How do I know if my dog is in pain?

Most dogs in pain don’t cry. They go quiet, which is why it can be so hard to tell when a dog is in pain.

They sleep a bit more. They stop jumping onto the bed. They take the stairs one at a time, or wait at the bottom. And because none of that looks like suffering, it gets filed under getting older, often for months before anyone calls it pain.

That gap matters, because pain that goes unrecognized gets worse. A dog who hurts moves less, and moving less costs them muscle, and less muscle means the joints carry more load, which hurts more. By the time it looks obvious, that loop has usually been turning a while.

What Pet Parents notice first when a dog is in pain

Almost nobody arrives at the clinic saying “my dog is in pain.” They arrive describing a moment.

He stopped meeting me at the door. She used to launch onto the couch and now she stands next to it. He’s slower on the second half of the walk. She won’t settle at night. He’s started sleeping downstairs.

Those are the real signals, and they’re worth trusting. You know what your dog did last year. Nobody else does.

What does the research say we miss?

A 2026 study in PLOS ONE asked 647 people, 530 people who live with dogs and 117 who don't, to rank 17 dog behaviors by how likely each one was to indicate pain.

Pet Parents did well on the obvious things. Hesitant paw lifting, less play, a change in personality: all correctly read as pain.

What they missed were the quiet ones. Yawning, lip and nose licking, and changes in facial expression were not recognized as pain signals, even though they are. More striking still, people who had never owned a dog were better than people with dogs at spotting that freezing, or turning the head or body away, can mean pain.

That finding is worth sitting with. Living with a dog every day makes you superb at noticing change, and slightly worse at noticing what’s been there a while.

The signs that get mistaken for personality

Some of the most reliable indicators get explained away as temperament.

• Reluctance that looks like stubbornness. A dog who “decides” not to do the stairs is often a dog for whom the stairs now cost something.
• Grumpiness with other dogs or with children. Pain shortens everyone’s fuse.
• Clinginess, or the opposite. Some dogs shadow you when they’re uncomfortable. Others take themselves off to a quiet room.
• Restlessness at night. Pacing and panting after dark, in a dog who’s fine during the day, is a pattern not a quirk.
• Licking one spot. Repeatedly going at a particular joint or paw is worth a look.
• Changed posture. A hunched back, a tucked tail, weight shifted forward off the back end.

None of these on its own proves anything. Two or three together, in a dog who didn’t used to do them, is a conversation worth having.

When it’s urgent

Go straight to your veterinarian if your dog has suddenly lost the use of their back legs, cannot stand, has lost bladder or bowel control, is crying out, or is in obvious severe pain. That’s an emergency. Rehabilitation matters afterwards, a veterinarian comes first.

One thing to try tonight

Film your dog.

Thirty seconds of them getting up from lying down, and thirty seconds walking away from the camera in a straight line. Do it on a non-slip surface, in decent light.

Two reasons this is worth more than it sounds. First, you’ll see things live viewing misses, a head bob, a shortened stride, a back foot that doesn’t quite clear the floor. Second, you’ll have something to compare against in three months, which is the single most useful thing you can bring to any appointment. Memory is terrible at gradual change. Video isn’t.

When it’s worth getting looked at

If you’ve noticed two or three of these and they’ve been going on more than a couple of weeks, that’s the point where it’s worth someone watching your dog move.

Your own veterinarian handles the diagnosis, what’s going on medically is their call, and it should be. What a rehabilitation assessment adds is the how: how your dog is moving because of it, what they’ve quietly stopped doing, what they’re bracing against, and how much of what you’re seeing can be built back.

Plenty of what looks like age turns out to be pain, and a good deal of pain turns out to be more manageable than people expect. The honest answer is that you can’t know which until someone looks properly.

Related reading: Your dog is slowing down. It may not be only age. · Arthritis in dogs is more treatable than most people think · Five ways to help your senior dog · Why does my dog struggle with stairs?

Questions Pet Parents ask

What are the most common signs a dog is in pain?

Quiet changes are the most common: sleeping more, moving less, stopping one activity like jumping on the couch, licking at a spot, or seeming less interested in play. Crying out is less common than most people expect.

Can I give my dog human pain medication?

No. Many human pain medicines are dangerous for dogs, even in small amounts. Always ask your veterinarian before giving anything.

Is it pain or just old age?

Often it is pain that has been put down to age. Stiffness, slowing down and reluctance to jump are common in older dogs, but they are also signs of pain that can often be treated.

Source: Boyd, J. (2026). Dog owners’ recognition of pain-related behaviours. PLOS ONE.