what does this mean

The other I was listening to a local radio station. They had a trivia question about dogs. They asked what does it mean when dogs yawn. Most people would think that it meant they were sleepy. They said that a behavioralist told them that when a dog yawns it means they are content. Has anyone ever heard that before?

I have heard that befor. I know know if it;s true or not.

Now, why do they sneeze when they fight. I mean like every 2 seconds. or at least mine do

I see yawns for many reasons.

One typical reason is to relieve stress.

Next time you are at an obedience trial, watch the dogs when handlers leave them on an exercise where they have to stay behind.

A large number will stress yawn.

My dogs yawn when waking up from a nap mostly. I do see stress yawns in them from time to time when we are working.

It lets me know that my partner might need a play break from what we were working on.

Pixie tends to young when she's tired or bored.

My pup mostly yawns after and before sleep so Im gonna go with sleepyness

I absolutely agree that a lot of dogs yawn to relieve stress, most of the "new" dogs that came in when I was grooming would yawn every few minutes.

My dogs also yawn when they're tired, and also when they're excited (don't really understand that one)

My puppy tends to yawn after being cuddled or fed, so I put it down to being content/happy.

My parents retriever always sneezes when play fighting... I don't know why though! lol

means they are confused about what is going on..i read that in the history of DOG and was simply amazed. You grow up with dogs and think that there isn't much about them you dont know..especially something like yawning then you read that and the next time your dog does this it is like someone turning on a lightbulb! It is just so TRUE!!!
check it out, when in a new situation, or a "not normal" situation

when given a new command they don't know yet or scolded for something..told to stay in an unsure area ..always the same, a yawn.
What i want to know is are there any more? that i dont know. That is why i read as much on animals as i can. There is always more to learn.

It's a little bit of everything. Mine yawn when waking up from sleep, when needing to go to sleep and when stressed. I see a lot of stress yawns the first 'with dogs' classes that I do.

Teddy yawns when he has to do something he doesn't want to do :| and he yawns when he wakes up, He yawns when I won't pay attention to him lol

Is there anyone who knows why they sneeze when playing(fighting)?

I think its your specific dogs, i've never seen dogs sneeze when they fight.

Its either lots of squeeling ( pitbull fights) or silents fights ( cmd )

I've never seen a dog sneeze while fighting.

My guys don't really sneeze, kinda sounds like they are blowing their noses. I've noticed they do it get the attention of the other dogs. My golden reminds me of a bull when he does that, he puts his head down with his butt up in the air, and makes those noises, then does a bark that turns into a howl.
My guess about the sneezing that they get hit in the nose while playing. Kinda like us when we get hit in the nose and want to sneeze?

Fastpitch, that's what I was going to post..... a bam on the snout. As to yawns, my females would ( some ) when I gave them a command and they were taking their own sweet time. Chip only yawns in the morning after a long night sleep .

Peanut yawns when shes tired, or when she wakes up.


she also sneezes when we play

When Rocky's stressed he whines. He yawns when right before he falls asleep or after he wakes up.

My dogs like to yawn when I'm taking pictures. I don't know how many times I've gotten a shot of my lab with her mouth wiiiide open, looking like she's roaring or something.

There's a great book (and also a video) on dog's body signals - it's called "Calming Signals" and it's by Turid Rugaas. Anyone who wants to know more about body language should look at getting that.

Like Red said, the yawning can mean different things. Dogs do yawn for the same reasons we do, but they also "stress yawn". Typically a stress yawn will involve some different facial muscles (tightness in the corners of the lips, etc.) but to most people they look pretty much the same.

Yawning is a way for a dog to send a signal to whatever is stressing them, trying to relieve that stress by calming the other dog/person. If your dog is worried about something and you start to yawn at them, they will gradually relax because you are giving them the calming signal. I've used this in training with one of my dogs that would get stressed on stays. She would start to stress pant or yawn, and I'd start yawning back at her. She would visibly relax. It helped us through a tough time.

There are a lot of neat body signals - beyond the obvious dominant/submissive ones, there are ones such as a dog approaching another dog by traveling in a half-circle instead of directly to the other dog, and keeping their eyes tipped away from the dog. These are signals that they're not dominant and not wanting to fight.

One of the problems with taking pups from a litter and then not socializing with a lot of different dogs while they're young is that they don't always learn these body signals well.

I really recommend the Turid Rugaas book or video for anyone really interested in understanding dogs.

Melanie and the gang in Alaska

Neko yawns a lot when we are walking, training, and sleeping. SO he yawns a lot.

I second that one!! Riot yawns like mad at a conformation trial! lol hes getting better though lol

poor fellow, how dare i make strangers touch him