Do Chihuahuas Have Separation Anxiety? Signs, Time Alone and Help
Updated: 13 hours ago
By Nick, co-founder of Doggy Styles Inc and owner of Bruno, a rescued French Bulldog. Last updated 16 October 2026.
Quick Answer
Some Chihuahuas do have separation anxiety. Many more find being alone hard without it being a true anxiety problem, and the two need handling differently. A dog who is uneasy usually improves with slow, gradual practice. A dog who panics when left shouldn't be pushed through longer absences, and needs a vet and a qualified behaviourist first. Chihuahuas were bred as companions, they bond closely with one or two people and they are very good at reading the signs that you're about to leave. An adult Chihuahua who has learned to cope can usually manage up to about four hours alone. Puppies need much less, built up slowly. If your Chihuahua panics, howls until you're back or won't eat until you're home, get help early.
Key takeaways
Mild difficulty settling alone is common and usually improves with gradual practice. Real panic is different, and needs professional help before any training plan.
About four hours is a sensible maximum for a settled adult Chihuahua, and far less for puppies.
Calm goodbyes, calm hellos and a warm, safe den matter more than any gadget.
If you're still getting to know the breed, start here:
Do Chihuahuas have separation anxiety? What people get wrong
The usual assumption is that a Chihuahua who cries when you leave has been spoiled. The other is that a dog small enough to fit in a handbag doesn't really need to be left at all. Neither helps. Many Chihuahuas who struggle alone have simply had very little practice, because a dog who goes everywhere with you has had no reason to learn. But not all of them. Genuine separation anxiety can have several causes, including general fearfulness, noise sensitivity, a difficult past and pain, and practice alone won't fix those.
The other mistake is treating all crying as the same thing. A short protest as the door closes is normal. Thirty minutes of howling, a soaked chin and a dog who's still trembling when you come back is not. One is a review. The other is a crisis.
Owners describe the bond without much prompting. Taz's owner, on Purina's owner stories, says the thing they wish they'd known was how loving Chihuahuas are, and that they "want to be by your side all the time." Browser's owner, Hayley, puts the other half of it plainly: "He's a nervous soul and needs lots of encouragement in new situations." Put a devoted dog and a nervous one in the same small body, then close the front door, and you can see where the trouble starts.
The towel
Week one. You go upstairs to fetch a towel. She follows you to the bottom step, looks up at the height of it and decides against it. By the time you reach the landing, there's a small, high, outraged noise coming from the hallway. You were gone for eleven seconds. You come back down with the towel and she greets you like a soldier returning from a long campaign.
Signs of separation anxiety in Chihuahuas: a quick guide
What she does | What's usually behind it | Anything to do? |
A few seconds of whining as the door shuts | Normal protest | No. Keep the exit boring |
Waits at the door for a few minutes, then settles | Mild worry that passes | Keep practising short absences |
Starts trembling when you pick up keys or shoes | She's learned your leaving cues | Make keys and shoes mean nothing |
Barks or howls on and off until you're back | Separation distress | Go back to shorter absences and use a camera |
Won't touch food or a chew until you're home | Too anxious to eat | Shorter absences, and talk to your vet |
Wees indoors only when left, scratches at the door, drools | Panic | Talk to your vet and a qualified behaviourist |
Owners recognise every row. The shiver that starts when you put your coat on. The small face in the gap under the bathroom door. The way she knows the difference between the shoes you wear to the bins and the shoes you wear to work.
That intense, slightly theatrical loyalty is what Doggy Styles Inc designs around: clean, minimal Chihuahua pieces for people who have explained to a two-kilo dog that they're only going to the corner shop.
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Why do Chihuahuas struggle when left alone?
They were bred to be with people
Chihuahuas have been companion dogs for a very long time. Their job, for generations, has been to be near a person, and most of them take it seriously. That's lovely when you're home. It's the reason being apart takes some teaching.
They read your routine better than you do
Chihuahuas notice everything. They learn that keys, a coat and a particular bag mean you're going out, and plenty of them start to worry before you've reached the door. By the time the door closes, the worrying has had a ten-minute head start.
