The Separation Anxiety Syndrome in Animals (SASA) and being more specific, in dogs, can be defined as a group of undesirable behaviors displayed by dogs when they are away from the attachment subject. The questionnaire was developed due to the need to identify this disorder and conduct an epidemiologic survey on SASA in dogs (QI-SASA). This instrument was developed based on reference data and was validated through two procedures. The first one was the comparison among evaluations of Brazilian ethologists on the appliance of 40 QI-SASA to dogs' owners. The second was the comparison between the previous evaluations, according to the criteria established in this research, with the results of the interviews to diagnose SASA. The QI-SASA seems to be a complete, safe and trustworthy tool to carry out epidemiologic surveys on SASA.
separation anxiety; dogs; behavior; animal welfare
