Yawning is a reflex action that makes humans to open their mouths excessively, to inhale first slowly and deeply and then breathe out, in a prolonged and often noisy way.
In dogs, the yawn is similar to ours and manifests itself with an open jaw and deep, deep breathing.
If our dog spoke, he could tell us why he yawned.
He would tell us that, unlike what happens to most mammals, they do it not only because of sleep, fatigue, hunger or boredom, but also for other reasons, such as stress.
Below we tell you about these powerful reasons.
YAWING IS A PART OF THE CANINE LANGUAGE
The truth is that our dogs already “speak” and they do that through their body language.
In the body language of dogs, each gesture, each movement, each look, each sound … have a different and deep meaning.
Panting, licking their nose, shaking … are some of the signs with which our dog communicates with us.
The yawns are part of this language and, through careful observation, we can find out all its meanings:
– Our dogs yawn due to laziness, tiredness or sleep, just like humans.
– They also do it to show anxiety or disgust. In this case, they perform several yawns in a row and longer lasting than those caused by sleep.
– If your dog sneezes, shakes, yawns and licks his lips, he probably feels nervousness for some reason.
– Yawning helps dog to communicate with each other. This is a sign used to avoid possible canine confrontations. If a dog feels threatened by the presence of other dog, he will possibly look away and yawn, as if telling him that he is not interested in coming into conflict.
– Dogs yawn before unpleasant stimuli. For example if he does not want to be hugged. This is easy to check, if your dog does not want someone to hug him and that person insists, you will see him yawn repeatedly, to make it clear that he feels overwhelmed and that he does not want his cuddles.
– Unpleasant stimuli can be numerous. When your dog yawns, observe what has happened previously, to be able to relate cause and effect.
– It is interesting that dogs can yawn when they forsee situations that they love. It is an original way to control their exaltation.
– By empathy, or at least so indicated by the conclusions of a study made by the University of Tokyo. Dogs yawn while see their owners do so. The most curious thing is that this emotional connection only occurs with known humans and not with strangers.
– Also surprising is the fact that the human yawn must be real and not fake to create empathy with us. With these gestures, our dogs show, once again, their intelligence and the strong emotional link.
If you want to win the trust of your dog, do not even think about faking a, without wanting to, your dog will surely catches the moment you are doing theater and will not pay any attention to you.
ADVANTAGES OF DETECTING THE CAUSE OF THE YAWING
Without forgetting the most common yawns, caused by sleep, boredom or hunger, we must pay special attention to those caused by any stressful situation that affects our dog and can lead to difficult situation.
– Detect in time the origin of the yawn is very useful in order to avoid possible encounters between dogs and the little ones in the house. We all know that children, sometimes, get a little annoying with animals. Luckily, even the dogs have a lot of patience, can warn us about annoying situations and one of them are yawns.
– Those who have children, should explain that dogs can yawn when they do not want to play and if they see that they do, they should leave them alone, because they need to rest; and warn them not to insist, because in the end their dog can get angry and bite them.
– Stressful yawning lasts longer than yawning due to laziness and often repetitive.
– To sum up, children must be educated how to establish a good relationship with their dogs, how to respect and love them.
POSITIVE EFFECTS OF CANINE BOSTEZO
Behind the canine yawn that, in appearance, can go through a merely instinctive reaction, there are some scientific reasons and a few positive effects for your health.
Thanks to yawning, various reactions occur in the canine organism:
– Heart rate increases.
– As a consequence of the increased heart rate, there is a greater blood supply to the brain.
– Pulmonary oxygenation is also increases.
– This also helps to remove carbon dioxide from the organism.
– Finally the result of the yawn is energy’s renovation and stress reduction.
A BOX OF SURPRISES
Our dogs are a box of surprises, always ready to amaze us with their way of being and their actions full of affection and loyalty.
With the yawn, they leave us speechless because of the capacity to empathize with the humans.
With each of their gestures, our dogs transmit their mood, which can be positive or negative, and that’s why our dog’s reactions require our full attention.
Their body language is revealing. Let’s analyze with patience and affection every yawn and its circumstance, in order to know if your dog feels anxious or just because your dog feels sleepy.
Hopefully between you and your dog dominates empathy and, from time to time, a refreshing yawn!