The indications Casey has, I always thought of as "quirks" but am beginning to think are pain indicators. She scratches her ears quite a bit (and I have taken her in several times to see if she has an infection and it's always "perhaps a minor infection, keep using the drops"). Also, she rubs her face on the ground after pooping, rubs her face on the sofa at times, holds her head level with her back when walking, yawns a lot, does the reverse sneeze occasionally, is generally extremely lazy (her nickname is the bear-skin rug), and in the past year has stopped jumping up on the bed or sofa. This last thing I contributed to her being overweight. After being on a strict diet for some time now, and losing 7 pounds, she now will jump up on the sofa only occasionally and still never the bed. In addition, she is completely deaf. So some of these symptoms could be one or the other or both, or nothing. My vet is very loose, and also a family friend....so I haven't brought this compilation of things to him, as I never thought they amounted to anything until now that I'm learning so much more about the health issues of the breed. Also, since we've been back from vacation I have noticed she is being very careful when she gets up from laying down, and had a hard time walking up & down the steps while we were there (in Florida, steps are nearly nonexistent, so it's been a while since she's had to use them). Perhaps I'm being paranoid, but after reading time and time again that dogs don't just "yelp" when in pain, that there are all of these other pain indicators, I'm worried!