Dog Q&A

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Q: When dogs yawn, are they sleepy or bored?

A: Neither, really. Think of yawning as a kind of switching gears. A yawn increases the flow of oxygen and boosts the heart rate -- actions that give the brain a good goosing. A yawn can prepare the body for action -- as in the yawning of a keynote speaker waiting for her introduction or a quarterback waiting to get back onto the field. Yawning can also be a way to relax.

Dogs yawn both to charge themselves up and to calm themselves down. It depends on the situation. If you go to a canine agility competition, you'll often spot dogs yawning at the starting line while waiting for the signal to explode across the line to the first obstacle. They're ready to run, and the yawn expresses that stress and excitement. In the waiting room of a veterinary hospital, you'll often see dogs yawning, too -- a sure sign that they're stressed and trying to calm themselves.

In training classes, dogs will often yawn -- and owners will often interpret this as a sign that the dog is bored. Not so. The dog who's yawning in obedience class is more likely stressed than bored, either from nervousness or from wanting to please you but not yet understanding how.

Just as in humans, yawning can be contagious in dogs. If you catch your dog's attention and yawn, you may well get a yawn back. Some experienced dog handlers actually use this to their advantage, encouraging their dogs to yawn as a way to get them either focused or relaxed.

Q: Is it true dogs can't see in colour?

A: Dogs do see colours, but not as many as we can see. And the colours they see aren't as rich, either. This may be a relief to some of us, who are tired of hearing how dogs smell better, hear better, and are faster and stronger than we are.

The bottom line, though, is that dogs don't have great colour vision because they don't need it. If you throw a tennis ball in the grass, the yellow colour makes it easier for you to find, not your dog, who could find a blue tennis ball much more easily. Your dog doesn't care; she's going to find it with her nose.

Dog vision is exactly what you'd expect from an animal whose life depends on her ability to spot prey. We humans developed with the ability to see in rich colour and detail, while a dog's vision is more closely attuned to catching movement. The better to eat you with, my dear!

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Excerpted from Why Do Dogs Drink out of the Toilet? by Marty Becker, DVM, and Gina Spadafori. Copyright 2006 by Marty Becker and Gina Spadafori. Excerpted by permission of Health Communications, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.