me, right now you’re probably getting stressed thinking about how your stress is stressing out your dog. It’s really a vicious cycle. The good news is that there’s help, and people around the world are changing the way they care for our pets to combat the different anxieties our pets might be experiencing.

A dog day care center in Naas, Ireland, has introduced an "anxiety zone" to help nervous dogs cope with increased anxiety and socialization issues, which have become more prevalent since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.

As a result, Fluffy Paws Doggie Daycare has seen remarkable improvements in the behavior of dogs.

According to manager Andy Murray Lee via Newsweek:

It’s important that doggy daycare facilities like this take into account new research and findings about our pets — with many recent studies confirming that our dogs might experience the same kind of anxieties as humans. According to Smithsonian Magazine, a recent study of over 14,000 dogs, published in Scientific Reports confirms that over 70% of our pets experience at least one anxiety-related behavior.

From a sharp rise in separation anxiety following the COVID-19 pandemic, to social anxiety, to compulsive or destructive behavior, it’s great that facilities like Fluffy Paws are adjusting and innovating in how we take care of our pets.

U.S. News Reveals The Most Popular Dog Names in the United States

A new report from U.S. News reveals the most popular dog names in the USA, with data collected from surveying over 800,000 dogs across the United States.

Highlights:

• 5% of dogs in the United States are named Bella. It is also the most popular dog name in 37 states as well as the District of Columbia.

• 4% of U.S. dogs are named Luna

• 3% are named Max

• 2% are named Daisy

• 2% are named Charlie.

Some of the other findings:

• Luna is the most popular dog name in Massachusetts.

• Buddy, which placed No. 7 on the overall nationwide rankings, was among the top five most popular names in 18 states. 

• Lucy (No. 8 overall) is the top dog name in Iowa, and it is among the top five names in 17 other states.

• While Bella is the most popular dog name in the U.S., it didn’t even make the top five in South Dakota and North Dakota.

• Copper is the No. 1 dog name in Alaska, which is home to the Copper River. However, it did not make the top 100 overall. 

• While Copper didn’t make the top 100 U.S. dog names, a very similar name, Cooper, is No. 11 on the nationwide list. It is among the top five dog names in Maine (where it’s tied for No. 4), Mississippi (tied for No. 2), Missouri (tied for No. 5) and Vermont (tied for No. 5).

• The No. 16 and No. 17 most popular dog names in the United States are Teddy and Bear, respectively. Yet both rarely show up in state rankings. Teddy is the No. 4 most popular name in the District of Columbia, while Bear is No. 5 in Utah and No. 2 in Vermont. 

• Two similar names made the overall top 100 with Zoey ranking No. 20 and Zoe ranking No. 82. 

Below is the full list:

CLICK HERE for a fun deep dive on popular names organized by state.

“The Squeeze”: Dog News In 60 Seconds

• 🐎 The Mayo Clinic just soft-launched their new miniature therapy horse.

• 📈Woolworth’s set to acquire Absolute Pets, a leading pet care retailer in South African booming pet care market.

• 🐶Yee-Haw: A statue honoring Old Yeller just went up in Mason, TX

• 🤝 Bark Social acquires Alexandria competitor Barkhaus

• 🥹 MRI Scan of a dog’s brain reveals that of all the smells that dogs take in, they prioritized the smell of humans over anything or anyone else.

• 💰Scritch Scratch! Michigan Lottery looking for dogs to feature on the tickets for their upcoming instant game.

• 🦃Which famous dogs will be flying in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade?

• 🥩 Nom Nom: A high-end canine restaurant just opened in Rome

Today’s Last Laugh:

Mom, stop making tiktoks about the dog.

@realityrat