As dogs don’t speak, you may wonder how on earth a dog owner can recognize when their dog is in pain. Here are 5 common signs of pain that you may see when your dog is feeling sore and uncomfortable.
1. Changes in Behaviour
Your dog may seem restless and show difficulty in being able to settle to sleep. They may appear lethargic and show a loss of interest in activities like walking/playing. Your dog may gradually show a decrease in tolerance to handling and to being touched. Dogs with chronic pain may start to show behaviours like irritability towards the owner or to other household dogs. Often with chronic pain, animals develop a lower tolerance of situations so don’t take it to heart as they can’t help it. Lastly, dogs may present as quiet or withdrawn. This is also another coping strategy to chronic pain. So if you notice any of these changes, then have think about “WHY” this is occurring.
2. Reduced Activity
This may show up as slowing down during their daily walk, difficulty jumping into or out of the car, difficulty getting on and off the couch and lastly not feeling up to playing with other pets in the household. When a dog starts to show a change in function then it’s often because it’s too painful to do these tasks and not because they are being difficult.
3. Excessive Licking
Excessive licking that is focused over one area is often mistaken as a skin allergy issue when in fact it may indicate that the dog has pain in that specific area. If this occurs long enough, it can often result in hair loss over the painful region.
4. Excessive Panting
Constant panting that occurs 24/7 without exertion/exercise and in cool weather often indicates chronic pain.
5. Limping
This may range from resting the sore leg lightly off the ground (partial weightbearing) to holding the leg up off the ground constantly (non weight bearing).
Why does your dog need a Physio?
In short, a dog physio is pretty good at identifying which limbs are painful especially if there is more than one limb involved. Secondly, dog physios are handy at localising what areas the pain is coming from (eg. shoulder, hip, stifle) and this can be done through observation and hands on palpation, not that dissimilar to human physiotherapy. Working in with your vet, a pet physio can provide a wide variety of awesome treatment options (eg. laser, TENS, massage) that are non invasive but effective in reducing pain, restoring function and mobility so that your dog can feel better.
For dog physiotherapy services near you, Physio for Pets can help support your dog’s recovery from injury and pain.