How to Check if Your Dog Is Healthy and Happy
Get to know what's normal for your dog.Keep the big picture in mind and get to know what's normal for you dog., Assess your dog's emotions through its behavior and body language.Dogs experience emotions, such as grief, depression, boredom and...
Step-by-Step Guide
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Step 1: Get to know what's normal for your dog.Keep the big picture in mind and get to know what's normal for you dog.
Make yourself familiar with how far the dog likes to walk, how it reacts when you come in from work, how sweet-tempered or grumpy it is, how much water it drinks, what its stool looks like, how often it moves its bowel a day, what the inside of its ears look like, and what its breath smells like.
For example some dogs are greedy eaters whilst others are finicky.
If your dog is usually a greedy eater, it's significant if the dog refuses its food.
However, if you own a lapdog that turns its nose up at anything but best steak, then refusing a bowl of food it less of a worry.
If you know all of these things like the back of your hand, you are ideally placed to spot changes that could indicate the dog is unwell. -
Step 2: Assess your dog's emotions through its behavior and body language.Dogs experience emotions
The trick as an owner is to recognize these emotions.
Most commonly, the first sign to be aware of is a change in behavior or body language.
For example, be suspicious when the outgoing dog who is always at the door to greet you becomes withdrawn and does not get out of its bed when you return home.
Pay attention to your dog's usual body language.
Is it holding its ears or tail lower than normal or is it shying away or taking a dominant stance when approached? These are body language signs that there could be something wrong.A hint that your dog is bored or frustrated includes destructive behavior, digging, whining, barking, and crying.
In this case the dog is adopting a displacement activity, such as chewing the furniture, as an outlet for his frustration. , Many dogs are capable of expressing emotions, such as depression, on their faces.
If your dog doesn't usually have doleful looking eyes or sad expressions, but suddenly does, then it is probably an expression of the dog's current emotions., Physical changes could be symptomatic of mental stress or depression.
For instance, pay attention if your dog stops grooming itself.
Depressed or sick animals often stop taking care of themselves and their coat condition drops, becoming harsh, stray, and unkempt. , If your dog is sad or misbehaving, you should try to find the cause of the distress and then attempt to change the situation, if you can.
Not all problems can be fixed, obviously, but some can! If your dog is stressed out about a new routine or home, for instance, that cannot always be changed but you can comfort your dog and try to make transitions as easy as possible. -
Step 3: such as grief
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Step 4: depression
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Step 5: boredom and frustration.
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Step 6: Look at the dog's facial expression.
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Step 7: Be aware of any physical changes to your dog.
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Step 8: Address possible causes of your dog's unhappiness.
Detailed Guide
Make yourself familiar with how far the dog likes to walk, how it reacts when you come in from work, how sweet-tempered or grumpy it is, how much water it drinks, what its stool looks like, how often it moves its bowel a day, what the inside of its ears look like, and what its breath smells like.
For example some dogs are greedy eaters whilst others are finicky.
If your dog is usually a greedy eater, it's significant if the dog refuses its food.
However, if you own a lapdog that turns its nose up at anything but best steak, then refusing a bowl of food it less of a worry.
If you know all of these things like the back of your hand, you are ideally placed to spot changes that could indicate the dog is unwell.
The trick as an owner is to recognize these emotions.
Most commonly, the first sign to be aware of is a change in behavior or body language.
For example, be suspicious when the outgoing dog who is always at the door to greet you becomes withdrawn and does not get out of its bed when you return home.
Pay attention to your dog's usual body language.
Is it holding its ears or tail lower than normal or is it shying away or taking a dominant stance when approached? These are body language signs that there could be something wrong.A hint that your dog is bored or frustrated includes destructive behavior, digging, whining, barking, and crying.
In this case the dog is adopting a displacement activity, such as chewing the furniture, as an outlet for his frustration. , Many dogs are capable of expressing emotions, such as depression, on their faces.
If your dog doesn't usually have doleful looking eyes or sad expressions, but suddenly does, then it is probably an expression of the dog's current emotions., Physical changes could be symptomatic of mental stress or depression.
For instance, pay attention if your dog stops grooming itself.
Depressed or sick animals often stop taking care of themselves and their coat condition drops, becoming harsh, stray, and unkempt. , If your dog is sad or misbehaving, you should try to find the cause of the distress and then attempt to change the situation, if you can.
Not all problems can be fixed, obviously, but some can! If your dog is stressed out about a new routine or home, for instance, that cannot always be changed but you can comfort your dog and try to make transitions as easy as possible.
About the Author
Debra Nguyen
Professional writer focused on creating easy-to-follow DIY projects tutorials.
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