Dog trainer shares little-known warning signs you should stop touching your pet

A canine expert has shared the little-known warning signs that indicate your dog is unhappy and you should stop touching them immediately.

While are brilliant, gorgeous and loving creatures, it’s always important to remember and respect that they are animals.

And as they can’t vocalise when they’re unhappy, will show it in other ways, which can sometimes be in an aggressive manner potentially even hurting you if they feel scared threatened.

Bronagh Daly, a certified dog trainer and owner of Five By Five Canine, has now shared six subtle signs to look out for in your pet that could indicate you should stop touching them immediately.

Taking to to share with her 509,000 followers, she broke down the six symptoms to look out for and explained what action you should take if you spot any.

Freezing 

Bronagh said: “If you’re petting a dog and you very suddenly see or feel them stop moving, remove your hand.”

Stiffening

“If you are petting a dog and you can feel the muscles tensing under your hand, remove your hand right away.”

Going quiet

“If you are petting a dog and you can initially hear them breathing and all of a sudden they become very silent, remove your hand,” shared Bronagh.

Heavy panting

“Although this is the opposite, if you’re petting a dog and all of a sudden they start breathing heavily, again remove your hand.”

Vibrating

“This is generally your precursor to a growl,” explained Bronagh, who recommended removing your hand from the dog and moving away.

Leaning away

She went on: “If you feel them lean away or move away at all, remove that hand. You can then see if they decide to reengage, but if they don’t leave them alone.”

Bronagh’s expert advice received mixed responses with many people stating that their dogs did all of these things. One user wrote: “My dogs will do every one of these things but when I stop petting them they will put their paw on me asking me to pet them more.”

Someone else penned: “My dog vibrates when she’s very excited. Like I’ll say her favorite word “walk” and she immediately starts vibrating.”

Not wanting to forget a few more signs, one person replied: “Don’t forget whale eye, lip licking or yawning without food or just waking from sleep.” Bronagh added in response: “Yep totally! Just mentioning things that are specifically tactile as well as visual here!”