How do you know if your dog is in pain?

Did you know that dogs don’t show pain until they’ve reached 6 or 7 out of 10 on the pain scale?

That’s the point at which you or I would need morphine.

Yes, you read that right - dogs will only vocalise pain when it hurts so much that ibuprofen, paracetamol and codeine put together wouldn’t touch the equivalent pain in a human.

What they do instead, is

Make adjustments to the way they move their bodies
Avoid doing things that hurt
Lash out at anything (dog/human/other) that they feel might hurt them

Bertie doesn’t have to be full-on limping to be in discomfort.

Adjustments might look like stiff back legs as Bertie avoids bending at the knees, or a slight lean to one side to offload weight from a sore limb.

Avoidance might look like not wanting to jump in or out of the car, or waiting until Bertie is sure that his caregiver is staying downstairs before following.

Defensiveness might look like growling when he’s on the bed with his caregiver, who then moves. Or it might look like barking, lunging or snapping at dogs that go to sniff his bum.

But Bertie runs around the park with his best mate Spot, so he can’t be in pain, right?

Well, kind of. Adrenaline is an excellent painkiller, and at that precise moment, Bertie might not feel pain. But later, when the need to chase Spot has gone, that discomfort will be back with a vengeance.

Nope, the vet say that Bertie isn’t in pain.

It’s incredibly difficult for vets to identify pain in a veterinary setting. Top UK veterinary pain specialist Gwen Covey-Crump states that “Anxiety in a clinic environment or in the presence of a stranger will usually inhibit an animal’s response to a painful examination” and Sarah Heath, lecturer in Behavioural Medicine at Liverpool University School of Veterinary Science, has said that “it is virtually impossible to detect chronic pain in a veterinary clinic consult room”.

There are of course many many more ways that our dogs are trying to tell us that they’re hurting.

If your dog has behavioural issues that are not being resolved using kind, reward based techniques, then pain or discomfort must be considered.

But how can I not have known?

This is incredibly difficult for us human caregivers! That our dogs have been hurting for so long, and we didn’t know? It doesn’t bear thinking about.

And yet, if we want to do the very best for our dogs, then think about it we must.

That’s why I’ve been investing a chunk of money and more hours than I can count over the last 4 months into learning how to become a Dynamic Dog Practitioner.

And the more I learn, the more convinced I am that too many of our dogs live with some sort of discomfort that is driving unwanted behaviours like barking, lunging and biting.

I’m not there yet - I still have around another month of study on real-life cases to go - but I’m unbelievably grateful to have had my eyes fully opened.

So here’s what I want you to do…

Watch your dog closely for hidden signs of discomfort or pain.
If you spot anything that gives you cause for concern, speak to your vet. If your vet fobs you off, and you still have your doubts, get a second opinion. You wouldn’t put up with bad advice for your parents - don’t put up with it for your dog.

And if you’re super quick, you can apply to be one of my case studies!

If you think your dog might be in pain or if you’ve spotted any unusual patterns of behaviour or movement, and you would like to be one of my case studies in my final month on the Dynamic Dog course, then email ThoughtfulPawsDogTraining@gmail.com and let me know NOW.

We can have a quick chat, and if you’re willing and able to take action then you could be one of my chosen few!

Be quick - I only need 5.

❤️

Stephie

The Shouty-Barky Dog Lady