04/11/2026
I've been silently suffering with a painful lower back issue. 🎻😅
Unless I told you, you might not even know I'm in pain. But living with daily discomfort takes its toll. It lowers my resources, my tolerance and my patience. I might be a little more grumpy to be around, or find myself snapping more than usual or being less chatty (whaaaat? 🙈 i know).
The difference between us and our dogs is that we can tell someone when we're hurting, when we're uncomfortable or simply when we're having a bad day.
Dogs can't.
Often, the first sign that something isn't quite right isn't a physical one. No limp, no obvious change in their movement
Sometimes, it's a growl.
A snarl or snap towards a person or another dog.
Pain and discomfort can change how a dog feels about the world around them. Things they would normally tolerate may suddenly become too much. Their patience wears thin, their tolerance decreases, and their behaviour changes.
So, when an owner tells me their dog's behaviour has changed, that they're behaving out of character, one of the first questions that comes to mind is:
"Could your dog be in pain or discomfort?"
Because sometimes, the behaviour we're seeing isn't a training issue at all.
