Field Guide · Glossary
Pain-related behavior change
Health and safetyA change in a dog's behavior that is caused or made worse by physical pain, often before any limp or other obvious sign of injury appears.
How it works
Dogs rarely show pain the way people expect. Instead of crying out, a dog in ongoing pain may become irritable when approached, guard a resting spot, stop jumping onto the sofa, avoid slippery floors, or start reacting to noises that never bothered them. A review of behavior referral cases put the share involving a painful condition between 28% and 82% in recent years, with most clinics landing at 60 to 80%. The behaviors most often linked to pain are aggressive responses in a dog whose mood seems to change from day to day, poor impulse control, and noise sensitivity. The review's authors advise looking into suspected pain first, before or alongside behavior work, and one approach a veterinarian may use is a trial of pain medication to see whether the behavior shifts.
What it looks like
A seven-year-old dog who has always tolerated the family cat starts growling when the cat walks past her bed. She has also begun sitting with one hind leg pushed out to the side and hesitates at the stairs. A veterinary exam finds hip pain, and once it is treated the growling at the bed stops.
Commonly confused with
- Canine cognitive dysfunction
- Both can show up as new irritability, disrupted sleep and restlessness in an older dog. Cognitive dysfunction is a decline in brain function. Pain is a physical source of discomfort, and the two can occur together, which is one reason both are diagnosed by a vet.
Related terms
Gear that helps
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Non-slip stair treads and runners
Traction on the surfaces where dogs actually get hurt. A single slip on stairs or a wood floor can undo weeks of recovery, and an older dog who has slipped once often stops using the stairs at all.
Orthopedic bed
Memory foam rather than a stuffed cushion, so a bony older dog is not resting on the floor through an inch of fiber. Worth it for a dog who is stiff getting up, sore after activity, or carrying extra weight through their joints. Get the washable cover: this is the bed that gets used every night.
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Sources