It is a very bright Saturday; you woke up early, fresh, and ready for a nice, hot cup of coffee with your favorite pancake. And, your dog lip quivering, all of a sudden!
Don’t panic. It happens!
The most common reason for dog’s lip quivering is excitement. Dogs lip usually quiver when they are excited about something new, or something they really love; for instance: a treat, a toy, new food, or even when it is playtime.
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We know that it is not a usual act, and you, most probably, will blame yourself, and think what you did wrong; Is it food? Is he/she sick? Am I going to lose my dog?
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We at Glamorous Dogs have been there before, and we will tell you all about it; let’s start that be knowing what is Quivering.
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Table of Contents
What is Quivering?
Quivering, or shaking, is a normal, uncontrollable condition as if they are having muscle tremors. In fact, sometimes dogs give a whole body shake to shake off the stress.
There are a lot of other reasons why dog quivers, and yes, some of the reasons require a veterinarian visit; because it can be a sign of a serious illness.
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Reasons dogs quiver:
Pain
Your dog can experience more body quivering as he/she age. It is normal, especially in their hind legs. So, if you’ve noticed your dog’s hind legs started quivering, take him/her to the vet, it is better that way.
Fever
Some dogs are sensitive to low-temperature; so, keeping your dog warm is things you have to make sure of, especially if you can feel cold, too.
Ear Problems
According to AKC, American Kennel Club, dogs with infected ears often shakes their head to feel better. So, if you noticed that your dog shakes their head more often, ask a veterinarian to check his/her ears.
Poisoning
As we mentioned before, in our previous article: foods that are poisonous to dogs, there are some foods that can poison your dog immediately.
Not just that; but also, there are plants, and flowers that you cannot plant in your garden, such as those mentioned here, because of how poisonous they are to your dog.
And one of the most common symptoms to dog poisonous is quivering. Therefore, you should pay attention to what your dog puts in his/her mouth.
Anxiety
When dogs become scared, or anxious about an event or something they are not used to; they may quiver, pant loudly, and drool, too.
So, what you need to do is to calm your dog down, make him/her feel safe, and if you know that there is an upcoming event, that you can’t withdraw, and there will be noise or fireworks that will make your dog anxious, and not comfortable; you need to be ready for it. Here’s how to help your dog to calm down, easy and fast.
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Excitement
If your dog’s body shakes when he/she is about to do something he/she loves, or because he/she smells his/her favorite food, or if you got your dog his/her favorite toy; it is, kind of, a normal behavior to find his/her body shakes. Sometimes dogs get so emotional, too.
See? a lot of reasons. However, a dog
Not because it is serious, or dangerous, but because, dog’s lip quivering could simply be just a bad behavior they have adopted. And one of the most common reasons for lip quivering is excitement or nervousness.
However, dog’s lip quivering is not an every-day behavior; so, if you are doubting that your dog lip quivering is due to more serious reasons, you may want to take him/her to a vet.
What to do if you saw the dog lip quivering?
Well, the very first thing is to pay attention to the reasons; if you found out that your dog is so excited about something you are about to give him/her, just give it to your dog.
To be clearer, I am not talking about giving your dog anything he/she shouldn’t have, I am only talking about those things you know your dog can, and will be happy to have; for instance, his/her favorite ball, food, or anything else he/she is allowed to have.
However, if you are holding something you know your dog will want to take it, and you can’t give it to him/her; you really shouldn’t hold it around him/her; He/she will feel so bad, angry or sad, and that is not good for any of you.
What if your dog lip quivering is bad behavior that he/she is doing in purpose?
Well, in that case, I recommend you ignore it at first, like any other bad behavior your dog is doing, and just focus on why he/she is doing it; maybe he/she want to grab your attention. If so, you need to give your dog the love he/she needs.
But, what if this is not the reason, and he/she is just doing it for fun? Well, you might want to ignore the bad behavior for some time, is he/she didn’t stop; you may need to train your dog to behave by using the training techniques.
Positive Reinforcement, and Negative Reinforcement
There are different methods to train your dog, especially if your dog started to act weird or adopting bad behavior. However, you need to make sure that your dog is not acting like that, because of illness, or fairness.
Now, if you made sure that your dog is adopting a bad behavior, you need to train him/her to stop; and that will be by using the positive reinforcement.
Positive Reinforcement is the best, and the only way you can put your dog back on the right track; without losing him/her by bad parenting. So, if you found that your dog is misbehaving; all you need to do is treating him/her for NOT doing it what he/she is doing.
Well, let me clear this out.
So, if you saw your dog lip quivering while you are about to give him/her a ball; don’t give him/her the ball till he/she stops, if his/her lip quivering while you are holding his/her food; don’t put the food down tell he/she stops.
Why you can’t use Negative Reinforcement?
Well, using negative reinforcement will not make your dog stop misbehaving, in fact, all that negative reinforcement will do; is making your dog fear you, not trusting you, and will make him/her more aggressive.
So, if your dog started to miss behave in a way or another; just make sure you are not making it worse by shouting, hitting, or taking his/her favorite stuff.
All you need to do is ignore the bad behavior, and treat him/her for the good behavior; in that case, he/she will conclude that you don’t like the bad behavior, and he/she will try to be a good dog and behave.
Will dogs ever stop bad behavior?
I know that sometimes dogs can be ridiculously annoying, but we can’t help but love them, appreciate their presence, and show them how we love, and care about them.
Raising a dog is not an easy job. In fact, it is a 24/7 mission; no weekends, no lunch breaks, no postpone, you have to be there for them all the time.
Which something you love, I am sure of that; you just need him/her to not break the rules, to act normally, and not to misbehave; but, to be perfectly honest with you, that is not possible; your beloved four-legged friend is a dog, an animal, he/she has her/his own rules, language, and behaviors that you also need to live with.
As we grow with them, we learn more about their world, and they learn more about ours; and that’s what we are here to do. We are here to learn how to live with each other and help our dogs live a happy, healthy life.
Related Questions:
1-Why my dog is chattering his/her teeth?
Teeth chattering also indicates happiness and excitement. Some dogs that are expecting a special treat or their favorite food; can’t handle this exciting feeling so their teeth start chattering.
If you are wondering what is teeth-chattering; teeth chattering the noise your dog make -sometimes unintentionally- with his/her teeth when they open and close their teeth quickly, several times.
2-Is teeth chattering, or lip quivering is a good sign?
Well, dog’s behavior change over time; but when you see an unusual behavior the first thing you should do is asking an expert if this something you should worry about, so, no, it is not always a good sign.
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Dogs are very smart creatures sometimes they use their body language to show you something they can’t say in a language you can understand. Therefore, you need to pay attention to every single unusual behavior of your dog and learn to listen.
Now, why don’t you tell us about your experience with dog’s lip quivering?
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