How Can You Tell If Your Pet Has Anxiety

Here is the daily dilemma for Wednesday, March 28th, 2012:

"How can you tell if your dog is suffering from some sort of anxiety problem?"

My dog is about 15 years old. For the past year, she has been completely unable to handle being alone. She constantly follows us around the house and needs to be stuck to our sides when sitting on the couch. If I get up from the couch, she jumps off right away. If I leave the room for the moment and she can't find me, she starts barking and whimpering like crazy. She can't sleep unless it's in my bed - not even on the floor next to it. I literally can't even go to the bathroom without her running after me or whining when I shut the door. If she's asleep in the morning and I go shower or make coffee, and she wakes up alone, she goes NUTS. She has also been licking a lot -- my hands and the couch specifically. I googled it and found some websites saying that excessive licking can be a sign of anxiety, that dogs use it to calm themselves down or soothe themselves at times. And the licking IS excessive - I have to get a new couch because all her licking has ruined the texture. Has anyone else gone through this?"

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