 The Short Answer is: |
There are several reasons why your dog may yelp or bark when you touch its lower back. Your first priority should be to diagnose the problem as soon as possible. We want to make sure there’s no emergency like an infection or a neck or spine injury that needs to be treated right away. In addition, if physical pain is causing the problem, you will want to continue monitoring it. |
In this article you will know the answer to the query “My Dog Yelps When I Touch Her Lower Back?“.
Many of us who love dogs take our pets’ health seriously both physically and mentally.
Every so often we encounter a problem with our four-legged companion that scares us and sends us scrambling for answers.
Our fears are completely understandable which is why we hope to find some answers about what happened to a member of our family.
When we touch our dogs’ lower backs they may yelp which is a very common yet frightening issue.
Sometimes we do not know what caused this since they were completely normal just a few hours before.
If we havenot done anything that would cause pain in their lower back then we havenot done anything strenuous.
While there are some benign reasons why your dog may benefit when touched on the lower back its always best to do our research and make sure its not a major issue.
What are some common reasons dogs might yelp when touched on their lower back?
When you touch your dogs lower back it might yelp for one of three reasons.
One of the first and most frightening things is that they may experience some physical pain causing them to react in an attempt to protect themselves.
Snapping at your hand and yelling are common indicators of these kinds of reactions.
While they may not be trying to bite you they may be warning you of that what you are doing is hurting them.
A second of the three principal causes is often an emotional reaction to being touched on the lower back.
This can be caused by fear and anxiety or past traumatic experiences.
It is likely that a dog reacting in this manner will shy away from you or pull away from you maybe even curl up a little into themselves to protect themselves from their emotional response to being touched on their lower back.
The third of the main reasons is for attention or excitement which is the most benign. It is important to remember that our dogs are creatures of habit so they will develop bad habits. We may create a negative reaction for our positive reaction if we react positively to them having a negative reaction.
This sounds confusing so we will clarify if a dog reacts scared we must calm him down and shower him with love and affection because if he is scared he will remember that reaction.
Therefore even though we have cured them of their fear they may still simulate being afraid of that thing to generate our response to it.
Its really cute that they can pretend to be scared or in pain to get our attention but its also important not to jump to conclusions and assume everything they do is to get our attention.
Its best to ensure that our fur children are experiencing no physical or emotional pain by doing our due diligence as faithful fur parents.
Types of Physical Pain They May Be Suffering From
If a dog yelps with a lower back contact we should investigate what type of physical pain they may be suffering from.
Neck and back pains are two of the most common types of physical pain that they experience.
Pulling a muscle or having sustained an injury can often cause this.
An examination of their body should be careful and thorough when looking for these types of injuries.
Its common for them to have more than one area of their body in pain and they seldom react unless you touch or get close to the area that is hurting.
It is very important to examine your dogs overall health now.
Humans can also suffer from neck and back problems.
Your dog may be experiencing more than just a pulled muscle if they seem to only watch you with their eyes or if they restrict their movement severely. Take your dog to the vet as soon as possible.
If we suspect a neck or spine injury we should limit their mobility as much as possible.
In contrast if your dog is just showing some symptoms of maybe pulling a muscle in their lower back and they are able to move about without pain except for that sore area you can often wait and see if they recover and if you’re more comfortable you can ask your vet for an appointment but this is not an emergency.
Often dogs get old and start to be classified as Senior Dogs when they reach a certain age.
Getting older comes with its own trials and tribulations and joint and muscle pain are some of these trials and tribulations.
As a result of this joint and muscle pain they may react to pain in their lower back where they have a lot of joints originating from their rear legs.
Those rear legs are what they used to run around the backyard with when they were young. They have a great deal of muscle and a lot of joints in there.
Dogs in their senior years tend to slow down a little more and get tired much more often.
All of their joints will become swollen and sore with increasing age so they’re more likely to experience pain all over their bodies.
Sadly this is a normal part of life; its also something humans experience.
There are a variety of supplements and medications out there that claim to treat joint or muscle pain in dogs.
However you should do your research and perhaps schedule a consultation with your vet so that they can continue to live as comfortably as possible for the rest of their lives.
In this section we will look at the toughest reason dogs may help when we touch their lower backs.
A person with an infection may experience pain as a result of inflammation in their body.
Joints muscles and nerve endings are put under pressure due to inflammation and swelling.
Pressure from the other side triggers nerve endings to fire causing them to respond in pain.
There are some other things to watch out for if you suspect your dog has an infection: he may be vomiting having diarrhea or being sluggish.
The best thing to do in this scenario is to schedule an appointment as soon as possible with your vet.
For them to get in there and control this infection I would classify this as an emergency.
Once they are diagnosed by a vet and medicine is prescribed many infections can be treated easily.
Types of Mental Strain They May Be Suffering From
After going through the process of diagnosing your dog for physical discomfort and coming up with nothing it may be time to consider another possibility.
Dogs like humans can suffer from mental stress and carry traumatic experiences into their adult lives.
In my own experience adopting a rescue dog I know that sometimes traumatic experiences affect the way they live.
You may experience fear when touching your dog in a place where they were abused if they have experienced abuse in the past.
Its a very painful situation to deal with and its a very heartbreaking situation for dog lovers.
Love fixes most of these issues while they may carry the scars of past abuse showering them with love and affection can often help them heal emotionally from it and being patient you will see over time a dog that reacts with fear to being touched can often overcome that.
There are many times when our dogs will feel anxiety and or stress and that may also cause them to have a negative reaction to being touched.
For example if your dog suffers from separation anxiety and you go on vacation they may be very anxious when you return and seem to have forgotten you a little when you reach out to them.
Well they havenot forgotten you but they are just trying to cope with a new situation that is scary stressful and anxiety-provoking for them.
If your dog has been abused in the past we want to make sure that we are patient with them and shower them with love and affection as they readjust to the situation.
Conclusion
In other words there are several reasons why your dog may yelp or bark when you touch their lower back. Your first priority should be to diagnose the problem as soon as possible.
We want to make sure theres no emergency like an infection or a neck or spine injury that needs to be treated right away.
In addition if physical pain is causing the problem you will want to continue monitoring it.
We will make sure that they are healing well or if they have joint or muscle problems we will do whatever we can to make them as comfortable as possible.
Additionally we want to continue to shower our dogs with love and affection and ensure that they understand that we will never abuse them and that they will always be loved.
Additionally we need to make sure they do not develop those bad habits and start using Yelp just to get some attention even though that is adorable.
Amanda (Author)
With over a decade of experience, Amanda is a distinguished dog trainer. Her expertise in canine behavior has transformed countless lives, fostering harmonious human-canine connections. Through compassionate and personalized approaches, she empowers owners to understand and connect with their furry companions, creating a legacy of joyful tails and transformed lives.
Osvaldo Maciel (Content Reviewer)
Osvaldo Maciel, a stalwart in the field with 14 years of experience, is a revered dog trainer. His journey is defined by a profound understanding of canine behavior, shaping unbreakable human-canine bonds. Osvaldo guides owners to connect with their beloved pets, leaving an indelible mark of happiness and transformation. His legacy shines through the countless lives he has touched.
