Canine Pain Awareness
Research suggests that up to 80% of pet behavior cases have an underlying pain component.
I strongly encourage you to familiarize yourself with the signs of pain in dogs, as every dog will experience pain at some point in their life. Understanding how your pet and their species show pain is essential to identifying and alleviating it.
Included are resources to help you better understand and recognize these potential signs of pain. One solitary flag doesn’t concern me, but multiple, repeated flags do. If you have any questions or concerns, reach out to a trusted professional.
Pain (especially chronic pain) can lower behavioral thresholds, increase irritability, heighten stress responses, reduce tolerance for frustration, and overall reduce a dog’s ability to cope.
While it’s extraordinarily sad, it’s a myth that young dogs don’t get arthritis or experience pain. The leading cause of pain in dogs is osteoarthritis, and the leading cause of arthritis is developmental joint disease, which worsens as they grow.
Most dog guardians know to watch for symptoms of acute pain, like limping or yelping when touched.
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It’s usually proportional to the injury and resolves as healing occurs. Acute pain serves an adaptive function that helps prevent further damage.
Examples of acute pain: post-op pain, acute trauma, soft tissue injury or strain, and acute inflammatory conditions.
Acute pain is typically managed with short-term NSAIDS, opioids, local anesthetics, and focuses on supporting healing.
Chronic pain, on the other hand, is significantly under-recognized because of its different-than-expected clinical presentation.
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Pain literally rewires the brain and changes how someone experiences the world.
Examples of chronic pain include: osteoarthritis, intervertebral disc disease, neuropathic pain syndromes, and long-standing musculoskeletal dysfunction.
Chronic pain management requires a long-term, multimodal approach.
Treatment can include: pharmaceutical management (NSAIDS, etc.), rehab & exercise therapy, environmental modifications, and most importantly: a positive reinforcement-based lifestyle.
Learning to identify signs of pain in dogs is like learning a new language, so by the time we humans are smart enough to spot the symptoms, many of our dogs are experiencing chronic pain.
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Allodynia is a condition associated with chronic pain in which a nonpainful stimulus, like a light touch, becomes painful.
If your central nervous system becomes more sensitive to pain, it’s always on high alert and can mistakenly trigger pain signals.
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SIA is a survival mechanism associated with chronic pain that temporarily suppresses pain in response to intense stress.
SIA can be why it seems like a dog’s pain ‘disappears’ at the vet clinic.
Stress increases adrenaline and cortisol, which suppress the pain response.
Because SIA suppresses pain, many painful dogs will continue to push themselves physically.
Some dogs learn that physical activity reduces their pain and push even harder, seeming never to settle.
Just because a dog is still active does not mean they aren’t in pain.
Dogs naturally compensate and adjust their posture in response to pain, so discomfort and subtle signs are there long before a dog starts to limp or whimper. By the time a dog is unable to do something (walk without limping, jump in the car, etc.), they’re likely in significant pain.
Instead, the most common flags for pain I look for are:
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A classic early hallmark of a physical problem. If you suddenly notice behaviors your dog has never shown before, consider a vet visit.
However, you don’t need to see a sudden behavior change to suspect pain.
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This may look like something ‘off’ that you can’t quite put your finger on.
A dog’s strides may be smaller, their toes may scuff the ground, they may stumble often, or they might shift their weight unevenly.
‘Bunny hopping’ when running (moving both rear limbs together), excessive hip sway when walking, and intermittently skipping a limb are also common signs of pain.
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A dog might need a long time to work up to pooping, not finish pooping in one go, strain for extended periods, or shift weight and take steps while going.
Potty breaks are an everyday occurrence, which makes oddities easier to spot, especially if your dog’s habits suddenly change.
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This may look like a ‘sloppy’ sit or down, where the dog consistently rolls onto a hip or the pelvis and can’t maintain good posture.
A dog might ‘sploot’ regularly with their rear legs outstretched behind them.
When standing, a dog may have a wider stance with their front legs, a narrower stance with their hind limbs, or may always ‘offload’ a specific limb by kicking it out further.
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This is when a dog subconsciously tenses the muscles around an injury and may look like twitching, spasms, a sudden stop and snap to look at or nibble a certain spot, or refusing to allow handling in a specific area.
Early, aggressive interventions and multimodal pain management are key to preventing a dog from developing chronic, lifelong pain.
Concerned?
If you’re worried your dog is in pain, I recommend gathering supporting evidence before you go to the vet. Pain can be very difficult for primary care vets to diagnose in a clinic setting with limited time and information. Gathering objective data to back up your concerns before your appointment should help your care team find answers sooner. You can do this yourself using the resources below, and specialized services can help streamline the pain-identification process. Please note, though, we don’t need to know the cause of a dog’s pain to start treating and managing it!
FREE Resources:
A short article from VCA Animal Hospitals: How Do I Know if My Dog is in Pain?
A brief article by the International Vet Academy for Pain Management: Are You Concerned Your Pet is in Pain?
A free online course from Canine Arthritis Management (CAM): Is My Dog in Pain?
This course offers guidance on spotting symptoms and communicating effectively with your vet. The course is easy to skip around, pretty concise, and covers different types of pain (musculoskeletal, gastrointestinal, etc.).
The CAM website has lots more educational and practical information.