Small dogs get treated differently
This is the uncomfortable one. Small dogs are easy to pick up, easy to carry and easy to bring along. A Chihuahua who goes to the shops in a bag, sleeps on the bed and is lifted onto the sofa every time she asks may have spent almost no time on her own at all. She just never got the practice.
What the research says
True separation anxiety is less common than the internet suggests. In a survey of 13,715 Finnish pet dogs, researchers at the University of Helsinki found separation-related behaviour in about 5% of dogs (Salonen and colleagues, Scientific Reports, 2020). Dogs with separation-related behaviour were also about three times as likely to be fearful in general, which is one reason it's rarely just a training gap. Chihuahuas weren't singled out, and the dogs came from a self-selected online sample, so it's a rough guide rather than a breed figure.
And the habits start early. The Generation Pup study followed 145 puppies to six months. Puppies whose owners made a fuss of them on coming home after unwanted behaviour were around six times as likely to show separation-related behaviour, and more punishment was also linked to more of it (Dale and colleagues, Animal Welfare, 2024). It's a small, owner-reported, exploratory study, so it's a strong hint rather than a rule. Calm returns are still a cheap habit to get into.
Being alone is one thing. Being separated from one particular person is another, and plenty of Chihuahuas have very firm views on which person that is.
How long can a Chihuahua be left alone?
The PDSA's general rule is that most dogs shouldn't be left for much longer than four hours (PDSA). For a Chihuahua, the small bladder and the small body both argue for staying on the cautious side of that.
Age | Rough time alone | Why |
Young puppy (under 4 months) | Minutes, building to under an hour | Tiny bladder, frequent small meals, still learning you come back |
Older puppy (4 to 6 months) | Up to an hour or two | Bladder improving, confidence still building |
Adolescent (6 to 18 months) | Gradually up to three or four hours | Independence practice matters most now |
Adult | Up to about four hours | In line with PDSA guidance |
Senior | Often shorter again | More toilet trips, stiffer joints, feels the cold more |
Two things are particular to toy breeds. First, very young toy puppies can run low on blood sugar if they go too long without food, and cold and stress make it more likely. Advice from the Chihuahua Club of America and Purina's breeder update is to feed young puppies three or four small meals a day and to know the signs: weakness, poor coordination, trembling and lethargy (Purina Pro Club, via the Chihuahua Club of America). That's guidance rather than research, but it's reason enough to keep a young puppy's absences short. Second, the bladder. Small dog, small bladder: plan absences around it.
The Chihuahua leaving ritual, decoded
Most Chihuahuas have a routine of their own for your departures.
The shoe stare. You put your shoes on. She watches each one go on, as if counting. She is counting.
The relocation. She leaves a warm bed to sit on the cold mat by the front door. For a dog who regards the cold as a personal insult, this is a serious protest.
The shiver. A small, steady tremble as you pick up your keys. A shiver that only starts when your coat goes on is about the coat.
The vigil. She waits at the door after you've gone. On camera, some Chihuahuas give it two minutes. Some give it the whole afternoon.
The cold shoulder. You come home and she looks away, then walks off. A few minutes later she's on your lap. You have been forgiven, provisionally.
The note through the door
Month two. A note arrives from the flat next door, very politely worded, asking whether the dog is all right, because she seems to cry a lot during the day. You had no idea. You set up a camera the next morning. She sits by the door for the full fifty minutes you're out, shuffling forward and back on the mat, letting out a thin, high cry every minute or so. It's hard to watch, and the most useful fifty minutes of footage you'll ever own.
Separation anxiety or something else?
Not every problem while you're out is separation anxiety. Rule these out first.
Toileting. If she has accidents when you're home too, it's probably house training or bladder, not anxiety.
Barking at noises. On camera, alert barking comes in bursts aimed at sounds, then stops. Distressed barking or howling is aimed at the door and keeps going.
