08/14/2025
A dog yawns in training.
Seems simple dxcept six different scientific lenses might tell you six completely different things.
The Stress Lens:
It is a calming signal, the dog is feeling pressure or conflict. Slow down, take the heat off.
The Physiology Lens:
Yawning oxygenates the brain. The dog might actually be gearing up for sharper focus.
The Social Bonding Lens:
It is contagious, they are mirroring you. That is connection, not conflict.
The Neuro Lens:
Yawning cools the brain to keep arousal in the learning zone. The dog is self-regulating.
The Operant Lens:
You have reinforced it without realising, it is just another behaviour in their toolbox.
The Vet Behaviour Lens:
It could be nausea or pain. You might need a health check, not a training tweak.
Same moment.
Six explanations.
Six opposite responses.
Here is the kicker, in the real world, you do not get time to flick through the textbooks before you act.
You have got seconds.
You have got context.
You have got your gut.
And that gut only gets sharp from miles on the lead, hours with dogs, and enough mistakes to know what the right call feels like.
Science gives us frameworks.
Experience lets us use them in the moment.
