Behaviour and Pain

What to look for and why behavioural signs can sometimes be confusing to

interpret when establishing whether a dog is in discomfort.

How dogs communicate:

While acute pain due to trauma can be indicated by sudden vocalisation, limping,

or symptoms of shock such as an inability to move, enlarged pupils and loss of

appetite, chronic pain often doesn’t display such red flags.

Observing how our dog actively goes about their normal day is key to recognising

when something has altered with their posture standing, sitting, laying, sleeping

and getting up. Behavioural changes here can mean that a dog is holding onto

discomfort.

Dogs may well be coping with pain when they show the following behaviours:

• Bad-tempered

• Antisocial

• Sudden / excessive fear and anxiety – may or may not have a sudden

  stimulus such as noise.

• Unwilling to participate in activities and training, or when being groomed

• Suddenly being an old dog with cognitive or dementia issues

• Self-mutilation, creating hot spots. Excessive licking of an area stops a

  pain signal until the licking stops and is like ‘rubbing it better’

  
  

This may be sudden or not noticed because it is progressive.

What causes chronic pain?

Things dogs do every day, (activities of daily living) without us even thinking

about it, can have a massive impact on their long-term wellbeing.

• Chronic pain issues may arise months or even years following a known

  injury or surgery, leaving us puzzling over what has happened to our dog. 

• Age-related joint wear and tear giving rise to arthritic conditions

• The accumulation and repetition of an activity e.g.

• Pulling on a collar and lead, can result in dysfunctional soft tissue and

  joint pain. Muscles in the neck and shoulder girdle are directly

  affected and cannot function normally. Then, other areas of the body

  work harder in compensation i.e. the muscles of a dog’s back. Such

  continual pressure on the neck region can potentially affect the whole

  body.

• Joint wear and tear can begin in a young dog i.e. those repeatedly

  overdoing an activity such as jumping onto objects or sliding and

  twisting to catch a thrown object.

• Sliding on mud, wet grass, sand, a laminate floor too, may all take their

  toll on a dog’s joints. 

• Working dogs in agility, flyball, canicross, search and rescue dogs as

  well as the Groups such as hounds, pastoral, utility and gundogs, may

  also have daily or intermittent stresses on their body resulting from

  their work

Noticing the Behavioural Changes in Activities of Daily Living - when to Look

Further:

• Inability to sleep or increased sleeping. Restlessness can

  signify an inability to relax mentally or physically and/or get comfortable.

• Dogs sleep lots, especially as they age and it’s good to understand what is

  normal for your dog. Increased sleeping can be a way of shutting off from pain

  or stress

• Eating habits change – e.g. inability to stand and eat

• Physical activities change - e.g. Inability or sudden reluctance to jump in

  or out of the car or navigate steps or stairs

• Walking, playing less and a loss of enthusiasm engaging

• Socially disengaged with the household

• Hindlimbs becoming weaker – during usual moving about or struggling to

  sit or get up.

• Vocalising

  
  

It is a dog’s priority to feel safe. When in discomfort, they will feel vulnerable,

less secure and may display fear and anxiety.

Animals that live in social groups have evolved hard-wired behaviours to conceal

pain (weakness invites predators).

Anxious behaviours we understand that reflect this include:

• Hiding

• Cowering

• Curling up; unresponsive

• Separation anxiety

• Biting

• Restlessness

• Hanging of head

• Barking for no apparent reason

• Freezing or inability to move

• Excessive wagging

• Neediness and clinging

When a dog modifies its behaviour, it can be really subtle. By the time we

notice, the dog can be experiencing significant discomfort.

Invisible conditions that can give rise to behavioural changes include:

• Neutering /post-operative complications: adhesions and scar tissue

• Inflammatory issues e.g. musculoskeletal; kidney; gut; immune mediated or

  dental disease

• Infection

• Hormonal imbalance

• Cognitive changes with age

• Loss of hearing or vision

  
  

Disguising Pain with Behaviour

The context of the behaviour is key.

Check the circumstances, individuals involved, environment and other physical

signals. Check for an obsessive, repetitive element to the behaviour.

i.e. A bedtime yawn and shaking their coat and body after rolling is normal.

- Displacement Behaviour

Displacement behaviours may be observed in situations where a dog feels

anxious or unsure. Wanting to protect themselves from pain or fear or conflict,

they suppress a desire to do something about the situation.

Displacement, opposed to clear signs of pain, is when a discomfort may be

masked by activities, such as excessive licking / self- mutilation which increase

adrenaline interfering with pain perception. 

N.B. as with us, humans, long term, adrenaline-seeking is extremely counter-

productive for health – it compromises the functioning of all the body’s systems.

Excitement and fear have similar effects on the body with hormones being

released activating the sympathetic nervous system.

- Appeasement Behaviour

This is behaviours, such as wagging their tail and seemingly normal.

As when we humans smile, a wagging tail isn’t always signalling their being

content and happy.

A wagging tail displays a dog with heightened emotions and this might be for

many reasons:

• Look at the rest of his body – hackles raised?

• Body and mouth tense?

• Tail low and the back rounded?

Other examples:

• Excessive scratching, nibbling (this can quickly escalate to self-mutilation)

• Licking lips

• Excessive or out of context yawning

• Sniffing the ground when there’s nothing to sniff

• Excessive self-grooming

• A body shake all over when not wet etc.

• Licking – e.g. paws or legs or anything at all: person; door; floor

• Gnawing on unsuitable objects

Other Body Language

These behaviours are easily overlooked with our busy lives.

We might initially think that a lack of cooperation with grooming, bathing or

training for example is that the dog is being difficult. However, it’s important to

think twice when:

• Signs of being touch-sensitive: flinching, pulling or moving away

• Unduly submissive

• Lacklustre, depressed, withdrawn and unfocussed; inability to acknowledge the human voice

• Appearing vulnerable or suddenly phobic to a stimulus when previously had not been

• Irritability – sudden onset and out of character. Intolerance when touched and

  to other animals in the house

• Clearly cold and constantly wanting to lie under a radiator or by the fire

• Facial expression: flattening the ears; excessive blinking or just staring

• Muscle tension anywhere on the body

A Note about Dementia

And with tuning in to the age of the dog

There’s a definite link between arthritis and dementia – chronic inflammation,

such as with osteoarthritis, increases free radicles that destroy more neurones

and increasing dementia risk; therefore, a body under stress from inflammation

can alter behaviour

Dementia

• Can begin from age of 8 years

• On third of all dogs from 10 years have dementia with 70% over the age

  of 15 years

• Larger breeds have higher risk

• If possible to improve OA risk, keep under control, then it will be less

  likely for dementia to develop. Or, where it is already present, then it is

  less likely to move along at speed.

Author - Karen Tregaskis - Canine Symmetry