Behavioural Indicators of Pain and Medical Issues

There’s a saying in the dog industry, when it comes to behaviour change anyway, that goes a little bit like this: “Before you do anything, you need a vet check!” We now know that up to 80% of behaviour cases have an underlying medical or pain-related component.

It’s become a real go-to for all of us; if a dog is showing any kind of behaviour change, we direct people to the vet to get them checked. It’s the “rule out vet check”, isn’t it? Before we can really focus on behavioural modification strategies or training, we need to know there aren’t any other barriers present, because one thing we do know is that pain and ill health all contribute to difficulty learning, regulating emotions, confidence, general wellbeing and ability to live a fulfilled life.

It’s a really important thing we have adopted as an industry, which lets us get owners, other professionals, and vets involved in looking for underlying causes of changes in our dog’s behaviour.

There’s just one problem…it’s become a bit of a default strategy with not a lot of direction behind it. A lot of the time we don’t actually know what we are looking for, where to target our investigations or what to direct people towards. And in reality, the vets do that bit- the targeting of investigations and treatment plans- but we, as canine experts in our own right, can use our observational skills, our ability to understand the link between pain, illness and behaviour, to make the rule-out vet check much more useful.

Dogs are masters at hiding pain. In professional settings like at daycare, on group walks, or at a busy grooming salon, we have the impact of arousal - high stress (positive or negative) or adrenaline in the body - on our dogs, which can do a really good job of hiding or masking pain. When they are running around playing with pals, or potentially stressed as they may be at the vet's or grooming salon, they may not give us the full picture.

Subtle physical markers of pain:

• Compensatory shifting of weight
• Unbalanced standing
• Wide stance
• Legs not positioned where we might expect them
• Sloppy sitting to alleviate pressure
• Lying down after running around
• Gait asymmetry
• Is there an irregularity in how they walk?
• Are they compensating in some way when they move?
• Are their legs crossing when they walk?
  
• Coat irregularity
• Piloerection - hair standing on end or what we might associate as hackles up. This can appear in specific areas, indicating inflammation.
• Change in colour of coat - light coloured dogs may end up with pink areas of coat if they have licked the area a lot.
• Change in coat direction

These are just a few physical indicators that pain may be present. But what about dogs that are even more subtle?

Behaviour changes tend to be a strong indicator that something has changed internally for the dog. Either there is a painful experience happening, or there could be something else entirely, like nausea or reflux issues.

It’s easy for us to get stuck on musculoskeletal pain, but GI issues are just as debilitating and not uncommon at all!

What can these behaviour changes look like for you as a pet pro?

For Groomers:

You get to touch dogs all over, and not all of them like it. The most obvious thing to look out for is specific or new areas that are sensitive. A dog that has been great to have paws handled or to be touched on their neck but is now withdrawing their foot or avoiding you touching their neck may well be telling us something isn’t right.

Dogs that are quicker to snap, giving you increased warning or calming signals - like the whale eye or growling could be telling us they can cope with less.

Dogs that are quicker to say they are finished with the grooming process, if you use a consent-based protocol, could be telling us their threshold for the activity and interactions has changed.

For Dog Walkers:

You get to see dogs at their most active. You need to be on the ball watching for those physical changes, like not wanting to jump into the dog van or come over for fuss.

You also need to watch for those dogs that are generally social but are becoming more “grumpy” with the other dogs. Anticipatory aggression, where dogs close the distance even when the other dog isn’t doing anything, and lower tolerance for canine company can indicate they think the interaction will be painful.

We have to allow them to “not be feeling well” and to not expect them to always have the same tolerance level they have always had.

For Daycare & Boarding Professionals:

You see dogs all day long. You get a good picture of how they settle and how active they are, yes, sometimes in a high-arousal environment, but you can spot deviations from their “daycare normal”.

You want to watch for changes in their normal sleeping patterns: If they usually sleep lots and are now struggling, maybe they don’t feel well or can’t get comfy, or they don’t feel comfortable sleeping around other dogs and people due to something underlying. If they usually don’t sleep and are now sleeping a lot, flag to their owners that they don’t seem to have the same stamina as usual; there could be lots of reasons for this, again, not just musculoskeletal pain.

It’s also a good idea to keep an eye on what they are choosing to rest on - lots of cushioning or cold floors? Sometimes cold floors are attractive to dogs with inflammation.
 
You need to keep an eye on their physical ability, especially dogs who don’t seem to be their normal, active selves.

For Trainers:

You get to spend more time with the dogs' owners. This is a super lucrative opportunity to watch out for any buzz phrases or words that they might give you:

“he’s just started doing X thing” “he never used to do that before”

“He always used to do X thing, but hasn’t for a while”

Use of aggressive behaviour is, of course, a huge red flag as an indicator of illness or pain. Dogs that are suddenly using aggressive behaviour when they otherwise wouldn’t are showing signs of reduced tolerance and resilience to things they would usually be ok with. We have to start to ask the question why and start to combine those physical signals that we have identified with the possibility of what the behaviours could be showing us.

If these things are something you are hearing a lot of from a client, then you absolutely should be signposting them towards a vet check. You can help them work out what they need to look for by spotting those subtle physical signs and working backwards from the behaviour we see.

There are some really important boundaries we have to adhere to, though - both professionally and legally:
We, as supportive professionals to vets, can’t diagnose illness or pain - we can only describe what we see in front of us. e.g. instead of saying “I think your dog has hip dysplasia” we can describe what we see:

"I noticed Fido was a bit grumpy with the other dogs today. He was a bit reluctant to put weight on his left hind leg after our walk, and he seemed more sensitive to touch in that area. It might be worth a chat with your vet to rule out any physical discomfort.”

This allows you to help the dog, the owner and the vet get a good picture of where they might start looking in that rule-out check, and you’re linking in the behaviour that you see too!

It’s always useful to get video or to encourage clients to, and my go-to for everything is to monitor and track behaviour change. Data doesn’t lie, and it’s a simple way to get concrete understanding of what’s happening, how often and when. This goes for physical and behavioural changes alike.