How to Stop Uncontrollable Shaking in Dogs
Uncontrollable shaking in dogs can be alarming for pet parents, but it can stem from simple emotions to serious health issues. Understanding the different causes and how to respond appropriately is crucial for your dog’s well-being.
Common Causes of Shaking
- Excitement: Dogs often shake when they are overjoyed during greetings, playtime, or mealtime anticipation.
- Fear and Anxiety: Shaking may result from thunderstorms, fireworks, visits to the vet, or separation anxiety. This is often accompanied by a tucked tail, wide eyes, panting, or hiding.
- Cold Temperatures: Shivering is a natural response to generate body heat, especially in small, thin, short-haired, or elderly dogs exposed to cold environments.
- Drying Off: After getting wet, dogs perform a rapid shake to remove water from their fur, shedding up to 70% of moisture within seconds.
- Relieving Tension: Dogs may shake off physically and emotionally tense moments, such as after a nap or stressful encounter.
Medical Reasons for Shaking
- Pain and Discomfort: Arthritis, sprains, ear infections, dental or skin diseases, and post-surgical pain can all cause trembling.
- Nausea: Dogs feeling nauseous may shake and show signs like drooling, hiding, vomiting, or licking lips. Triggers include motion sickness, toxins, overeating, or organ disease.
- Illness and Infections: Distemper, rabies, and other infections can result in shaking. Distemper particularly affects unvaccinated puppies and includes symptoms like coughing, vomiting, and tremors.
- Poisoning: Ingesting toxins (e.g., chocolate, rodenticides, sugar-free gum) can cause dangerous tremors, vomiting, diarrhea, seizures, and weakness. This is a medical emergency.
- Seizures and Epilepsy: Seizures may appear as tremors, stiffness, collapsing, or uncontrolled movements, and require long-term treatment.
- Generalized Tremor Syndrome (GTS): Most common in small breeds, this immune-related condition responds to corticosteroids and typically starts between 9 months and 2 years of age.
- Metabolic Disorders: Hypoglycemia, hypocalcemia, Addison’s disease, and kidney failure may lead to body shaking.
- Old Age: Senior dogs may develop tremors in legs or body due to muscle weakness, neurological changes, or cognitive dysfunction.
- Fatigue and Muscle Weakness: After intense activity, localized shaking can occur in overworked muscles, especially in older or unfit dogs.
- Ear Issues: Frequent head shaking may signal ear infections, mites, or foreign objects—especially in floppy-eared breeds.
- Neurological Conditions in Puppies: Conditions like cerebellar hypoplasia or hypomyelination result in shaky movement and trouble walking.
How to Stop Shaking
- Identify and Remove the Trigger: Whether it’s loud noises or cold, reducing the source of stress or discomfort can restore calm.
- Offer Comfort: Spend quiet time with your dog, use soothing touch, and maintain a consistent routine to reduce anxiety.
- Warmth: For cold-induced shivering, ensure your dog is dry and warm, possibly using dog sweaters or heating pads safely.
- Distract and Reassure: Toys, treats, and engaging games can help redirect attention from stressors.
- Seek Professional Help: If shaking persists, is severe, or is accompanied by other symptoms (vomiting, seizures, collapse), consult a veterinarian immediately.
When to See a Vet
Contact your vet urgently if shaking is new, frequent, or coupled with symptoms like:
- Vomiting or diarrhea
- Seizures or loss of coordination
- Confusion or disorientation
- Labored breathing or collapse
Understanding the Wet Dog Shake
The wet dog shake is a neurologically controlled reflex initiated by sensors in the skin and processed through the spinal cord and brain. It enables rapid and effective removal of water from fur with minimal effort—a survival mechanism for warmth and energy conservation.
Key Takeaways
- Shaking can result from behavioral, environmental, or medical factors.
- Excitement, anxiety, cold, and drying off are often harmless causes.
- Medical causes like poisoning, seizures, infections, and systemic diseases require immediate veterinary attention.
- Providing comfort, warmth, and routine can help resolve non-medical causes.
Always observe your dog’s full behavior and symptoms and when in doubt, consult a veterinarian to ensure your pet’s health and safety.
