When Behaviour Is A Symptom Of Something Else.

The Happy Dog™️- FREE weekly newsletter for you and your dog, from Freya V. Locke.

Mar 09, 2025

Hi Gang

Today I should be celebrating. I passed an OFQUAL Level 5, 200-hour Diploma in TEFL teaching. I have worked my ass off to achieve it.

But no.

Instead, I feel very sorry for myself.

I have a broken tooth, which won’t be seen until 10 days’ time. I also am struggling with adenomyosis pain. PLUS we are going to rifle through my recently deceased Dad’s belongings later to see which sentimental things we would like to keep. So it’s fair to say that celebrating can wait.

I can vocalise the reasons why I’m feeling grumpy. Some of the reasons I can even do something about. I fashioned a mouth guard to stop me from knocking my teeth together. I can let my coffee cool to a less painful heat. I can take painkillers and have a hot bath. I can hug my siblings and remember better times with Dad.

Our dogs, however, can’t do that and they only have so many ways to say that actually, they are “just not feeling all that wonderful today.”

To add insult to injury, when dogs are feeling down, or in pain, they get told off or labelled as “bad dogs”, or worse still, have aversives and punishment inflicted on them, making them feel even worse.

Signs of a dog in pain

While many dogs do not show obvious signs of pain, such as limping, there are often more subtle tell-tale signs of pain that we can look out for. Always consult a vet with any behaviour change or worsening of an unexpected behaviour. Any good behaviourist or trainer will have you see a vet before they begin work with you.

Behaviour changes to look out for:

Reactivity and aggressive behaviours: A normally friendly dog might start growling, barking, or even snap.
Food and diet: A dog might lose their appetite, or start to avoid eating and drinking certain foods and textures.
Vocalisation: A dog might whine or yelp when moving or getting comfortable. Also, when being touched or asked to perform certain cues that might involve aggravating a sore body part. Dogs have been known to feel some relief through barking, and so barking more than usual is also a common indicator of pain
Peace and quiet: A dog in pain might seek solace in quiet areas. Alternatively they may seek comfort and reassurance from their human and become cuddlier and more clingy than usual.
Discomfort: They might pace around and fidget a lot, in their quest to find a more comfortable place to lay down and rest.
Grooming: The dog might begin to neglect his or her self-grooming, leaving themselves dirty and dull. They also might begin over-grooming and fussing certain areas to the point of self-harming and creating sore patches.
Licking and Chewing: Not just directed at themselves. Dogs find these activities comforting and therefore may start nibbling at things they don’t usually nibble at.

Never assume that a dog is being bad, stubborn or awkward. There is always a reason behind EVERY behaviour that any animal, including ourselves, partakes in. Sometimes those reasons are minute, but to a dog who has no way of telling us they are struggling, noticing their behaviours and acting on them can mean the difference between a lifetime of pain and a lifetime of good health and fun.

Scrumperdinger.com

Hello Fans! Twyla here.

This past week, I took my humans to see my Grandhumans and Uncle Louis.

Some people worry about taking a bouncy Scrumperdinger, like me, to stay at other people’s houses, but not my Mum and Peter. They know how to make everyone happy.

We had a GREAT time. My mum said I had to give Uncle Louis a break occasionally, so she slipped on my harness. When I wear my harness and lead, I have to settle down as I can’t carry on jumping on poor Uncle Louis. Then, I get treats for being a good girl.

Sometimes I need a little help with understanding when other dogs do not want to play, and so Mum says not putting the other dogs in that position in the first place is best.

Mum also makes a point of walking me outside of the house, just me and her, for my toilet breaks, instead of me running after Louis down the garden. This way Louis and I got lots of short breaks from each other and Louis got to have his toilets in peace.

I wasn’t allowed to hump him. When I got too excited, I tried to do that, so Mum would break us apart and give us something else to do instead. That’s ok, there are plenty of other things we can play.

We also ate separately as I have different dinners from Louis, and we are both Labradors and very hungry ones at that time!

I slept in my Mum’s bed as always, while Louis got to roam the rest of the house.

Doing all these things meant that when Louis and I played together, we didn’t get overwhelmed or fed up with each other and could respect each other’s boundaries.

Spotted and sharing.

Any dog groomers in the house? Check out my friend Stephanie Zikmann, founder of the Holistic Grooming Academy. She teaches force-free and ethical ways of grooming a dog.
https://www.facebook.com/theholisticdoggroomer