Stress Signals

The key to dog body language is recognizing stress signals, and understanding what our own body language communicates to our dogs.

Depression in dogs typically involves a significant behavioral change. Often starting with a gradual loss of interest in once-loved games. It can also start with a bang with aggressive or destructive behaviors.

Recognizing your dog’s stressed body language is important because stress can cause a variety of health ailments, and lowering your dog's stress level is a health measure.

Howling is one of the many ways that dogs communicate. It can be a territorial declaration, signal excitement at the start of a walk. or just communicating with dogs in the area.

If your dog normally has a good appetite, but suddenly stops eating his food, you should be concerned. However, if your dog is always a picky, slow eater, and he goes on strike for a meal or two, there is usually nothing urgent to be worried about.

When a dog sneezes due to an irritation in her nose, the sneeze is forceful and may include nasal discharge. A social sneeze is small and delicate with no nasal discharge and very little head movement.

It’s understandable that dog owners would be interested in using music to facilitate calmness. And there is evidence that some music does indeed help dogs relax.

Noise canceling with noise machines, music or sounds from a speaker, or even just a circulating fan can help dogs with a noise phobia, or dogs that are scared of thunder relax.

Do female dogs have periods? No, dogs do not have periods. During one stage of the dog's reproductive cycle there is a bloody vaginal discharge that superficially resembles a period.

Usually humping is associated with male dogs, but humping is also very common amongst female dogs. Some girls will hump toys or other objects, some hump air, others hump other dogs or even people. To learn more about humping, why girls do it, and how to keep your female dog from humping, we talk with Certified Professional Dog Trainer and Chair of The Association of Professional Dog Trainers Nick Hof, CPDT-KA, CBCC-KA, KPA-CTP, CSAT, to answer some of your most commonly asked questions about female dogs and humping.

There is absolutely no evidence, not one bit, suggesting that providing comfort and security to a distressed dog causes the dogs anxiety or fear to increase. Why then, does this myth persist among dog owners and even with some trainers? Why are owners still advised to ignore their dog when he is distressed or anxious or fearful, as if providing any attention to the dog will reinforce those emotions?

Moving to a new house regardless of whether it's down the street or across the country is stressful for anyone, but for dogs it can be especially confusing and upsetting. I just moved my three dogs (ages 16 years to 21 months, 10 pounds to 100 pounds) from New York City to Portland, Oregon. The move has been a bit hectic, but my biggest priority has been creating stability and consistency for my dogs.