Identifying Stress: Facial Features

Dogs,  like humans, are complex creatures with a wide array of emotions… and  goodness knows greyhounds they are the most overly emotional dramatic  toddlers of the dog world!

While  we often wish that our hounds could speak English and explain all their  worries and concerns, sadly, they do not.  Instead, they express  themselves through a vast and complex array of body language cues and  facial expressions…many of which go unnoticed or misunderstood by their  human carers.

Understanding  canine body language is as important as understanding any language,  although if we’re being honest, us Brits aren’t exactly known for our  linguistic prowess when it comes to other languages!  
Goodness  knows we all just hope the other person speaks, or at least understands  English, in any given interaction to avoid offending them in some  fashion!  

But you can apologise  in such situations.  Human to human.  You can placate people and calm  the situation.  You can’t apologise to a dog with words, if you  communicate with your dog in the wrong way, especially if it happens  repeatedly and over extended periods, at the least the result could be  the development of and endless array of behavioural issues…or at worst,  you get bitten...  

All of which is entirely likely, when they’re stressed, anxious or in pain.

The  problem is that we find a lot of people are unaware that their hounds  find certain situations or triggers stressful.  People often assume an  anxious dog will be tail tucked and cowering, but it isn’t the case with  greyhounds.  Greyhounds are infuriating for internalising their stress  and anxiety, often acting as if they are coping, going along with it,  when they are actually screaming inside (hard relate).  While, to the  average person, they may not be demonstrating their stress in the ways  one would typically expect to see, it will be written all over their  faces.

Being able to identify  your dogs emotional state through their body language, and act on it  correctly, not only prevents the development and escalation of  behavioural issues, but it also heavily reduces the likeliness of  aggressive incidents and improves their overall quality of life.

In  the graphic we have two of our dogs, both panting having come back from  an early morning walk together.  Yet, despite experiencing the same  walk, one of these dogs is displaying signs of stress.  We’d like to  think it’s easy to tell which!

Everything  from eyebrow placement down to how much of the gumline you can see when  they pant means different things.  Just like in humans, dogs have  muscles that control the movement of the eyes, ears, mouth, and brows.  These muscles allow dogs to express a wide range of emotions, from  happiness to fear.

The fawn dog  has her ears pressed back, tight facial features, the whites of her eye  are more visible, her pupils are dilated, she’s got tense raised lines  on her face and her panting is tighter, showing more of the gum line and  the upper teeth.  Whereas the black dog has a much more relaxed, casual  pant with her ears sitting in their natural position, gums less visible  and no tightening of her overall facial features.

The  black dog is panting from warmth and exertion, having been for a walk.   The fawn dog is panting due to stress and anxiety, having been  overwhelmed, hypervigilant and fearful on the walk.

We  know that the fawn dog has been under additional environmental  pressures this week with a change of routine, and in general, struggles  with street walking.  The combination of which has resulted in an  increased stress response to her walks.  We are well aware of her  triggers and are mitigating the impact of them until things return to  normal…but not everyone is able to do this!

So, if you’re wanting to identify signs of stress in your hound’s face, some of the key signs include:

Eyes:

-  Whale Eye: This occurs when the whites of the dog’s eyes are visible,  usually because the dog is looking away while keeping its head still and  is one of the most common signs of discomfort. It’s often seen in  situations where the dog feels threatened or is unsure about its  surroundings.

- Dilated Pupils: This reaction is part of the body’s fight-or-flight response, preparing the dog for action.

- Avoidance of Eye Contact: This is a way of signalling that they are not a threat and would prefer to avoid confrontation.

-  Blinking or Squinting: This is another easily identified sign of  stress, especially if the behaviour is out of context (e.g., the dog is  not in bright light). This can indicate that the dog is uncomfortable  with the situation or is trying to avoid something in its environment.

Ears:

-  Pinned Back Ears: While greyhounds’ ears are naturally laid back, there  is a difference between sitting back and relaxed and being pinned back  tightly.

- Tense or Twitching  Ears: If your hounds’ ears are rigidly upright and alert or are going up  and down from pinned to alert, moving around like little radars, your  hound is in a state of hypervigilance and are worried by their  environment.

Mouth:

-  Lip Licking: This is a displacement behaviour, and in the absence of  food, is a sure sign that your hound is uncomfortable with something.

-  Yawning: Like lip licking, yawning can be a displacement behaviour.  A  stressed yawn is usually more prolonged and intense than a regular yawn.

-  Panting: Panting is normal after physical exertion, but if a dog is  panting heavily in a cool environment, without recent exercise, it could  be a sign of stress or pain.

-  Tight Mouth: A dog’s mouth that is closed tightly, with lips pulled back  slightly to expose some teeth (but not in an aggressive snarl), or when  panting the lips are pulled well back creating lines on the face and  exposing the gumline, they’re particularly worried.  The more of the  gums you can see, the more stressed they likely are!

Brows, Forehead And Face:

Facial  Tension: A dog that is stressed will often show tension in its face.  This might manifest as tight lips, tense muscles around the eyes, or a  generally stiff expression. This tension is a physical manifestation of  the dog’s emotional state.

-  Raised Eyebrows: Raised eyebrows can indicate surprise or concern. In  any situation, whether we believe it to be stressful or not, this can be  a sign that the dog is unsure or worried about what is happening.

- Wrinkled Forehead: As above!

Other Indicators:

Drooling:  While some dogs drool naturally, excessive drooling in situations where  it isn’t normal (food isn’t present) can be a sign of stress. This  might occur in environments where the dog feels trapped or is exposed to  loud noises.

Change in  Expression: A sudden change in a dog’s facial expression, especially  from relaxed to tense, is a strong indicator that something in the  environment is upsetting them. This could be anything from a specific  trigger or overall environmental change, such as the arrival of a  stranger or sudden loud noises.

Of  course there are additional signs in the body overall, such as holding  themselves in a tense or rigid posture, appearing stiff and  uncomfortable.  Potentially cowering or holding their head and shoulders  low.  Raising their hackles can be a sign that they feel threatened, on  high alert or are very overstimulated…and of course there is the tail.   We have covered tail movements before and likely will again, but a  wagging tail does not mean their happy.  Their tail does not need to be  tucked under to demonstrated stress, anxiety or discomfort.

Beyond physicality’s, they may also show changes in behaviour such as pacing, freezing, overgrooming or vocalising.

Once  you know your hound, identifying the more subtle signs of their body  language will come much more naturally…but in those early days, they  aren’t always obvious and many hounds are returned to rehoming centres  having developed behavioural issues having been exposed to too much too  soon.

In being able to identify  that a hound is worried, and slow down, and work with them to overcome  their worries…you’ll have a much happier hound, your relationship with  your hound will be stronger and overall, things will be better!

They don’t speak English, and even though we wish they did, as hound owners we need to learn to speak hound!