Is your dog as happy as you?

Unconditional love. This is what dogs are famous for and what we always say when we describe what they feel for their owners. However, this does not mean happiness. Is your dog really happy or do you just imagine it? Believe it or not, this is one question that every single dog owner out there needs to ask himself. So, here’s 10 signs that your dog is happy.

Learning as much as we can about dogs is always a necessity when we decide to take on the responsibility of caring for one. They will offer that unconditional love and it is up to us to make them as happy as possible. By knowing the signs that your dog is happy you can avoid the unwanted situation in which the pet is depressed. This could lead to sickness and many other problems. You surely do not want something like that.

The good news is that it is not at all difficult to figure out if your dog is happy or not. In most cases everything revolves around paying attention to how he acts and analyzing some body parts. Every single pet owner should know about these 10 signs that your dog is happy. When they do not appear, there is a strong possibility that the dog is not happy and the necessary steps to change that have to be taken.

The eyes are the doors to the soul. This is something that applies to humans and dogs. The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) issued an official statement some time ago that talked about dogs and their eyes. It was mentioned that when a dog is happy, the eyes will have a normal shape. When something is wrong the shape changes.

You need to pay close attention to the appearance of a dog’s eyes. Look at the eyes when the dog does different things and at different times of the day. After a short period of time you will realize that there are difference. It will take a little time but you will quickly figure out when the eyes are relaxed and when the dog is not actually happy.

Take it one step further and see if there is something that causes the shape of the eyes to change. As an example, it is normal to see that dogs are not happy some time before you go to work since they know that this will happen. They learned your schedule and anticipate your departure. In this case, it means you need to offer some sort of entertainment when you are away. This part of the dog’s life is surely shallow.

Dogs will play with you even if they are unhappy. This is something that you need to remember and never believe someone that tells you otherwise. Remember that he loves you and will do anything to make you happy. His own happiness is secondary but for you this is surely a priority, right?

When the dog is scared or simply unhappy, he will hold the tail between the legs, bow down in a submissive way while he waits for your fetch command or whimper. The dog that is happy will have the rump high in the air, will wag the tail and will intensely look at you, inviting you to play.

While with some older dogs there is no longer a desire to play, with most of the younger ones, you will notice that they keep their behind up as they lay down the front paws and the head on the floor. At the same time they look at you and have an open mouth. This is a universal sign that the dog wants to play. A dog that invites you to play with him is a dog that trusts you and that is happy. When you are the one that wants to play and he does so in a submissive fashion, he is not happy. He is just obeying a command.

The really happy dog will not show his happiness just through eyes or invitations to play. His entire body will tell you that there is emotion and that he is really happy. This is, most likely, the easiest way to see if the dog is happy because it is quite obvious.

You surely saw dogs that have a really strong brightness present in their eyes, that rapidly wiggle their tail with such a speed that even their behinds shake and move with the tail. The happy dog is so often funny because it seems that the entire body is wiggling in an anticipation of something great that is to happen. You can see such behavior in various possible moments like when you come home or when you grab the keys and the dog knows it is time for going out to play.

Keep in mind that this wonderful showcase of emotion is great and desired but you want to be sure that the excitement level does not go to dangerous highs. Obedience training is necessary if the dog is often moving around uncontrollably and disturbing people in the park. Some manners and restraints are easy to teach and the dog will still be happy. If you want to see if your dog is happy, you should take a close look at his mouth. For many pets there is a connection between feeling relaxed and being happy. They are simply really relaxed when they feel great. This shows in the entire body, including the mouth. Dogs that are happy have their mouth closed. Alternatively, it is slightly opened. This is normal when they are outside and the weather is a little hot since they use the tongue in order to cool their body. You want to pay attention to possible body language modifications that highlight a change in the mood of the dog. It has to be said that dogs that show panting when their mouths are open are normally stressed or too hot. In this case the dog is not happy. Try to remove the source of stress or cool him off. As with any body language analysis, look at the other signs too. Some dogs may feel hot because of the temperature but they can be really active, will wiggle their tails and will invite you to play with them. In this case the dog is happy. He is just a little hot. That will not stop him from wanting to spend some quality time with you.

#petbonding #happiness