How Do I Know If My Dog ​​is Stressed?

Contrary to what we may think, our pets are not that different from us when it comes to health. They suffer from colds, stomach aches and also, surprising as it may sound, they can suffer from stress. There are many reasons that can generate it, but today we are going to focus on knowing what are the signs that will show you if your dog is stressed.

You may be thinking that your friend does not bark when he is not due or that he is calm most of the time and, therefore, your dog is not stressed. Make no mistake, stress does not always mean that the animal seems crazy, sometimes it can be shown in a totally opposite way. We are going to show you 10 signs or signals that will help you perceive if your dog is stressed.

10 signs to know if your dog is stressed

• Changes in your health. If your dog has been vomiting, has had diarrhea, allergies or any other type of abnormality that your veterinarian has not found the cause, it is likely that what happens is that your dog is stressed.
• Position of your ears. Each dog has its ears pointed to a different location, but there is one thing in common that will indicate if a dog is stressed: the ears are turned back. This is a very easy factor to recognize.
• Excessive hair loss. It is normal for your dog to lose its hair, especially in certain months of the year, but if your dog is stressed, he will have excessive hair loss, even when it is not his time.

• More pronounced yawns. You may be thinking, “If he yawns, it’s because he’s sleepy.” Well, this is not always the case. Yawning excessively pronounced and perhaps more frequently than normal is another overwhelming symptom that your dog is stressed.
• Constant gasps. This is something they do normally when they’re hot or thirsty, but if your pet is constantly panting for no apparent reason, there’s no question: your dog is stressed. Stress can make you close your mouth after those abnormal gasps and put your ears back, be careful! It is a sign that you are going to attack.
• Repetitive licking of the muzzle. You may be thinking that your dog always does that. It’s true, they all do. But if you notice that now he is doing it excessively and that it also joins other symptoms that we have already mentioned, it will be a forceful sign that your dog is stressed.

• Discomfort. Surely you have seen many times how your dog hides behind you to avoid someone or another dog. There are many reasons why he can do that, but as we told you before, if this is done a lot and adds to other clues to know if your dog is stressed, chances are he is. That is why we advise you not to force him to do something he does not want, if he wants to hide, respect him.

• Destructive behavior. Don’t you want to break something when you’re stressed? So don’t be surprised if when your dog is stressed, he wants to chew on objects or even other people. It is their way of wanting to turn off stress and what will show you if your dog is stressed or not.
• Excessive barking, howling, and shaking. If he shakes himself more than usual, even without being wet, your dog is stressed. If his barking seems to be for no apparent reason, too, your dog is stressed. We advise you to take the time to find the cause of your dog barking and howling more than normal. Observe if he does this when you leave, or when he hears screams or sirens and then tries to determine what happened before in a similar situation that is causing your dog to be stressed.

• Sniffing too much. If your dog is like crazy smelling the whole house without paying attention to anything you say or order, there is no doubt: your dog is stressed.

As you can see, stress is not always something that is obvious, so we encourage you to observe your dog carefully to see if he is stressed. If you find out that this is the case, you will surely want to do something to help him. We will give you some advice in a future article.