What I learned About Signs of Stress in My Pet Dog
Have you ever felt that your dog is behaving differently and not as cheerful as he would normally behave? Indeed, there is an underlying cause of this unwanted gloominess, and it can lead to conditions like chronic stress. Stress is detrimental to health, and early chronic stress diagnosis can help better management. By now, you should have known that stress is not something that only we humans feel. It can be the potential cause of this changed behavior of your dog. Sometimes, you can be the source of this stress, negatively affecting your dog's mood. How does this happen? I am going to reveal some interesting facts in this blog.
There can be two broad types of stress; for the record, one kind of stress is suitable for any animal. This good stress is an acute response in times of threat where a "fight or flight" response is essential. It happens within seconds and prepares the animal for a stress response. It is helpful. The other type of stress is chronic stress, which occurs over a prolonged period. Pets, including dogs, manifest good stress in times when they feel alarmed. This way, they help raise the alarm about a potentially dangerous situation. Or they can use this stress response to run and save lives. But then there is this chronic stress which is pathological. You will find your dog continuously demotivated and unattached. But there are some other vital signs which can help you diagnose if your dog is having high chronic stress levels. So let's dive into these crucial facts.
Heavy Shedding
We all know how much our dog normally sheds as most of us are continuously busy cleaning the house with a vacuum cleaner and blaming our dog for all this mess. But if your dog is shedding heavily like you find tufts of hair, then surely it is something else. Many vets consider this as a potential sign of chronic stress in your dog. It can also be something else so you should have an appointment with your vet as soon as you can.
Continuous Pacing
A stressed-out dog will run here and there continuously to relieve that nervous energy. You will find your dog pacing around the house more than usual and mostly out of context. A cool and calm dog would react to a situation differently as compared to a stressed-out dog. All this pacing would result in tiredness and lethargy and you will notice that your dog is not cheerful anymore for routine activities like a walk outside. This sudden change in behavior is a warning in itself and you should start looking for possible determinants. A piece of advice is to keep chronic stress at the top of this list of determinants.
Marked Panting
You must have seen your pet dog panting normally after a long run in a park. But in a stressed dog, you will notice a marked increase in the force of panting coupled with heavy drooling. This sign can be the most important among others when looking for a positive finding. Your dog will have a rapid rate of breathing and he will give a panicked look. This increase in panting is perhaps the most detrimental sign and something that you should not overlook.
More Yawning
A subtle yet important sign of increased stress levels in your dog can be more yawning as the dog tries to recover from a chronic stress state periodically. This sign might be a positive finding for tiredness and general weakness but if you are seeing other signs along with yawning, then it is definitely stress which is bothering your beautiful dog.
Decreased Appetite
Another powerful sign of chronic stress levels is decreased appetite. When you offer food to your dog, he may either run away or hide somewhere. Now many of us will attribute it to a defective diet and will consider changing dietary habits for the dog. In most cases, this attempt is also futile as the dog responds similarly to this new diet. Instead of exploring other underlying causes, we opt to keep changing meals for the dog. In this case, it might be stress that makes your dog behave oddly towards food.
If you have noticed, then you might have guessed that many of these signs are actually true for us humans as well. This change of behavior is also common for humans when we are suffering from stress. And many times, this human-dog relationship is somewhat of a cause itself. You can actually provide better management for your stressed-out dog when you have correctly diagnosed this condition. If you are a true pet lover, and actually worry about the well-being of your dog, knowing these signs is important as they can prove helpful. But in many cases, you can have a false positive so make sure to consult your vet.
