Why Does Your Dog Like to Grunt and Groan When Lying Down

Do you have a dog that after lying down, often starts to groan and grunt? Well, he’s just one of the many dogs that like to do this. In fact, dogs will often make all kinds of different sounds. While most of them are pretty much harmless, a loud grunting or groaning might make you get worried that your dog is in pain, especially if it only happens when he is lying down.

Your Dog is Feeling Comfortable

A lot of dogs will like to grunt or groan simply because they are expressing the feeling of comfort while lying down. This is very similar to how humans like to grunt and groan and make all kinds of sounds to express comfort when getting home and lying on the bed after a long day of work, for example. You surely know, especially when you’re very tired, that there are very few things more pleasurable than actually sitting down or lying down on your comfortable bed or even chair.

You might also like my articles on:

• Why are dogs dry heaving
• Why are dogs chewing and biting their tails
• Why are dogs acting drunk or wobbly

When this is the case, along with the grunting and groaning sounds, you might also notice some additional signs that can be linked to the dog being content and experiencing pleasure. For example, he might show you his belly, which is a sign that the animal trusts you as his owner, and his eyes might be drifting shut, going into a sleepy state. If your dog doesn’t seem to have a problem and there are no symptoms you would call worrying, then you will most likely have no reason to get worried about the sounds the dog makes when he lays down.

Your Dog is Experiencing Some Kind of Discomfort or Pain

There are, unfortunately, some instances in which the dog’s groaning and grunting might be caused by some kind of pain. One example is dogs that are older, who start to go through all kinds of issues either related to their joints, like arthritis, or other problems, causing them to experience discomfort while trying to lay down. When we’re talking about an issue related to the dog’s joints, you might also notice him going through other symptoms as well like the continuous licking of some of the joints or even limping while walking.

Arthritis and joint issues, in general, aren’t the only problems that might cause a dog to make groaning sounds. Other health issues, like ascites for example, a medical issue that causes an abnormal fluid buildup in the stomach of the dog, can also cause him to make these sounds. When faced with this, when you start to notice that the dog isn’t the normal, happy animal you’re used to, I suggest you take him to the vet for a thorough examination.

Puppies Experiencing Growing Pains

Do you have a puppy that seems to be growing at a very fast pace? Is this puppy making all kinds of grunt and groan sounds? This might actually be due to the dog experiencing some pains related to his growing. This is usually because the bones inside the dog grow at a faster rate than the rest of the body. This is something seen a lot more often in medium or large-size breeds. One example is the German Shepherd breed. The good news is that most of the time the pain related to the fast-growing of a pup shouldn’t last forever and the groaning or grunting you hear while the dog is lying down will soon go away.