Mary Allen
As a dog owner, you’ve probably often seen your dog shaking itself from head to toe.
This can be completed from the snout to the tip of the tail, but also only affect the head or only the fur on the body. When shaking, your dog turns the skin with the hair back and forth very quickly.
Shaking can be for a variety of reasons, such as:
- dry wet fur
- get rid of dirt and parasites
- shaking after sleeping
- shake as a skip action
- reduce stress
- frequent shaking during molting
How often does your dog shake?
It is usually harmless if your dog shakes itself. However, if you feel like it’s happening unusually often, or just shaking your head and ears, then take a closer look.
Constant shaking can indicate illnesses such as an ear infection or parasite infestation.
Shake to dry wet fur
When the dog fur is wet, it needs to be dried. Sounds logical right? If your dog didn’t shake the coat extensively, it would take hours for it to dry again.
This is much faster with a shake from head to tail tip. Your four-legged friend loses about 70% of the water in its fur in one fell swoop. Shaking dry is a normal dog instinct.
Not only does shaking your dog lose all the heavy weight of the water in its fur, but it also ensures that it doesn’t get cold.
Your dog doesn’t just shake after a swim in the lake but on many other occasions.
Shake to get rid of dirt and parasites
When it crawls and scratches, your dog helps itself by shaking its fur vigorously. Your four-legged friend gets rid of disturbing elements on or in the fur.
Very frequent shaking out of the fur can also indicate a parasite infestation. Do you feel that your dog shakes itself unusually often? Check its fur and ears for unwanted residents such as fleas, ticks, or mites.
Shaking after sleeping
To wake up, we stretch. So does your dog. Before dogs start a new day, dogs stretch and shake themselves vigorously once.
Like us humans, your dog does this to activate its joints and muscles and to get its circulation going.
But that’s not the only reason why many dogs do this ritual after waking up. Because your dog’s ancestors had to be ready to go again immediately after sleeping or resting. If potential prey or an enemy were nearby. So this is an old survival mechanism that your darling still carries inside.
Shake as a skip action
In behavioral research, a skipping action or skipping movement is clearly defined. It describes an action that doesn’t fit the situation that has just been experienced. Or that you carry out without a recognizable reason.
This happens to us humans, for example, when we sit over a difficult task in a test and scratch our heads. Although it doesn’t itch.
Such skipping actions are triggered in your four-legged friend when there is an inner conflict. Your dog will behave like this if, for example, you want it to carry out a command, but it doesn’t want to.
Then he instinctively takes refuge in another action, such as shaking his fur, to avoid having to carry out the command. Your four-legged friend often hesitates and yawns. This is also a skip action.
Shake to relieve stress
How much would we like to shake off an uncomfortable feeling, like fear or excitement? Your pet is trying to do just that. During positive or negative stressful situations, many dogs react by shaking their fur.
This is how your dog shows you that he is excited. When you come home, for example, your furry friend wants to turn up the heat, jump, and run around as a greeting.
If you stop this behavior, a conflict arises with him and the excess energy must be diverted into another action. For example, the vigorous shaking of the fur.
In addition to shaking, other signs of stress may include scratching, licking your snout, looking away intently, or yawning. Do you spot one or more of these signs in your loved one? Then help him to cope with the situation in a positive way.
You can do this by freeing your dog from the circumstances and creating distance from the situation. For example, walk away or simply distract him from the matter at hand.
Shaking during molting
Your dog cannot put on a thick jacket in winter or switch to shorts in summer to adapt to the temperatures. That is why there is a change of fur twice a year.
As summer approaches, your four-legged friend loses its undercoat so that air can get to the skin better. A lot of new undercoats grow in autumn. The coat change is then not quite as strong as in spring.
So, over about four to eight weeks, your dog loses some of its furs. This notfursly creates a lot of dirt at home, but can also cause your darling to itch and be uncomfortable.
Of course, he wants to get rid of the loose hair and unnecessary ballast as soon as possible. So he shakes himself vigorously. In this way, tufts of hair come loose in one fell swoop.
You can help the shedding process by brushing your dog at least once a day to comb out the excess hair.
Do you know what your dog is trying to express when he shakes himself?
Dogs communicate in many different ways. In addition to posture, this also includes barking, growling, the position of the ears, the tail, and much more. Your dog not only communicates with other dogs, but it also communicates with you all the time.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is the dog shaking his head?
In addition to an ear infection, there are other possible causes when your dog shakes its head. Foreign bodies such as awns, for example, are quite common and often get caught in the hair of the ear canals or even in the paws of your dog when romping in the tall grass.
