Stress in Dogs

[Daniela Jantzen]

Evolution, domestication and intensive breeding have turned dogs into incredible creatures who can cope with a lot of things in our everyday life.
However, sometimes the stimulation they receive from us and our world can become too much for them – and in the end, some of them get stressed out.

And although it always sounds like it, stress itself is nothing negative.
Slow amounts of it can actually fasten the individual development of the dog, help it mature properly and be able to cope with new situations a whole lot better.
However, if there is just too much of it in play, the dogs can no longer cope.

To know what we are dealing with, we have to take a closer look at what stress actually is.
In general, we decide between eustress and distress.
Eustress is nothing else but the necessary activation of the body’s organisms, enabling it to cope with new situations. Eustress is also called “positive stress”.
If the dog is constantly challenged too much, this eustress can turn into the so called distress, the “negative form”. In general, distress can lead to severe damages to the dog’s psychological and physiological state.
Usually, when we speak about stress, we are thinking more down the line of the latter – distress.

(Di)Stress can occur in all situations, at every age.
We usually differ between the following groups of stress factors (SF):
- external SF, like to much stimulation (too large puppy play groups) or, on the contrary, deprivation, pain or dangerous situations (real and fictional)
- Lack of sleep, food, water, exercise, the primary needs of the dog are not met
- Performance: too much or not enough exercise, test situations, possible failure, corrections and punishment
- Social SF: isolation or permanent ignorance towards the dog
- Psychological SF: inner concflicts, incontrollability, fear, insecurity

But also major changes to the environment, changes of the social partner, movements etc. can have tremendous effects on the individual dog.

Possible signs of stress:
- nervousness
- restlessness
- overreaction
- calming signals
- excessive peeing and pooping
- showing a “penis erection” in males
- aufreiten
- hypersexuality/hyposexuality
- extreme licking and cleaning of body parts
- desctructiveness
- extreme vocalisation
- troubles with the stomach
- allergies
- food: not being able to eat/eat too much (obesity)
- “stinky” smell
- all tackles up
- loss of fur
- hardened muscles
- skin problems
- panting
- drippling nose
- sweaty paws
- shaking
- hectic “air bites”
- wide opened exyers
- staring at others/at something/at nothing
- stereotypic behaviour
- leash biting
- lack of concentration
- redirected behaviour
- passive behaviour
- shaking

Factors causing stress:
- medical problems
- lack of sleep
- being in heat (females)
- sudden changes to the environment
- threatening situations
- insecure situations (not knowing what’s going to happen or how to handle a situation)
- failure
- aversive training methods
- agility, dog-dancing, obedience (if performed under too much pressure)
- schutzhund (if overdone and performed under too much pressure)
- puppy play groups (too many pups, too much stimulation)
- rough play
- hectiv, violent, angry behaviour of the handler
- children
- lots of activity at home (no time to rest)
- too many emotional situations
- hunting and chase-games
- thunderstorms
- vet checks
- trip to the groomer
- show ring
- riding in the car
- separation
- boredom
- etc.
If your dog had to cope with any such situation, please keep in mind that dogs can need 05-6 days to recover from it!

Now this is just a little overiew over the most common symptoms/factors.

Maybe you can think of more?
Let us gather some together and see if we can not come up with a “DoggieBagOnline-Stress-Guide” we can refer to when someone might face stress-related problems, not knowing what might be going on with the furpal.

Danny

[Alberta Hanko]

Hi Danny - This is very helpful.

Some additional signs of stress that I have noticed in my Linus:

Grass eating (during a time when I know he has been stressed)
Hard mouth when taking treats (His is usually soft)
Freezing

As for factors causing stress, I would rank right up there--because this has been my Linus' problem-

Lack of socialization

I will be interested in seing what others will add to your interesting topic.

Alberta & Linus

[Chris Smith]

Thank you for posting this article on stress Danny. It is very helpful and I will examine it to see what factors might be affecting Nalu and what I can change in his environment.

Sorry I can't offer more to your list...this is all new to me and I am just learning.

Chris

[RubysMom]

Danny -
Can a dog enjoy a factor that causes stress (ie riding in the car) and still have it BE a cause of stress? Also - how do you tell if a dog has sweaty paws?
Thanks for this info tho - its all quite interesting and thought provoking!

[Daniela Jantzen]

Danny -
Can a dog enjoy a factor that causes stress (ie riding in the car) and still have it BE a cause of stress?

Yes, this is actually very common.
Everything a dog sences stimulates its system. Once these stimulations are too much to cope with, the dog starts showing the first signs of stress.
A low amount of stress is ok, if things get too exciting and the dog too aroused, see if you can't change the situation ever so slightly to make the dog more comfortable, eg get a kennel box for car rides, use rescue remedy etc.

Another very common situation dogs often do love but still show signs of stress of calming signals are times when we pet them.
Most of them like the physical contact but still, their inner reflexes tell them to mind the individual distance. In this case, see if you can't ease the tension by slightly changing your position. eg sit sideways to the dog.


Also - how do you tell if a dog has sweaty paws?


Paul, one of our dogs, displays sweaty paws when he is stressed.
In these times he actually leaves wet paw prints on the floor. And has quite stinky feet..... ;)

[Luciann]

Well i know when my kids are getting destressed. they both love to ride in the car/truck. But sometimes Frodo well get distrubed by something and he will start acting destressed and i work on calming him.

i learned this the hard way, since when we had a change in environment and Frodo got very stressed....but it was a good article and helps since there were signs that i did not know about

[Greta Boldi]

Hi all:

I think I've got one I didn't see on the list. My dogs get instant dandruff when they are extremely stressed, like at the vet's office. They don't normally have flakes, but within minutes of being in a stressful situation it's like a winter snowfall. It stops within a few hours of the stress being over.

Also, my mother's dogs instantly shed when stressed. They are siberian huskies, so they shed alot as it is, but she says when they're stressed they seem to throw alot more fur.

Great article, very helpful!

[Sheryl]

Here's one to add to the list of stressful things.
Grooming, inlcuding brushing, trimming, and nail cutting.

[Annucia]

This is a wonderful idea! Some additional signs of stress in my dog Nellie are eyes darting about, when she typically has great eye contact, pulling very hard on leash with tail down while walking low to the ground.
The additional situations that cause her stress are when visitors first come in the house, group obedience lessons, training out of context, dogs being too close to her, seeing large objects that weren't there the last time- i.e garbage bags, going for walks in place for the first time.