26/01/2025
A very interesting post about the link between behaviour and pain. Thank you for sharing So Help Me Dog
⛑️ BEHAVIOURAL SIGNS YOUR DOG MAY DISPLAY AS A RESULT OF PAIN...
‼️Characterised as the loss of normal behaviours and development of new/abnormal behaviours, the most frequently reported behaviours as a result of pain are:
• Aggression (new or increased/exacerbated) – in a bid to avoid physical contact which might cause more pain/injury, a dog may take defensive, reactive action. It is typically seen when the dog is approached and/or lying down e.g., lunging, snarling, baring teeth, or snapping at someone if they shift/move while next to the dog on the sofa. A more severe response (e.g., biting) may be because previous lower-level threat signals were ignored, leading the dog to escalate their behaviour.
- Interestingly, certain types of biting can indicate musculoskeletal pain – unspecific targets, variable severity, and/or aimed at limb extremities.
When a dog realises its options for avoidance/withdrawal are limited, their frustration may result in aggression.
- Impacted a**l glands can result in owner-directed aggression.
• Fear responses – pain can trigger new or increased fear responses. Dogs will create associations between their pain and other neutral stimuli in the environment. For example, they may start to view other dogs with fear - other dogs may cause me pain, or make me move in a way that hurts me, therefore other dogs = BAD. Presented with those stimuli again in the future, we may see a conditioned fear response (this is one of the reasons we don’t use aversive equipment like E-collars/prong collars - on feeling the pain they cause, the dog may associate that pain with anything in their environment at the time).
- We also see fear responses that have no apparent reason attached to them as well as generalised fear.
- Resource guarding is a fear-motivated behaviour and has been identified as a pain-induced behaviour (including guarding of the water bowl). It is often seen in dogs with musculoskeletal pain and/or gastro-intestinal issues.
• Anxiety – pain can lead to anxiety which leads to a pessimistic view of the world. This manifests as fear as neutral or novel stimuli are considered potential sources of pain by the dog, creating a vicious cycle of anxiety and fear responses.
• Noise Sensitivity – there is a clear link between musculoskeletal pain and noise sensitivities or phobias. You may see new noise sensitivities or increased sensitivity.
• Repetitive/Compulsive Behaviours – this is thought to be as a result of stress and, as discussed above, pain elicits a stress response. The behaviours are a coping strategy which makes the dog feel better and so become self-reinforcing (and thus repeated) but can also be reinforced by the guardian who pays more attention to the dog as a result.
• Clinginess - this could come in different guises depending on what the dog has learnt gets them extra attention when they feel poorly. This of course is highly reinforceable and so these behaviours can stick around long after the pain is resolved.
🪣 And as we know.... pain is a bucket filler!! This is because it elicits a stress response in the body and so we can see 'full bucket' behaviours as a result. For as long as the pain remains unaddressed, the bucket remains full. The constantly circulating stress hormones cause a reduction in serotonin which can lead to low mood, and increased reactivity.
(Camps et al, 2019; Mills et al, 2020; Gerken, 2023; Lindsay, 2001; Overall, 2013; Mills & Zulch, 2023; Essner, 2018; Spaulding, 2022; Mills et al, 2020)
I specialise in rehabilitation of soft tissue injuries and help provide chronic pain management for orthopaedic conditions in dogs.
