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In February 2013, I posted a series of photos of the once-wild Clara at the vet. Trainers around the world have used these photos, with my permission, as examples of extreme stress in a dog’s facial expressions.
Clara was terribly scared. She was panting, pacing and panicking. We were working on desensitizing and counter-conditioning people slowly, in much more controlled situations. But once in a while, she had to go to the vet, and we just had to get by.
His fear and panic were evident.
The photos of 16-month-old Lewis in this post were also taken at the vet. Lewis is friendly and enjoys meeting new people, even at the clinic. But Lewis was also stressed.
I won’t discuss arousal versus distress versus eustress here, although the interaction of these is a fascinating topic. That’s an article for another day. I also don’t want to get into “how much stress is OK?” or related philosophical and ethical issues.
My focus here is simpler: stressed dogs look and behave in different ways, and some of them may be harder to spot than others.
We should always look at the dog as a whole when reading body language, not just a part. We will get there. But this is a tricky case, in that we tend to associate Lewis’s behaviors with happiness. I think it’s instructive to look at a small part – Lewis’s facial muscles – before moving on to the big picture.
Pictures of Stress Face
It may be overkill (who, me, is insisting on a point?), but each photo below shows tense muscles on Lewis’ right cheek between his eye and his mouth. And the corner of his mouth itself (commissure) was tight. His pupils were dilated. I took many stills from a one minute video, and they all showed the same thing. Make sure to zoom in on at least one or two of them.
I purposely show the photos before the video because it can be hard to see the stress in the video before knowing where to look.
Video of Lewis in the vet’s exam room
This is the video I grabbed the stills from. As you’ll see, Lewis was bouncing around a bit, going up and down his stack. He was swallowing food and wagging his tail quite happily. He oriented himself towards me most of the time. He wasn’t calm, but at the time he didn’t seem upset. But now that I’ve studied the video and photos, her face shows stress.
Note: Halfway through the video I started tossing treats rather than placing them on the mat. It wasn’t a good idea, as tossing treats can add to the excitement, and Lewis was already ramping up. I only did it for this brief time, and it was because it was hard to keep it on the camera screen and get treats on the mat at the same time.
What is Lewis Not Doing?
You’ve seen Lewis now and you can tell he was excited and tense. How does his behavior compare to Clara’s or another terrified dog? Here are some things he was not Do.
• He was not constantly panting.
• He was not shaking.
• He didn’t pace; he just got up and down a few times.
• He was not frantically looking for a way out of the room.
• He didn’t constantly lick his lips or have difficulty swallowing.
• He was not hypervigilant. He oriented himself towards the sounds, but didn’t jump.
• He was not red or shedding.
If you want to see the comparison, this short video includes footage from Clara’s February 2013 visit to the vet where she was so scared.
Salute the vets
Back to Lewis.
It’s always so annoying to have to drop the camera to participate in real life, isn’t it? When the vets arrived, I couldn’t film Lewis’ exaggerated greeting. What you can briefly see is that I’ve grabbed his harness tightly, so he can’t tug at the vets. Again, having a dog that loves people is great. But his greetings border on frenzy and show that he is not entirely comfortable with the situation.
Watch his ear movement before and after the vets entered the room.
In the photo on the left, a vet turned the doorknob and Lewis watched and listened, his ears cocked forward. In the photo on the right, the door was open and humans were visible. Lewis’ ears fell off and you can briefly see in the video that his tail was wagging wildly. As he greeted the vets (not pictured), he exhibited puppy calming behaviors. He crouches low to the ground and flattens his ears as he lunges forward. I would roughly say what was going on with him saying at once, “Hi, I love you!” and “Please don’t hurt me!”
One Last Look: That “Open Mouth” Thing
This last comparison is funny. Marge Rogers and I, in our puppy socialization booktalk a lot about looking for an open mouth and a relaxed jaw in puppy body language. An open mouth is one of the easiest indicators that a puppy is relaxed and comfortable in a situation. But there are always nuances.
In the photo on the left, Lewis was sunbathing on the grass in winter. The weather was cool and his mouth was shut. But look at her soft eyes and smooth face. He was relaxed, just maybe a little curious to see what I was doing. Here’s the uncropped photo in case you want to see the rest of her relaxed body language.
In the photo on the right in the veterinary clinic series, Lewis’s mouth is open. But is it relaxed and comfortable? Surely not. There are those tight muscles and that tight mouth. You can even see the tightness in her bottom lip. It’s the opposite of the relaxed jawline we look for when trying to determine if a dog is comfortable and happy in a situation.
It’s new to me to live with a dog whose stress can feel like happy excitement (or where the two commonly combine). Now I know a “say” to look for. Stay tuned for new adventures!
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Copyright 2022 Eileen Anderson
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