Humans associate yawning with tiredness or boredom, but in canine language a yawn can have very different meanings. To find out why dogs yawn, we must focus on the situation.
Surely you’ve seen your dog yawn a lot of times, thinking he’s a bit lazy and always sleepy. Well, you will be very surprised to know the real meaning of their yawns.
Index of contents
- 1 Yawning in dog body language
- 1.1 Yawning out of respect or anxiety
- 1.2 Imitation yawn
- 1.3 Yawning from tiredness or boredom
- 1.4 Yawn of joy
- 2 How do you know what kind of yawn it is?
- 3 For what physical reason does a dog yawn?
Yawning in dog body language
Dogs use many gestures and expressions to convey information, about their state of mind, about possible dangers, nervousness, stress … but also happiness, tranquility, joy and love.
Canine language can be interpreted from the movement of the tail to the position of its ears, without going through such curious aspects that it snuffs excessively or jerks for no reason.
To know what the meanings of our dog’s yawns are, we must To analize the situation since they don’t always mean the same thing:
Yawning out of respect or anxiety
Surely it has ever happened to you that when you approach your puppy to take a photo, he turns his head away avoiding your gaze and sometimes yawns. Or that when he comes across another dog, he yawns.
This type of yawning is out of respect, the dog tries to convey by yawning that there is no danger, that he does not want to attack. It is a form of convey security, but with danger.
It is dangerous because he indicates that he is not going to bite, but he indicates it because he is in an uncomfortable, nervous or stressed state. If the yawn is repeated several times, it means that the stress level in the dog is increasing.
The states of anxiety, either by the examples shown or by different others, cause yawns in our dogs. Excess anxiety It can be dangerous, and can trigger aggressive behavior.
Imitation yawn
It is no wonder that dogs yawn simply because they see us yawning, a Tokyo university did a study that proves it. There are even dogs that teeth show, trying to simulate a smile (to see his human smile).
So the situation may also be, that our dog is yawning because it has seen us yawn moments before and just imitate us.
Yawning from tiredness or boredom
Dogs also yawn when they are sleepy, like many other mammals. So if we see our dog yawn At dusk Or when you wake up from a nap, it’s not because you’re stressed, but because you’re lazy.
In quiet situations where the dog is lying throwing his little naps, it is not surprising that he usually yawns from time to time.
Yawn of joy
Can you yawn for joy? Dogs do, they often yawn when they anticipate happy and pleasant situations. East yawn guy they use it as a relaxation mechanism, so as not to get too excited (although they always get excited).
Even when walking with your human, playing with him or lying peacefully on a grassy meadow, they can yawn simply expressing joy and comfort.
How do you know what kind of yawn it is?
We must apply common sense and assess the situation our dog is in when it is yawning.
If by way of example it intersects with a known dog And while they sniff or play yawn, it’s not a bad thing. However, constant yawning may be an indication of anxiety.
Unfortunately yawning it’s not a sign It means one thing, it has several meanings, always depending on the situation in which it is carried out and its frequency.
For what physical reason does a dog yawn?
Yawning is an automatic mechanism that the dog uses to further oxygenate its lungs, speed up its Cardiovascular system and send more oxygenated blood to the brain.
It is a natural anti-stress form that uses the dog’s brain, which in turn is a signal that we can interpret from different way depending on where, how and what situation is our dog when it yawns.
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