September is Pain Awareness Month
“Your dog wouldn’t be able to run like that if she was in pain.”
“My dog isn’t in pain. They can play fetch for hours!”
”My dog loves his walks. He’s crazy when I pick up his harness and he races out the door, pulling me the whole way! How could he be in pain?”
All of these are real statements that I’ve heard, including about my own dog. The problem is that, sadly, they aren’t true.
Dogs can and will do many things when in pain that seem counterintuitive to people.
These statements seem logical because how could a dog in pain possibly play fetch for an hour or more, run fast, or pull on leash for their entire walk? It’s seems obvious that they would show they are in pain by limping or vocalizing in some way. Unfortunately, more often than not, they don’t show any signs that we humans would consider indicative of pain, and by the time we recognize the signs, the dog is already at a high level of pain, and this may have been the case for weeks, months, or even years!
See that Cattle Dog mix in the photo at the top of this post? I was told she couldn’t possibly be in pain because she would never be able to run like that. She was recently diagnosed with multifocal spondylosis, a degenerative condition of the spine that affects multiple vertebrae. She didn’t limp or vocalize, but because of my training and expertise in recognizing subtle signs of potential pain in dogs, I could see that something was going on. I insisted on X-rays and now we have a diagnosis as a starting point for treatment.
While it’s true that pain will absolutely keep dogs from wanting to do certain activities, it’s not true that pain will always stop them from being active.
Let’s look at dogs who will play fetch for extended periods of time.
The first thing we have to think about is the dog’s anticipation. Do you have or have you ever seen a ball-obsessed dog? As soon as they see the ball or their person speaks the magic words, they get excited, they may even get frantic. Maybe they jump in the air or on the person, start running around, or get in a position to go after the ball.
So, what’s happening here? With anticipation, adrenaline and endorphins are released. Adrenaline temporarily blocks pain signals (think fight or flight, but also excitement) and endorphins are the body’s pain relievers, so the dog is already feeling better before they even start the activity. Dopamine is also released when dogs are anticipating a reward and they seek out rewarding activities. Their body will keeping pumping these feel-good hormones out during the activity and for several minutes after it’s over. It can then take a few hours or longer for their levels to return to baseline.
Now, let’s think about those walks.
Going for a walk can do the same thing for a lot of dogs. As soon as we pick up the dog’s walk equipment, the dog anticipates the walk and starts getting really excited, maybe they jump up or start running around, or go into wiggle-butt mode. Adrenaline and endorphins are released, masking the pain, dopamine activates reward seeking, and they are already feeling the positive effects before they even get out the door.
This is why people will say that a dog is “fine” wearing tools like prong collars, choke chains, shock collars, and even head halters, or at least doesn’t seem to mind them. I’ve even heard trainers say that a dog they’re working with is “happy” wearing a prong or shock collar.
Again, anticipation. They anticipate the walk, the feel-good hormones kick in, pain is lessened, and that makes it appear that the dog is okay, or even “happy,” wearing tools that are made to cause discomfort and pain when used correctly. Dogs don’t love these tools and would never choose to wear them. But relief from pain can make dogs (and people) do a lot of things that they might not normally do if given the choice.
But what about dogs who pull like crazy on leash?
Remember how anticipation starts the flow of the feel good hormones before the walk even starts, masking the pain so the dog is feeling good at the outset?
Now add movement, which can further lessen the dog’s pain. We humans move much more slowly on walks with our two legs and we expect our dogs to match our pace, but moving forward at a quick pace takes weight off of sore limbs and joints. It can also shift the dog’s weight to the fore limbs further taking stress off of the hind end where 60% of physical issues in dogs occur.
Dogs hide pain really well and it’s not easy to detect it. There are many behaviors that we see in our dogs that are labeled nuisance behaviors, behavior problems, training issues, and even that it’s “just who the dog is.” You may have even been told, as I was, that your dog couldn’t possibly be in pain because they can do X activity. But our dogs can’t verbalize what’s happening, so their behavior is often the only way they have to tell us they’re hurting.
The number of dogs struggling with pain that we humans don’t recognize as such is staggering and they need and deserve a different, kinder approach.
I encourage you to take a step back and look at the bigger picture of what’s happening with your dog. Maybe you’ve been struggling with your dog’s behavior for a while and despite trying different tools and training, it’s not getting better, or it might even be getting worse. Or perhaps it’s a behavior that has just cropped up.
You can learn about other dog behaviors that may signify your dog could be struggling with pain by joining the Dog Detective Challenge. It’s free, and when you sign up you’ll receive the free infographic “5 Overlooked Signs Your Dog Might be in Pain.”
If you’d like to do a deep dive into what’s happening with your dog right away, you can sign up for the full Dynamic Dog Assessment instead of or after the Dog Detective Challenge .
Do you like to get nerdy about dog behavior? This article goes over the connection between pain and behavior in dogs.
You can also read this more in-depth study.
