According to a February 22, 2010 article in the As many as 8 per cent of dogs suffer from canine compulsive disorder

More than 10 million U.S. dogs exhibit strange symptoms from being left alone too long

In Britain, research in 2003 indicated that 632,000 dogs and cats had suffered from depression

Nevermind that solitary confinement is a kind of torture, especially for very social creatures like doggies. Whatever doggie does to stay sane while you are fricken neglecting him is perfectly normal behavior in this cruel and unusual situation. However, you can spin this into an act of god, too: While you are gone, your dog may do one or several of the following: chew destructively; bark or whine; inappropriate urination and/or defecation; drool; pace; tremble; vomit — or worse.

See? It's not your neglect of your dog that is the problem. The only problem now is poor doggie's behaviour. And where exactly can we locate this problem? Yup, in doggie's brainie! Separation anxiety is a clinical condition in your dog's brain. Your pet is not a bad dog. Your pet's behaviour is the result of separation anxiety.

And what can we do about that? — That's right, drug the fricken doggie! Drug him silly and silent! Instead of taking the poor animal for a walk and letting him piss against trees and chase bicycles and fetch sticks and do whatever dogs have evolved to do, reconcile him with — , the Prozac for doggies!

Oh, that is just normal, because People are leading more stressful lives and unfortunately this can have an adverse effect on the health of our pets.

Cats and dogs can be very susceptible to their owner's feelings and if they sense that they are unhappy they can become agitated or depressed.

However, there are side effects: Side effects of Reconcile can include lethargy, reduced appetite, vomiting, shaking, diarrhea, restlessness, excessive barking, aggression and seizures.

Yeah, right. Give your doggie seizures and runny poopies and make him throw up and get real mad. That will teach the little devil!

I think I'll give the last word to Alva Noë, who says: The idea that the only genuinely scientific study of consciousness would be one that identifies consciousness with events in the nervous system is a bit of outdated reductionism. It is comparable to the idea that depression is a brain disease. In one sense, that is obviously true. There are neural signatures of depression. Direct action on the brain — in the form of drug therapy — can influence depression. But in another sense, it is obviously not true. It is simply impossible to understand why people get depressed — or why this individual here and now is depressed — in neural terms alone. Depression happens to living people with real life histories facing real life events, and it happens not only against the background of these individual histories but also against the background of the phylogenetic history of the species. The dogma that depression is a brain disease serves the interests of drug companies, no doubt; it also serves to destigmatize the struggle with depression, which is a good thing. But it is false.

— Preface to (2009)