The Top 4 Signs Your Pet Dog is Going Through Stress

With access to luxuries that his ancestry could never dream of experiencing, your pet dog may be

living quite comfortably in your home. However, he still has a set of instincts for survival that

are very active. For instance, other animals, being away from his pack, attention from humans

that he does not want or even threats to his territory can cause your pet to feel stressed out. The

good news is that pets tend to be very good at letting you know he is going through stress. All

you need to do is learn how to decipher the top non-verbal lingo so that you can find stress-

relieving solutions for your pet.

Change in Behaviour

When regular stress is something your dog is sustaining or is subjected to, such as if a home

routine has changed, when a family member is absence or if you have just moved homes, your

dog’s behavior may change as a result of residual stress. Behavioural indicators of stress include

destructive behavior, restlessness, refusal to eat and excessive shedding.

Sounds of Stress

There are many different sounds that indicate your dog is feeling stressed out. Typically, a

whimper or a whine are the first audible stress signs. If you ignore this, he might start barking.

He may even revert to a sustained, low growl when his barks and whimpers are ignored.

Needless to say, these should not be ignored. These are indications that your pet has run out of

polite methods of letting you know he is feeling stress and is beginning to feel anxious.

Facial Gestures

With just his eyes, your dog can communicate a ton of messages. When he is being submissive,

looks away repeatedly or refuses to meet your gaze, he is trying to tell you to please be kind to

him and that he is not a threat. In the event that you ignore his submissive behavior, he might

start feeling threatened. When he feels stress, you will see him narrowing his eyes. Other signs of

stress include pinning the ears to the back, panting, yawning and lip licking.

Reading Your Pet’s Body Language

A stressed out dog will tend to reveal his feelings with obvious signs. On the other hand, if ‘dog

language' is something you don’t speak, there are a few hard-to-miss signs you might want to

take note of. Shifting weight on his right or left legs, hunching and low tail carriage are all

stressors that other canines will tend to recognize quickly. This is behaviour that your dog

expects you to be familiar with as well.

By recognizing classic stress symptoms in your pet, you can help control the stress levels of your

canine companions.