In a human sense, crying usually means emotional outburst of feeling and consequent outpouring of ocular water. Dog crying is not something that we can really associate with these aspects. They have got all the elements required for crying such as tear ducts as well as feelings of pain or sorrow.
But the way, we connect emotion with watery reflection is quite absent in a dog. If you examine closely, you are going to find out that corners of the dog eyes bear the proof of tears.
Does it absolutely mean their crying? Not at all. Though dogs are capable of sensing both our pain and joy, they cannot do the cry. The tears on the corner of their eyes simply mean biological necessities. It takes place for the sake of moistening his eyeballs.
So, there may arise a rather dominating question. Why do they whimper or whine? You may have also heard your dog moaning for a long period of time. There are several facts and reasons dominating this behavior.
I. This is a natural outcome of pain which may be a chronic one too. They might have experienced an accident. And they are trying deal with pain by whimpering. Surgeries oftentimes lead to this.
II. Dogs are good at mimicking an act that previously earned them something such as toys or treats. If you comply to their request on the first occasion, they are likely to do it again. It does not mean crying but whining. It becomes a problematic behavior.
III. Aging dogs sometimes suffer from cognitive decline. Dementia, anxiety can cause whining too. This especially happens at night.
IV. Canine tear ducts are incapable of producing tears based on emotional states. So, the answer to this question resolves here.
V. Dog tears are more about humanizing their feelings. Owners would love to think that their dogs are emotionally aligning with their masters. So, popular belief has led to the myths of dog crying. Here, we must recognize that dogs can join our emotions in several other ways.
VI. Whining or whimpering is most of the time an articulation of needs such as potty, food or simply outing.
VII. Howling or whimpering also means an alarm to a probable danger. The dog is trying to warn you about it. We need not associate it with dog crying. This is another reason for ‘dog crying at night’, a popular assumption.
VIII. Allergies, infections or dirt can cause dog tears too. Their tears are supposed to drain through nasal cavity. When it comes in the outer area, his tear ducts are facing obstructions in its natural ways.
IX. Whining is a sign of attention seeking efforts. The dog is trying to attract your eyes in this manner.
From this discussion, we can easily discern that dog crying is more of a myth than a reality. So, when a dog seems to be crying, we need to do something in order to stop it.
1. We can visit a vet for his body checkup to ensure that he is not feeling any pain. Pain is the biggest source of their whining. The vet will also check his ocular activities. If anything goes awry, he will fix it.
2. If the dog does this for some food or treats, this is a problem behavior. You should not reward him with food, attention or anything. In a desperate situation, you might want to visit an animal behaviorist.
3. You need to check out the environment whether some outer element is pulling on his nerves. The dog may be afraid of someone or something. Soothe him properly and remove that factor from his surroundings. If he is suffering from separation anxiety, try to manage it carefully. Because these dogs will continue, so called crying, unabated.
4. In case you can detect no concrete reason behind whimpering, you have to overlook it completely. It gives the dog a valuable lesson.
So, now you know the facts leading to, supposedly, dog crying. This is not a normal behavior if it brings out tears or persists for a long period of time. You can adopt those effective techniques noted above.
Most importantly, we would love to hear from you about your experience with your dog. Hope you will share anything notable in this regard.
