20 Signs a Dog is Stressed (Based on Science)

Stress is a normal part of life for everyone, including dogs.

The truth is: stress isn’t always bad either! It reminds us to eat, helps us avoid dangers, and notifies us of potentially harmful situations.

However, it becomes problematic for our dogs when we put them in stressful situations that they are unable to escape from!

In this article, we have listed 20 telltale signs a dog is stressed, what science has to say about the possible causes, and things that can help manage your pup's stress.

20 Signs A Dog Is Stressed

1. Loss of Appetite

A dog's appetite is shown to decrease during times of stress, which is largely attributed to the increase in cortisol levels in the dog.

If you notice your dog isn’t eating as much as usual or is refusing treats, it can indicate stress.

Although there are many different reasons why dogs refuse to eat, stress is found to be the most common one.

2. Appeasement Signals

These can be difficult to interpret, so understanding the context of this behavior and identifying potential sources of stress in the environment are crucial.

A stressed dog will exhibit actions such as slow movement, lip-licking, exposing its underside, turning its head away, or averting its eyes. These are all communication tools dogs use to discern social rank among themselves in groups.

If these signs appear simultaneously with other indicators, they can be interpreted as a sign of stress in dogs.

Understanding your pet is all about observing him in different settings and situations, and noticing the subtle changes in his behavior.

3. Avoidance

If your normally playful and social dog seems to shut down all of a sudden, is consistently turning away from you for no apparent reason, and/or consistently avoids your touch, he could be trying to tell you that he is stressed.

Potentially, there's a continuous source of stress for the animal, creating a situation from which your pet cannot escape and will feel increasingly overwhelmed.

4. Digestive Disturbances

Similar to humans, dogs can experience the same stomach health and digestion-related issues in response to increased stress levels.

The digestive system is highly sensitive to stress in mammals, so vomiting and diarrhea can be signs of this.

5. Displacement Behaviors

Excessive blinking, chattering teeth, nose licking, scratching, shaking off as if wet when a dog is actually dry, or excessive yawning are potential signs of stress in your pooch.

They are often seen as behaviors performed in an effort to resolve an internal stress conflict in the dog's body.

6. Excessive Grooming

While more commonly observed in cats, excessive grooming has also been seen in dogs that are feeling stressed out.

Similar to the displacement behaviors above, dogs may start excessively grooming themselves in times of stress as a way to calm themselves.

In some more severe cases, this can even get to the point of self-mutilation.

7. Hyperactivity

One of the most common and clearly identifiable signs of stress in dogs for pet owners to quickly see is hyperactivity.

This type of sign typically manifests as frantic behavior or restless pacing in dogs. It will persist until the dog is removed from a stressful situation or the source of anxiety is addressed.

8. Clinging

Similar to anxiety signs in dogs, particularly during thunderstorms and fireworks, your stressed canine companion may constantly seek reassurance from you.

When dogs are unsure or scared about something around them, they instinctively seek physical contact with other mammals. This is why anxiety vests work at relieving stress in canines, as they provide pressure on their body.

9. Lowered Body Posture

Slinking or being sneaky is often misinterpreted as “guilt” in dogs.

However, canines are unable to feel guilt. Instead, this type of behavior and posture may be indications of stress.

You will often see this when your pet misbehaves and you let them know that they've been bad. This posture suggests that they are feeling stressed, not guilty.

That said, there are also many other reasons for this type of behavior.

10. Mouthing

This can take various forms, many of which are common during a puppy's early development.

Low-caliber mouthing could be gentle nibbling, moving up to hard taking of treats, to painfully hard mouthing or snapping, all the way to biting.

All of these may be behavioral changes that show a dog is stressed.

11. Panting

If your dog is breathing heavy or taking shallow, rapid breaths, but has not been physically exerting himself, he could be experiencing stress.

This indicator is rare and typically occurs briefly before the canine's body exhibits different stress signs.

12. Sweaty Paws

Like panting, if you can rule out physical exertion or heat as the cause of sweaty paws, it is likely an indicator that your dog is stressed.

13. Excessive Shedding

All dogs shed, but a stressed dog will clearly show an increase in shedding.

You'll start seeing a decrease in the amount and health of his fur and begin finding far more dog hair around.

14. Destructive Behavior

Like mouthing, destructive behavior is common in dogs and can be caused by many other reasons.

However, studies show that dogs may try to alleviate stress by chewing or biting furniture or even themselves.

15. Increased Sniffing

You'll know your pup may be stressed when sniffing has taken priority over your commands or other things normally important to your dog.

16. Pee Accidents

Your house-trained dog is now backtracking on training.

He doesn't understand that he needs to ask to go out and doesn't “remember” how to hold his pee.

17. Constantly Pinned-back Ears

Many dogs who don’t often exhibit this behavior otherwise will draw their ears back and lower their heads when under stress and maintain this posture for prolonged periods.

It's also possibly accompanied by cowering and a lowered body position.

18. Increased Sleeping

Your dog is sleeping significantly more than usual, which is one of the most commonly observed signs of stress in dogs.

Interestingly, an increased amount of stress can also be caused by a lack of sleep, making it a closed circle.

RELATED: How Many Hours a Day Do Dogs Sleep & Why They Sleep So Much

19. Excessive Vocalizations

The dog, who normally doesn’t bark a lot, is now constantly whining, howling, or barking.

This has been going on for hours and maybe days, and you know there's no reason for your pet to bark, meaning that he's likely experiencing a mental health issue.

20. Physical Symptoms

New physical symptoms, such as allergies or skin problems, that resemble an illness may be a sign of stress.

