Do French Bulldogs get separation anxiety?
Some do, but there is no good evidence that most of them do. We could not find a veterinary study behind the “70% of Frenchies” figure that circulates online, and in the largest study of French Bulldogs in UK veterinary records, they had fewer behavior problems recorded than other dogs. What matters more than the breed is whether a dog has learned to be alone — short absences first, longer ones later — and separation anxiety is far easier to prevent than to fix.
In short
The whole chapter in a few lines. Read further only where you want to know why.
A breed summary is only a prejudice about the breed.
You can use prejudices — but get to know your own dog.
It depends on the breeding, the environment, and the dog’s own character. He may have all of the breed’s traits, some of them, or none. Every dog is his own.
1 The 70% number — and what the data shows
Search for French Bulldog separation anxiety and two figures come back again and again: up to 70% of Frenchies, and 2.8 times more likely than other dogs. We could not find a veterinary study behind either of them. Where they appear, it is mostly on pages that sell calming products, and without a source.
The largest study of French Bulldogs in veterinary records did not look at separation anxiety on its own — only at undesirable behavior in general. Vet records only count what reaches the vet, and a problem that happens only when nobody is home is easy to miss. With those two limits in mind: VetCompass, run by the Royal Veterinary College in the UK, compared 2,781 French Bulldogs with 21,850 other dogs. French Bulldogs were far less likely to have undesirable behavior recorded by their vet.
So what can be said is narrow: we found nothing behind the big number, and the real number is not known.
One more measured figure, from another country. In Finland, owners of about 13,700 pet dogs of many breeds answered a behavior questionnaire. Separation-related behavior showed up in about 5% of the dogs — one of the least common of the seven anxiety traits in the study. Fear of noises was the most common, in about a third. That is one country and owners’ own reports, so read it as a direction.
The percentages are there so you know how common something is, and to make it easier on you. But if your dog has separation anxiety, for you it is 100%. If he does not, for you it is 0%. Either way, watch your dog, not the percentage.
2 What separation anxiety looks like
It is not one behavior. It is what a dog does because he cannot cope while he is alone. The ASPCA and the American Kennel Club (AKC) list these signs:
- barking, howling, or whining after you leave
- chewing or scratching at doors and windows — the ways out
- accidents in the house, in a dog who is house-trained
- pacing, panting, drooling, or trembling — sometimes starting while you get ready to go
- trying to escape
The question that matters is not what he does, but whether he settles. A dog who complains for a minute or two and then sleeps is in a very different place from a dog who never stops.
Rule out what looks the same first. Accidents can be a urinary infection or another medical problem. A young dog may simply not be house-trained yet, or may chew out of boredom. A dog may be barking at noises outside rather than at your absence. A vet check comes first — especially when the change is sudden.
3 Clingy is not anxious
Frenchies are often called velcro dogs: they follow their people from room to room and watch every move. That is a different thing from separation anxiety.
| Clingy (“velcro”) | Separation anxiety | |
|---|---|---|
| When | while you are there | when you are gone |
| What it is | choosing to be close | not coping with distance |
| A problem? | not in itself | yes — it is distress |
A dog can follow you everywhere at home and still be completely calm on his own. What tells them apart is what happens after the door closes.
4 Where it comes from
The AKC lists the usual starting points:
- never having been left alone
- a sudden change — a new schedule, a move, a person who is suddenly gone
- something frightening that happened while he was alone
- not enough daily exercise
The first weeks of life matter too. An Italian study compared 70 adult dogs taken from their mother and littermates at 30 to 40 days with 70 taken at 60 days. The dogs separated early were more likely to show problem behaviors as adults — especially those that came from a pet shop.
That is why, according to the AKC, most vets and breeders put the best age for a puppy to go home at 8 to 10 weeks: in play with his littermates, a puppy learns how to communicate, how hard he may bite, and how to control himself. If you are choosing a puppy, it is a question worth asking.
5 How a dog learns to be alone
This is the part with the most agreement behind it. The ASPCA and the AKC describe the same approach in different words: make being alone small, predictable, and uneventful — then make it longer.
- Take the drama out of the departure cues. Pick up your keys, put on your shoes or coat — and sit back down. Many times a day, for weeks, until those cues stop meaning that you are leaving.
- Start with a second or two. Step out of sight behind an inside door and come back before he worries. Build up slowly, a few seconds at a time, and wait until he is calm before the next try. Then do the same with the front door.
- Leave something good that only appears when you go. A food toy that takes a while to finish turns your departure into the start of something he likes. It only helps a dog who is still relaxed enough to eat.
- Keep goodbyes and hellos boring. Leave without a ceremony. When you come back, wait until he settles before you greet him.
- Give him a place of his own — a crate, a playpen, or a small room — as long as he is relaxed there. If a crate makes him pant, drool, or try to break out, a room behind a baby gate is the better choice.
