What are the Benefits of CBD for Dogs with Anxiety?

We’re animal people here at Sunset Lake CBD, and we know it can be hard to watch your pup struggle with anxiety. Luckily, CBD may be able to help with your dog’s anxiety.

In this post, we’ll briefly introduce CBD as a supplement, anxiety-related behaviors in dogs, and review a recent study about using CBD to treat anxiety in dogs. 

What is CBD? 

CBD, more formally known as cannabidiol, is one of the more than 100 cannabinoids produced by hemp and marijuana flowers. CBD is a natural and safe supplement for dogs and humans alike. 

A Natural Supplement

As a plant-based supplement, CBD is much more gentle on the system than over-the-counter and prescription drugs. With that said, it’s important to keep in mind that CBD won’t always work the same way for everyone (or every dog). 

Signs of Anxiety in Dogs

Anxiety in dogs is common, with some recent studies finding close to 73% of dogs exhibiting at least one anxiety-related behavior. If you’re an owner, you may know how difficult it is to watch your dog struggle with anxiety, and that might be how you found this post. 

Before we get into anxiety-related behaviors, let’s just first say that Sunset Lake CBD is in no way claiming that CBD can “cure” your dog’s anxiety. However, you may use CBD to alleviate your dog’s anxiety-related behaviors. Some of these include: 

Destructive Behaviors

If you’ve ever left your dog alone in a space for an extended period of time and come back to a destroyed house, you may have an anxious pup. Anxiety can manifest as excessive energy that your dog is compelled to express. 

Destroying furniture and toys, scratching at doors, and going to the bathroom indoors can all be signs that your dog is too stressed. 

Attention-Seeking Behaviors 

Similarly to destructive behaviors, your dog may try to get your attention because they have too much energy with no outlet. Some attention-seeking behaviors include excessive barking and incessant whining.  

Panicked Behaviors  

Unlike destructive and attention-seeking behaviors, your dog may instead respond to stressful stimuli with the flight response. If your dog attempts to run away, can’t stop shaking, or pants as if they were hyperventilating, they may be too stressed to be in their current situation. 

Can CBD Help Stressed Dogs? 

For the rest of this post, we’ll be referring to a study published in the February 2023 issue of Veterinary Science titled “A single dose of cannabidiol (CBD) positively influences measures of stress in dogs during separation and car travel.” 

In the study, researchers subjected 40 healthy dogs to two distinctly stressful situations: 

1. Isolation – 45 minutes shut into a familiar room with toys and no handler.
2. Car travel – 45 minutes shut in an unfamiliar (environmentally-controlled) car with no handler. 

Isolation

In this test, dogs were left alone for 45 minutes in a room filled with toys and familiar items and monitored behaviorally and physiologically. 

At the end of the testing, staff observed that the dogs in the placebo group were more likely to be “nervous,” “sad,” and “tense.” The dogs in the CBD group, on the other hand, were more likely to be more “comfortable” and less “restless.”

Car Test

In this test, dogs were left alone in an unmoving car for 45 minutes (don’t worry, the windows were open!) At the end of the test, staff observed that the dogs in the placebo group were less “comfortable” and “relaxed” compared to their baseline. 

Meanwhile, researchers noted that the dogs in the CBD group were more “explorative” during the car test and less “sad” than their placebo counterparts. 

CBD Used in Testing

The CBD that the researchers used for the tests described above was a personalized capsule that contained 4mg of CBD for every 2.2 pounds that the dog weighed. For example, if a dog weighed 22 pounds, they were administered 40mg of CBD two hours before the testing began. 

Full Results

When this study was published, researchers concluded that a single dose (4mg/kg of body weight) of CBD distillate can influence some of the behaviors in anxious dogs.  

The following is pulled directly from the study:

Dogs who received CBD were rated as being significantly less “stressed,” “sad,” “tense,” and “uncomfortable” and more “explorative” during the separation event than dogs who received the placebo. Consistent with this, dogs who received the CBD also exhibited less whining and sitting behavior and traveled further when they were left alone. Collectively, these characteristics are suggestive of a more relaxed emotional state in CBD treated dogs.

Consider CBD When Treating Your Dog’s Anxiety

While CBD is not a cure or treatment for your dog’s anxiety, there is more and more research coming online that suggests it may be an effective tool to help mitigate your pup’s reaction to stress and anxiety. 

If you’ve got an anxious pup and want to learn more about how CBD can help them, we recommend getting in touch with your veterinarian and discussing options. Because they know your dog, their medications, and drug interactions, they should be able to provide you with a personalized recommendation for your frazzled fur-baby.