Do Too Many People Own Dogs? Inside the Pet Mental Health Crisis

The rise of the pandemic puppy is a real thing. Our family is one of the many who added a dog to the household during a time of social isolation. Several years later, some experts are pointing to a rise in pet anxiety and corresponding efforts from pet owners to medicate their dogs as a symbol that something is out of balance:

“Either humans are stressing dogs out so much that they truly need prescription meds, or owners are putting their dogs on unnecessary psychoactive drugs to address annoying but normal dog habits. It might be time, in other words, to reevaluate the way we approach dog ownership.”

It’s a tricky truth to uncover ... are we projecting our own emotions and anxiety onto the behaviour of our pets or is there really a modern crisis in pet mental health? The answer, so far, seems entirely dependent on which explanation you prefer to believe.