I read your column about cats and hair mats. I brush my dog's hair every couple of days to keep it from matting, so my question isn't about that. I'm curious about my dog's behavior when I brush him. The thing is that he yawns a lot. He also does what I call "fidgeting." He stands most of the time, but during some brushing sessions he'll go up and down -- sit down, stand up, sit down and so on. What do the yawning and fidgeting mean?
Dog behavior experts typically list yawning as one of the signs that a dog is feeling stressed, but yawns also can be a pacifying gesture or a way of defusing a perceived threat.
An article in the February issue of Your Dog lists yawning among the 10 signs (more on these later) that a dog is feeling stressed. "The yawning is a way of trying to displace the stress, or inner conflict, with a safe, neutral behavior," according to the article. A dog might yawn when doing something he doesn't want to do but has to endure.
In your dog's case, the grooming session could make the dog feel uncomfortable in the sense that he'd rather be somewhere else or doing something else, but instead he has to stand still and abide the brush. Through yawning (and the "fidgeting" you describe), the dog is defusing some of his tension or engaging in a self-calming behavior. He's probably not miserable but simply coping.
In the book How to Speak Dog, psychologist Stanley Coren explains that dogs yawn when they're feeling on edge or anxious. When the source of anxiety is removed, the yawning stops. You've probably noticed that your dog quits yawning after he's brushed, but you also may have seen the behavior occasionally in other situations.
Coren says dominant dogs sometimes yawn when approaching a subordinate (or possibly nervous) dog to signal to the second dog that he has nothing to fear or that he shouldn't feel threatened. The flip side of that is that a fearful dog may yawn in the presence of a more aggressive dog to send a pacifying message. In such a case, the dog's yawning isn't intended as a gesture of submission, but simply to express the equivalent of "Peace, friend" or "It's all good."
Regarding your dog's situation, while he appears to be coping with the grooming sessions, you might alleviate his mild anxiety by shortening the amount of time you spend on each session. You also could try switching to a different type of brush, perhaps one with rounded bristle tips or a comb with wide teeth that glide through hair more easily.
Another tactic to help the dog deal with stress is to give him some Bach's Rescue Remedy Pet (a liquid herbal formulation given as drops that is a natural stress reliever) early in the day before grooming him. You also could try dog-appeasing pheromones. The pheromones, available as a spray and for use in diffusers, simulate the natural calming pheromone female dogs secrete when nursing their pups.
A last note about yawning: It's contagious, scientists say. When we yawn in the presence of another person, that person may involuntarily yawn in response. The same thing can happen between humans and pets, Coren says. That means you can use yawning to help ratchet down your dog's anxiety when you notice it. Simply open your mouth wide and give a loud, exaggerated yawn. Chances are that your dog will follow suit.
Regarding signs of stress to watch for, here are things a stressed dog might do in addition to yawning, according to Your Dog: licking his lips; licking your skin; urinating when you come into the room; panting in situations that make him nervous, such as during thunderstorms; chasing his tail; opening his eyes wide or averting his gaze; tucking his tail; and getting "goosebumps" or having the hair stand up along his spine.
Family on 02/08/2017