04/02/2026
This discussion, while partially speculative, holds some merit. Investigating the driving forces and PETA's potential influence on the anti-pet ownership movement would provide valuable insights into why this article. With that said, we need to evaluate the promotion of dog ownership to individual with unsuitable lifestyles and reassess the 'no kill' movement, which often pressures people into adopting dogs that need significant rehabilitation. It's vital to educate people about normal dog behavior, as my frequent saying goes: 'dogs don't have behavior problems; people have problems with their dog’s behavior.' According to The Atlantic's 2019 survey, 85% of dogs had behavioral problems, and nearly half of the owners reported anxiety issues. However, the survey included behaviors like yard digging, tennis ball fixation, and excessive barking as problematic, suggesting that owners' expectations significantly contribute to perceived behavioral issues in dogs.
“The rise in anxiety among American humans has been exhaustively documented,” Rose Horowitch wrote in 2024. “With much less fanfare, we also seem to have entered the age of the anxious canine.” https://theatln.tc/7OklVWaz
Many of America’s 85 veterinary behaviorists are booked months in advance. Several whom Horowitch spoke with said that the number of people seeking pet mental-health care has exploded in the past few years. But there is no consensus as to why. One theory is that dogs today are more anxious. More Americans are choosing to adopt pets, which saves lives but can leave traumatized pets with inexperienced owners. We’ve also altered the way pets live in ways that may make them anxious or aggressive toward people and other dogs. But it could also be that anxious adults are projecting their own issues onto their furry companions. What people classify as a behavioral issue reflects human expectations as much as a dog’s nature, according to a bioethicist.
“So is the dog-anxiety crisis real, or is it a product of owners’ anxiety-riddled psyches? Dogs can’t tell us how they’re feeling, so we’ll probably never know,” Horowitch continues. “But both explanations are depressing. 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.
“Many Americans don’t have the time, energy, or green space their pets need to thrive,” Horowitch continues. “If the choice is to medicate our dogs or to make them, and ourselves, miserable, pet ownership starts to seem ethically murky.”
🎨: Paul Spella / The Atlantic. Source: Getty.