An excellent worksheet: ‘STREAM’ Pain Investigation.
Complete this regularly throughout your dog’s life!
Try to collect some data on your dog’s behaviors that you suspect are pain-related.
My vet-med peers say that video examples of your concerns are most helpful!Read An Overview: Tracking Data & Behavior. This document includes several data collection templates to give you an easier starting point!
Specialty Services also exist to help guardians identify their dog’s pain.
These services are meant to save time and money in the long run. Some people choose a specialty service before going to their primary care vet to strengthen their evidence. Others seek out these services later, if their vet has trouble identifying pain.
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Rehab vets are uniquely qualified to identify, manage, and alleviate pain.
You can consult a rehab vet before, after, or instead of visiting your primary vet.
Feel free to skip a Dynamic Dog Assessment or Suspicion of Pain Report; rehab doctors will likely ask you very similar questions. I still recommend collecting data (at least videos!) before your visit, though, to speed things up.
I highly recommend Twin Cities Animal Rehab & Sports Medicine Clinic. My dogs and I are clients at the Burnsville location, and we LOVE Dr. Julia. TC Rehab offers treatments like pain medication, targeted home exercise programs, laser therapy, hydrotherapy, massage, and more.
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Dynamic Dog Practitioners are trained from the ground up to spot potential pain and discomfort in dogs using specific, measurable & professional techniques, and they have in-depth knowledge of the canine body.
Kat of JW Dog Training & Behavior is a Dynamic Dog Practitioner and offers virtual Pain and Mobility Screenings for a $250 investment. This service identifies potential signs of pain or discomfort and provides clear documentation for your veterinarian.
Ali of Up to Snuff is a Dynamic Dog Practitioner who offers a comprehensive virtual Dynamic Dog Assessment for a $475 investment. This in-depth assessment includes a 90-minute deep dive Zoom consultation, data-collection guidelines, a SOAP-style report with a cover letter, annotated photos & video evidence, and a 45-minute follow-up call.
Ali also offers a more accessible virtual Introductory Pain Investigation for only a $110 investment at the moment, as they are still testing this service. This service is less extensive than a full Dynamic Dog Assessment, but includes a scored STREAM worksheet with accompanying photo/video evidence and a brief cover letter for your veterinarian.
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Klarissa of Divergent Dog Behavior offers virtual Suspicion of Pain Reports for $200 CAD (~$142 USD).
The goal of this service is to: 1) Assess your dog’s behavior, mobility, capabilities & appearance for signs of pain. 2) Curate evidence into concise documents to help your primary care veterinarian better understand your dog. 3) Implement a holistic, non-medical pain management strategy.
Preventing & Managing Pain
The suffering we prevent matters more than any time lost.
Positive emotions play a significant role in reducing pain, and you can easily prioritize them by choosing positive-reinforcement training and avoiding punishment.
Even the threat of an aversive experience can cause pain by startling a dog or causing muscle tension.
“By helping animals reduce fear, reduce stress, anxiety, frustration, and negative emotions, we help them become more resilient to pain, and they are more able to experience other positive things.
Emotions modulate pain. Negative emotions increase pain. Positive emotions decrease pain.”
-Dr. Beatriz Monteiro (Chronic Pain Symposium, 2025)
Pain medication is often an essential piece of the multimodal pain management puzzle. Pain medication works best when used at the earliest signs of pain.
You can explicitly ask your primary vet for a pain-medication trial, and use medication combinations if needed.
The literature does not support the commonly held belief that long-term NSAID use increases risk of adverse effects. The risk of serious adverse events is very low.
And again, chronic pain causes damage to the brain & nervous system, cognitive impairment, emotional dysfunction, and chronic stress. Longevity is not a measure of welfare. However, daily access to basic needs & preferred activities while pain-free is the ultimate measure of welfare.
I want my dogs to have a good, pain-free time here, more than I want them here for a long time. Don’t get me wrong: if they could be pain-free, I’d want my dogs to live forever! But as Divergent Dog Behavior says, “Longevity is a me-problem.” Time is never guaranteed, but I can guarantee that my dogs will have the best time they can while they’re here.
Avoid repetitive high-impact physical activities, like fetch, that involve sudden sprinting, stopping, and turning, as they can harm a dog’s muscles and joints.
Simple home accommodations, like non-slip rug pads & rugs, yoga mats or Grippety rolls cut to size, clear anti-slip tape, or sticky stair treads in high-traffic areas, will improve traction and comfort while reducing injury risk.
Teach your dog to use a ramp or stairs for any high jumps they encounter (vehicles, beds, etc.). Use stools, pillows, boxes, or anything that works to reduce jump heights.
Raise food/water bowls to prevent neck and forelimb stress with similar items.
Freedom of movement is essential for preventing pain.
I recommend that all dogs wear a non-restrictive harness when on leash.
Read my harness recommendations.
Collars (flat, martingale, slip, chain, shock, electronic, spray, prong, etc.) & gentle leaders (head collars/halters, leashes wrapped around a dog’s nose/stomach) can cause significant discomfort, health problems, AND behavior challenges.
Long leashes (8 ft+) are an excellent way to give your dog more freedom of movement!
Review my leash recommendations, including a video of me demonstrating tips for safe long-line handling, accessibility considerations, and specific product recommendations.