Boredom. A bored young dog may chew the skirting board, but bored dogs usually settle and sleep at some point. Anxious ones don't.
Pain or illness. A sudden change in how a previously settled dog copes alone, especially an older one, is worth a vet check.
Chihuahuas are vocal at the best of times, and it helps to know which kind of barking you're dealing with.
If your Chihuahua panics when left: the first 24 hours
If you've just found out that your Chihuahua panics when she's alone, from a camera, a neighbour or a scratched door, the training plan can wait. The first job is to stop the panic happening again.
Pause the long absences. Each panicked absence can make the next one harder. Until you have a plan, arrange for someone to be with her: a friend, family, a sitter or a small-dog daycare. Taking her with you is fine as a stopgap. It's only a problem as the long-term answer.
Record what happens. If you have to leave her briefly, film it. A few minutes of footage tells your vet more than any description.
Book a vet check. Pain, illness and, in older dogs, age-related changes can all show up as distress when alone. Rule them out first.
Ask about a qualified behaviourist. Your vet can refer you. A behaviourist will set the pace for any practice, which for a panicking dog is usually much slower than a standard plan.
Keep everything else calm. No telling off, no big goodbyes and no big hellos. She isn't being difficult. She's frightened.
Setting up a safe space for a Chihuahua home alone
Where you leave a Chihuahua matters as much as how long.
Keep her warm. Chihuahuas feel the cold. Pepe's owner's advice is that they "love to be warm", and the answer is blankets, plural. A cold dog is an unsettled dog, so in winter think about the temperature of the room she's in, not the one you're in.
Give her a den. A covered bed, or a crate with the door open and a blanket she can burrow into, gives her somewhere to tuck herself away. Many Chihuahuas sleep better under something than on top of it.
Keep it low. A jump off a sofa or a bed is a long way down for a two-kilo dog. Leave her in a room or pen with nothing high to launch from, and put a gate across the stairs.
Think about the bladder. A garden trip just before you go, and a puppy pad in a corner for young dogs, saves accidents and a lot of waiting.
Leave something to do. The first few minutes are the hardest. A small stuffed chew, a lick mat or a few pieces of her food hidden in a snuffle mat gives her something better to think about than the door. Use part of her daily food allowance.
A step-by-step plan to build up time alone
This plan is for a Chihuahua who is uneasy about being left, not one who panics. Every Chihuahua moves at her own pace, so treat these as stages, not a timetable. Some dogs get through them in a few weeks. Others take a few months. Move on only when she's relaxed at the stage you're on.
Stage one: out of sight, still at home
Pop behind a baby gate or close a door for a few seconds, then come back without any fuss. Build up to ten minutes with her settled on her bed with a chew.
Stage two: take the meaning out of the cues
Pick up your keys and sit down to watch TV. Put your coat on and make a cup of tea. When the signals stop meaning "leaving", they stop setting off the shiver. You will feel slightly ridiculous. It works anyway.
Stage three: short trips out
Step outside for thirty seconds, then two minutes, then five. Putting the bins out and checking the post are perfect practice.
Stage four: building time
Fifteen minutes, thirty, an hour, then two. Leave a long-lasting chew each time, and keep both your exits and your returns dull.
Stage five: real life
Several hours, after a walk and a toilet trip, with your usual set-up. Keep checking the camera now and again, especially after any change in routine.
How to read the camera
Relaxed: she potters for a minute or two, works on her chew, then curls up, often under the blanket. That's your signal to move to the next stage.
Stressed: crying, barking or howling that goes on past the first few minutes, pacing, scratching at the door, panting, trembling, or ignoring food she'd normally take. Go back a stage and make the steps smaller.
When to stop and get help
Stop the plan and talk to your vet if she gets worse rather than better over two or three weeks, if she panics even at stage one, if she hurts herself or damages the door, or if she won't eat at all while you're out. That's not a dog who needs more practice. It's a dog who needs a different plan.