There are many physical health problems that your pet may experience when stressed, and these are usually difficult to identify without testing at a veterinary clinic.

The Science of Stress in Dogs

There's an ongoing debate between professionals on what negative stress looks like in dogs, and currently, there's no conclusive, black and white definition of this (1, 2).

That is to say that there is no specific response characteristic of all types of stress in dogs, and studies have shown that there is no significant relationship proven between any type of stress and its impact on our dogs' well-being (3).

Nevertheless, stress in dogs, if left unmitigated, can lead to unexpected outbursts of aggression, harm a dog's overall health, and impact a dog’s ability to learn.

It's crucial to monitor a dog for different signs of stress and take the appropriate steps.

Researchers have found that a dog's reactivity and responsiveness to various environmental factors shape its personality and contribute to many behavioral problems (4, 5, 6, 7, 8).

These studies demonstrate how stress in dogs impacts their daily behavior, and several potential signs of stress have been identified through these and other studies.

Understanding Stress in Dogs and Its Context

Dogs can have a variety of responses to stressful situations; some are visible to an observer, while others are not.

Visible changes, such as adjustments in their behavior, are easy to observe, but they can also vary significantly.

This is why it's important to consider the context of the stressful situation with your pet, and compare it to your non-stressful situations (9, 10, 11, 12).

For example, head shaking is a completely normal behavior for a dog after a bath. However, when the dog is completely dry and you notice something in the environment that alters your dog's behavior, that may be a sign of stress.

You must pay attention to your dog’s normal behavior when they aren't stressed so that you can recognize these changes.

The majority of scientific studies focus on some behavioral signs in dogs, but primarily on their physiological measures to assess stress levels in dogs and a dog's response to feeling stressed in specific contexts and situations (13, 14, 15, 16).

The most accurate way to tell if a dog is stressed and further measure their stress level is using methods that aren't generally available to pet owners.

Scientists use several approaches to assessing signs of stress in dogs:

• Sampling of a dog's saliva (17, 18, 19)
• Measuring a dog's cortisol levels (20, 21)
• Analyzing a dog's physiological markers (22, 23)

Currently, measuring various physiological markers in dogs is the most accurate method for assessing stress levels in dogs (24).

However, because this isn't available to dog owners, the next best option is to observe behavioral signs of stress in dogs, as listed above—some of which may be accurate but not always.

There are a large number of causes that may stress out your pooch. Being aware of them and recognizing these causes will help you put the signs of stress into a better context.

For example, studies have shown that stressed dog owners can pass on their anxiety to their dogs, and the animal will subsequently experience stress as well (25).

Common Causes of Stress in Dogs

A dog owner can't possibly determine the exact cause of stress in dogs, as there are numerous reasons.

You'll need to take your dog to a vet and a canine behaviorist to get several opinions on what might be the reason, but here are the most common ones:

1. Exposure to novel items, animals, or people.
2. Separation from human family members.
3. Negative training methods, such as punishment.
4. Changes in the environment.
5. Loud noises like thunderstorms or fireworks.
6. Constant disruption when eating or sleeping.
7. Lack of outlets to exercise, herd, run, or retrieve.
8. Excessive changes in house rules and routines.

It's likely that you'll need to work through each of these stress causes to pinpoint the exact one, and it's possible that there may be more than one.

RELATED: 7 Situations That May Stress Out Your Dogs

Using Counter-Conditioning for Stressed Dogs

With short-term stressors, the immediate course of action when you notice signs of stress in your dog is to decrease the intensity of that stressor.

This can be accomplished by increasing the distance between the dog and the stressor or, if possible, removing the stressor from the environment completely.

Suppose the stressor is more permanent and cannot be removed or avoided; a long-term strategy needs to be employed. This is achieved through counter-conditioning and desensitization.

Counter-conditioning involves turning the stressful stimulus into a positive event by pairing it with something a dog already enjoys. This could be food, a favorite toy, or close interaction with the owner.

It is called counter-conditioning because we are countering a previous interaction, such as fear, dislike, or stress, with the same stimulus that initially caused it.

A critical component for successful counter-conditioning in dogs is desensitization.

Simply throwing your dog a treat in the face of an overwhelming stressor is not going to be effective.

As previously mentioned, signs of stress in a dog can include avoidance, and they may reject the treat while continuing to be stressed.

Desensitization involves introducing the troublesome stressor to the dog at a level they can tolerate and initiating the counter-conditioning strategy.

When your dog no longer shows signs of stress at this level, the intensity of the stressful stimulus can be increased systematically.

How to Help a Stressed Dog

Getting help from a professional is recommended as the first course of action, but there are also a few things you can do after you've recognized signs of stress in dogs:

1. Regular exercise and playtime. A game of fetch or a long walk is the best way to reduce stress.
2. Prevent stressful situations. Try to avoid situations and places that you know may cause stress.
3. See if the dog’s diet is well-balanced. Proper nutrition is an integral part of your dog’s overall well-being.
4. Be consistent. When you set any rules, stick to them, so your pet knows what to expect.
5. Provide your dog with a safe zone. The dog needs some space with a bed, crate, or blanket to escape from you now and again.
6. Spend more time together. Daily walks and little playtime may not be enough, so try to find more time to spend with your pet.

RELATED: How to Calm Down a Dog

FAQs about Stress in Dogs

How do dogs relieve stress?

Dogs relieve stress through physical activity, such as walking or playing, chewing on toys, sniffing, and being comforted by their owners.

Calming routines, gentle petting, and quiet spaces also help them feel secure. Some dogs may self-soothe by licking or nesting.