- Let him practice being on his own while you are home. A stay, or a nap in another room, so that being alone does not only ever mean you left.
- Tire the body and the brain. Physical and mental exercise every day helps a dog settle.
According to the ASPCA, most anxious reactions happen within the first 40 minutes of being alone, which is why the early minutes are the ones worth building slowly. In their plan, a dog who stays relaxed for 90 minutes can probably handle four to eight hours.
6 When training is not enough
WEBSITE FINDING (Banfield) — UNOFFICIAL FINDING: the vets at Banfield say to get in touch if a dog hurts himself chewing, digging, or trying to escape, or if the anxiety persists or gets worse despite consistent training.
For moderate and severe cases, the ASPCA describes a slower, structured version of the steps above — and while it is underway, the dog should not be left alone except during the training sessions themselves. That takes planning: a sitter, a friend, daycare, or taking him with you.
Who to see: a board-certified veterinary behaviorist or a certified applied animal behaviorist; where there is neither, a certified trainer with experience treating fear this way. Specialists are not available everywhere — your own vet is always a good place to start.
In severe cases a vet may prescribe medication alongside the training. That decision belongs to the vet — which medicine, and how much, depends on the dog.
7 Spike: our experience
Our stories and opinions on this page are our personal experience with one dog, Spike. One dog is not the measure for every dog — for your dog, your vet decides.
“We left him a little at a time, and a dog learns that you come back.”
Spike does not have separation anxiety. Nobody followed a protocol: from a young age he was left for short stretches, then for longer ones, and someone always came back. Without anyone planning it, that is close to the steps above.
For his first three years, someone was home with him during the day. Then the person who looked after him changed. The house did not. That was more than four years ago, and how he copes alone has not changed. Our opinion: the place staying the same mattered more than who was in it.
When we leave, he sometimes slips under the same chair by the door for a moment — and then carries on with his day. He does not wait there. The one thing he does protest is a car ride without him, and that is about missing the trip, not about being alone.
And that day of his, when he is alone, looks like this: he goes out, looks toward the gate for a bit, barks at the occasional passerby or cat, and sleeps most of the time. Now and then he patrols a little, and that is it. That is what a dog who is fine on his own looks like, the opposite of the signs described earlier in this chapter.
He was not a perfect puppy. Until he was almost three, he chewed furniture — only when nobody was home. It was chair and table legs, not the doors and windows that anxious dogs usually go for, and that is a story for another chapter.
Owners Also Ask
Do French Bulldogs get separation anxiety?
Some do, but there is no good evidence that most of them do. We could not find a veterinary study behind the “70% of Frenchies” figure that circulates online, and in the largest study of French Bulldogs in UK veterinary records, they had fewer behavior problems recorded than other dogs. What matters more than the breed is whether a dog has learned to be alone — short absences first, longer ones later — and separation anxiety is far easier to prevent than to fix.
How can I tell if my dog is clingy or anxious?
Look at what happens when you are gone, not while you are home. A clingy dog follows you around but settles once you leave. A dog with separation anxiety barks or howls, chews at doors or windows, has accidents, or tries to escape — and does not settle. Most anxious reactions start within the first 40 minutes, so recording that stretch on a phone or camera shows you what is really going on.
Can separation anxiety be prevented?
It is much easier to prevent than to treat. Take the meaning out of your departure cues by practicing them without leaving, start with absences of a second or two and build up slowly, keep goodbyes and returns calm, and let him spend time on his own while you are still at home.
When should I see a vet about separation anxiety?
If he hurts himself chewing, digging, or trying to escape, if it keeps getting worse despite consistent training, or if it starts suddenly. A sudden change can have a medical cause, and accidents in the house can be a urinary problem. Severe cases usually need a plan from a vet or a veterinary behaviorist, sometimes with medication that only a vet can prescribe.
References
- O’Neill DG, Packer RMA, Francis P, Church DB, Brodbelt DC, Pegram C (2021). French Bulldogs differ to other dogs in the UK in propensity for many common disorders: a VetCompass study. Canine Medicine and Genetics 8:13. pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Salonen M, Sulkama S, Mikkola S, Puurunen J, Hakanen E, Tiira K, Araujo C, Lohi H (2020). Prevalence, comorbidity, and breed differences in canine anxiety in 13,700 Finnish pet dogs. Scientific Reports 10:2962. nature.com
- Pierantoni L, Albertini M, Pirrone F (2011). Prevalence of owner-reported behaviours in dogs separated from the litter at two different ages. Veterinary Record 169:468. pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- ASPCA — Separation Anxiety. aspca.org
- American Kennel Club — Separation Anxiety in Dogs. akc.org
- American Kennel Club — What’s the Best Age to Bring Your New Puppy Home? akc.org
- Banfield Pet Hospital — Puppy Separation Anxiety. banfield.com