The camera check
Month four. Short absences have been creeping up for weeks. Today is the first full hour. On the camera, she watches the door for a minute, sniffs her lick mat, cleans it thoroughly, then climbs into her bed and pulls the blanket over herself with her nose. Nothing else happens for fifty-eight minutes. You've watched all of it.
Working full time? Your options compared
Most owners who work away from home need some help. Here's how the usual options look for a Chihuahua.
Option | Good for | Watch out for |
Dog walker | A midday toilet trip, a short walk and company | Group walks with big dogs. Ask for solo or small-dog walks |
Pet sitter or pop-in visits | Company and a toilet break at home | Visits can be short. Make sure they cover the gap |
Doggy daycare | Company all day | Ask for a small-dog area. Rough play with large dogs is a real injury risk at this size |
Neighbour, friend or family | Familiar faces and flexibility | Agree the house rules, including no lifting onto high furniture |
Bringing her to work | Some offices allow it | She still needs practice alone, or the days at home get harder |
For many owners, a mix works best, as long as no day runs longer than she can manage. What a typical week looks like, from the blankets to the walks, is covered in the living-with post.
What not to do with a Chihuahua who hates being left
Don't make carrying her everywhere the long-term fix. It avoids the problem today and makes it bigger tomorrow, unless it's a stopgap while you get help.
Don't make a fuss when you come back. A big reunion makes your return a huge event, and your absence one too. Say hello once she's settled.
Don't tell her off. Coming home to a puddle is frustrating, but she won't connect your crossness with something she did an hour ago, and punishment was linked to more separation-related behaviour in the Generation Pup study.
Don't rely on a bark collar. It punishes the noise, not the panic behind it.
Don't get a second dog to solve it. Most Chihuahuas who struggle are missing their person, not a dog. You could end up with two unsettled dogs and one very tired owner.
A Chihuahua probably isn't the right fit if:
she would be alone for a full working day, every day, with no one popping in
you'd struggle to do slow, patient alone-time training while she's young
you live somewhere a crying dog would cause real problems with neighbours
you were hoping a small dog would be less of a commitment than a big one
If you're still weighing it up, the full list of trade-offs is worth reading first.
The new routine
Month seven. You go back to the office three days a week. A dog walker comes at lunchtime for a garden trip and a short potter round the block. On the first morning, she watches you put your shoes on, follows you as far as the hall, takes her chew and goes back to bed. The walker sends a photo at one o'clock: a small dog under a blanket, one eye open, unimpressed by the interruption.
Rescue and older Chihuahuas
A rescue Chihuahua may arrive with a history you'll never fully know, and a new home can make being left much harder at first. Go slower than you think you need to. Give her a week or two to settle, then start back at stage one, even if she's an adult.
Chihuahuas often live into their teens, and older dogs can find being alone harder again. Fading senses, stiffer joints, more toilet trips and feeling the cold all play a part, so shorter absences, a warm ground-floor bed and a midday visit help. A sudden change in how an older dog copes alone is always worth mentioning to your vet.
How to help a Chihuahua with separation anxiety
In the moment
Keep goodbyes short and dull. Hand over a chew or lick mat as you leave, so leaving predicts something good. If you come back to a mess, clean it up without comment.
Long term
Let her have a life away from your lap. A bed of her own, in the same room as you, that she's rewarded for using. It's the same skill as being alone, just easier.
Share the care. If one person does everything, that person's absence is a much bigger event. Let others feed, walk and train her too.
Walk before you go. A sniffy walk before a longer absence turns an alert dog into a sleepy one.
When to get professional help
Talk to your vet if your Chihuahua cries or howls from the moment you leave until you return, toilets indoors only when left, refuses food, trembles for a long time after you get home or hurts herself trying to get out. Your vet can rule out medical causes and refer you to a qualified behaviourist. For genuine separation anxiety, vets can also prescribe medication, which works alongside a behaviour plan rather than replacing it. Most dogs improve with the right help, and earlier is easier.
Do Chihuahuas cope with being alone better or worse than other breeds?
