You are probably missing signs that your dog is in pain. Here’s what to look for.
As a dog owner myself, I would like to think I know his behavior. I know all his little personalities and when he is happy, sad or scared. But there’s a new study that shows even the most obsessed dog parents may not know their pup as well as they think. Especially when it comes to signs of pain.
Researchers at Utrecht University found that dog owners were basically no better than non-owners at picking up early behavioral signs that a dog might be in harm’s way. The results, published in PLUS ONEcame from a survey of 647 people, including 530 current dog owners, who were asked to rate 17 dog behaviors and three case descriptions. When the pain was obvious, for example limping, jumping or holding up a leg, almost everyone got it. When the dog was more clingy, restless at night or hadn’t gone for walks, many people missed it.
People who love their dogs are constantly talking about their behavior. He is tired. She is moody. He is needy today. She must be afraid of the storm. We always assign reasons, and many of them are probably accurate. But that familiarity can also hurt people a little also confident. You end up filtering behavior through the version of your dog you already have in your head.
People who don’t own dogs may be better at feeling pain
One detail that stands out is that non-owners actually scored higher on a few pain-related behaviors, including freezing and turning the head or body away. The researchers believe that dog owners may be more likely to read these signs as fear or stress instead. Which makes sense. The longer you live with a dog, the easier it is to explain away behavior instead of seeing it for what it actually can be.
The people who did better were those with some first-hand experience. Participants who themselves had been through a painful illness, injury or medical treatment were better at identifying pain in dogs. Owners whose dogs had already been through something painful also fared better. This suggests that this is at least partially a learned skill, which is good news because dogs stick around and trust us to catch these things before they get worse.
Loving your dog so much it hurts and reading your dog correctly are not always the same thing. And for people who treat their dog like their child (which, yes, guilty), it’s probably worth considering the next time they start acting up.
