Does Your Dog Yawn When You Do?

[Kona & Oreo's mom]

Oreo yawns when I do, too.

A trainer once told me that for dogs, yawning and lip licking are self-calming behaviors. She suggested that if Oreo is nervous about a new sound or person and if she looks at me to "check in" or for reassurance, that I should fake a yawn. She said this would show Oreo that I'm calm and that she doesn't have to worry about the new thing either. It does seem to work! She usually sees me yawn, then yawns herself, and then lies down. Internesting!

[Taz_Zoee]

I've never noticed. I'll have to pay more attention next time. LOL

[lizbud]

Oreo yawns when I do, too.

A trainer once told me that for dogs, yawning and lip licking are self-calming behaviors. She suggested that if Oreo is nervous about a new sound or person and if she looks at me to "check in" or for reassurance, that I should fake a yawn. She said this would show Oreo that I'm calm and that she doesn't have to worry about the new thing either. It does seem to work! She usually sees me yawn, then yawns herself, and then lies down. Internesting!

Wow, that's funny because I tried that too when Smokey was going
through a bad time & it worked. I got to be pretty good at faking yawns.

[gardengirl]

My dog absolutely yawns when I do. I added a command and taught him to yawn whenever I asked him to. Here is my YouTube video of Bailey yawning:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O6KULoRk2xA

This is a crack-up when you have company.

[Giselle]

Oreo yawns when I do, too.

A trainer once told me that for dogs, yawning and lip licking are self-calming behaviors. She suggested that if Oreo is nervous about a new sound or person and if she looks at me to "check in" or for reassurance, that I should fake a yawn. She said this would show Oreo that I'm calm and that she doesn't have to worry about the new thing either. It does seem to work! She usually sees me yawn, then yawns herself, and then lies down. Internesting!

It's the same for birds, too. Human yawning and slow eye blinking are techniques to help relax and train untamed parrots. If you blink slowly and deliberately, the bird will blink with you. If you hold out an arm and a leg in a birdie "hello", the bird will usually do it, too. Animals are more in tune to body language than we really realize