Compared with more independent breeds, such as many terriers and sighthounds, Chihuahuas usually find it harder, because they're so attached to their people. Compared with other companion breeds, like Pugs, Cavaliers and Dachshunds, they're broadly similar. The difference is mostly size: a Chihuahua is more likely to have been carried everywhere, and more likely to feel the cold in an empty house.
Small dogs respond to the same patient training as any other dog. Pepe's owner describes him as "the most placid, quiet and patient dog I've ever owned", and puts it down to the right training.
How much a Chihuahua struggles when you leave is often tied to how strongly she's attached to one person, which is a subject in itself.
What Chihuahua owners realise over time
A Chihuahua who learns early that you always come back is far more likely to become an adult who barely lifts her head when you go. For a dog who is simply unsure, the difference is often a few weeks of short, boring practice. For a dog who panics, it's the right help, started early.
The towel, a year on
A year after those eleven seconds at the bottom of the stairs. You go up to fetch a towel. She opens one eye from under her blanket on the sofa, considers the stairs, considers the blanket and closes the eye again. You come back down. Her tail moves twice under the blanket. That's all the welcome you get. It's exactly the welcome you were hoping for.
The verdict
Do Chihuahuas have separation anxiety? Some do, and many more find being alone hard simply because they've had little practice. Most adult Chihuahuas can learn to cope with a few hours on their own, and puppies with far less. Build it up slowly, keep goodbyes and hellos calm, give her a warm, safe den, and get help for long days. If she panics when left, get professional advice before you start any plan.
If you're still getting to know the breed, the guide covers the full picture.
Living with a Chihuahua means every departure gets reviewed. The Chihuahua range is for people who've learned to take the reviews well.
👉 Explore Chihuahua women's t-shirts, unisex t-shirts and sweatshirts and hoodies
👉 or explore the full CHIHUAHUA COLLECTION
Got a Chihuahua who waits by the door until you're home? Show us. Tag @doggystylesinc on Instagram or find us on Facebook at Doggy Styles Inc, and your Chihuahua could feature in a future post.
Continue Understanding the Chihuahua Breed
FAQs
Do Chihuahuas have separation anxiety?
Some do. Many more find being left hard without true separation anxiety. Gradual practice helps an uneasy dog, but a dog who panics needs a vet or behaviourist first.
How do I know if my Chihuahua has separation anxiety?
The signs show only when she's alone or about to be: crying or howling that doesn't stop, toileting, scratching at doors, drooling or refusing food. A camera is the easiest way to tell.
How long can a Chihuahua be left alone?
An adult who's used to it can usually manage up to about four hours. Puppies need much shorter absences.
Can a Chihuahua puppy be left alone?
Only briefly, building up from seconds and minutes. Young toy puppies also need frequent small meals and toilet breaks.
Why does my Chihuahua shake when I leave?
She has probably learned your leaving cues, such as keys and shoes. Taking the meaning out of those cues helps. If she shakes at other times too, check she's warm and see your vet if it continues.
Why does my Chihuahua cry when I go upstairs?
She's attached to you and hasn't learned that short separations are safe. Practising brief absences around the house is the place to start.
Should I carry my Chihuahua everywhere so she isn't alone?
It avoids the problem in the short term but makes it harder in the long run. She needs regular practice at staying home.
Is it OK to crate a Chihuahua while I'm out?
A covered crate can be a cosy den if she's been introduced to it gradually and goes in happily. It isn't a solution for long days.
Does leaving the TV or radio on help?
It can help a dog who's already fairly settled by masking outside noise. It won't fix genuine separation anxiety on its own.
Will a second dog stop my Chihuahua's separation anxiety?
Usually not. The problem is normally missing you, not missing a dog.
Can I leave my Chihuahua alone while I work full time?
Not for a whole working day without help. A lunchtime visit, a sitter or small-dog daycare makes it workable.
When should I stop training and get help?
If she gets worse over two or three weeks, panics even at the earliest stage, hurts herself or won't eat while you're out, see your vet and ask about a qualified behaviourist.
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