Yawning - How Would You Interpret This?

[Kirty]

I posted the other day about my Great Dane being a bit too interested in my foster kittens. Well tonight she is inside (under VERY close supervision) and one of the kittens has plonked himself down about 1m from her. He is just sitting there watching her. Phoebe is looking at him intently and keeps yawning. Is this a type of anxiety, as in she wants to do something but is unsure about it?

[persephone]

Sounds much like it .....

Or else she's just seeing if her mouth will open wiiiiiide enuff!!

[shmoo]

I'd say she is not sure. She is signaling this with her yawning in an attempt to calm the situation.

[KnucklesDutchnUs]

my understanding ( I'm certainly no expert) is that yawning is often a physical form of stress relief.

I know that if Knuckles is unsure if she is in trouble or not the second she realises she is not she stretches her front legs and has a yawn.

She also tends to yawn more in stressfull or excited situations.

Cheers

Bob

[Kirty]

Phoebe is a very anxious dog and I know that yawning is often a sign of being anxious, I'm just not sure how it ties in with wanting to eat the kitten! LOL!

And pers, her foot is bigger than the kitten - it could definitely fit in her mouth!!

[Esky the husky]

Yawning in my understanding, is a calming signal.

They use calming signals when they are anxious or unsure to try and control the situation

[The Spotted Devil]

Yawning is an interesting one and so much seems to depend on context. I've observed Zig yawn in anticipation of a walk or dinner, frustration (IMO) during training and conflict behaviour when self-control is required. I think it's a useful measure of behaviour but shouldn't be looked at in isolation. Stress is such a loaded word!!! I would probably work on lots of eye contact focus from the dog at this stage....something I always used when introducing Zig to foster kittens and it seemed to relax him. I used a clicker/food.

[Kirty]

Frustration would explain it in this case, because I am sitting here telling her to stop looking at the kitten that way! She is being very good and has now stopped eyeing him off.

[tez]

I heard that yawning, slow blinking and lip licking are calming signals when a dog is unsure of the situation. Apparently you can do these thing back to your dog to help calm it.

It was in a u-tube when I was looking at the Slow Dane Challenge thread.

Edited May 17, 2010 by tez

[Ravyk]

Off Topic,

This thread is making me yawn!

[Kirty]

LOL!

[Erny]

She could be tired. LOL

[Kirty]

Haha, no not a tired yawn.

[Loving my Oldies]

Phoebe is a very anxious dog and I know that yawning is often a sign of being anxious, I'm just not sure how it ties in with wanting to eat the kitten! LOL!

And pers, her foot is bigger than the kitten - it could definitely fit in her mouth!! ;)

Only if she is well mannered and covers her mouth when she yawns.

Yawning in my understanding, is a calming signal.

They use calming signals when they are anxious or unsure to try and control the situation

This is my understanding since reading "On Talking Terms with Dogs: Calming Signals" by Turid Rugaas. Definitely a little book to have close at hand.

Off Topic,

This thread is making me yawn!

But it isn't getting heated, Ravyk ;)

[kyliegirl]

if the dog is yawning I heard that this was a calming signal

Edited May 17, 2010 by kyliegirl

[~Anne~]

Yawning, in a physiological sense, is to increase oxygen to the brain (or so I believe). Therefore, it would happen in situations where the dog is shallow breathing. This is why you yawn when tired I am also lead to believe. Your breathing slows and becomes shallow when you are tired and your body, in an effort to boost oxygen, yawns.

Going by this explanation, I would think that the dog was shallow breathing. The reason for this is not in my expertise. However, I would possibly think that it may be due to a prey drive scenario or simply that they are tired, calm or nervous all of which causes shallow breathing.

That's my take on it anyway.

Edited May 17, 2010 by ~Anne~

[stormie]

I heard that yawning, slow blinking and lip licking are calming signals when a dog is unsure of the situation. Apparently you can do these thing back to your dog to help calm it.

It was in a u-tube when I was looking at the Slow Dane Challenge thread.

totally off topic, but awesome that you watch our Slow Dane Challenge Videos

(p.s - Vote 1 Orbit)

[Loving my Oldies]

if the dog is yawning I heard that this was a calming signal

It is, along with lip licking, turning head, lowering eyes and a lot of other things according to Turid Rugass. I started reading her little book again last night and I have been using the yawning technique with Sari this morning. Sari gets very agitated (barks and runs around madly) when the other dogs start running around and having a bit of fun. When this happened this morning, I was yawning so much that I was just about passing out . But it worked !! She settled much more quickly than usual and sometimes, this agitation has ended in a fight. Everyone calm again ;)

Not that this is helping Kirty - LOL.

[corvus]

Nice post by The Spotted Devil. I see yawning way more often as a self-regulating of arousal sort of scenario. Erik yawns A LOT, and he's one that has trouble sometimes controlling his arousal levels. He does it without fail every time he sits on one of us for a cuddle. It's like he's excited by the cuddling but trying to get into a relaxed state at the same time. He yawns a few times and relaxes a little with each one.

I think in light of what's been going on with the kitties it's a good sign. I would interpret it to mean she's keeping her arousal in check, but would temper that by suggesting it's not really what you want. Ultimately you want no internal conflict at all, which would mean no yawning. But it's better than the bright-eyed, excited stare of a dog that wants to eat the kitty.

[Kirty]

Well that sounds promising. She was very good last night and eventually lost interest in the kittens.