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Strange Shaking Behavior

TIM8557

Member
Charlie is a 2 year old male and has been a special addition to the family (me thinks; wife doesn't) but he exhibits this strange shaking behavior. Whenever he gets up from lying, he shakes as if he is been soaking in a pool. Kind of like a Retriever exiting a lake or pond. With all of his metal tags on his collar, it can be quite noisy.

Is this normal or just a harmless quirk?
 
I don't think it sounds abnormal. He's just shaking like he's getting water off?

You can put rubber around his tags to make it less noisy. Google "dog tag silencer", you should get choices for various shapes and colors.
 
Our Wrigley will do a little bit of a shake after he has been petted for awhile. I think he does it because the sensation has stimulated his muscles & nerves..sort of like a massage does w/ us. Or when we wake from a nap..we sometimes want to stretch. This is only a guess. Unless your Charlie is doing this for long periods at a time.. I wouldn't worry. Shaking & trembling/quivering are two different issues. If it is the latter..perhaps you should call your Vet.
 
Fletcher does this weird stretching things when he wakes up, it really looks like yoga moves, as a matter of fact that's what I call them :) I think its probably normal.

My beagle used to alert the house shaking his tags like that every morning, it was annoying, but after he passed I sure do miss that sound.


Melissa
 
If your talking about shaking as a dog would get water off sort of shake vs. A tremble type shaking, then yeah, our Brooky does the same thing when she wakes...almost as if she is stimulating her body to "get up"! It's that same shake she gives post bath/swim.
 
Thanks to all. Charlie is definitely not quivering, he just appears to be shaking (non-existent) water off of him. Other than that, he's always the same energetic and loveable guy that I brought home from the breeder 2 years ago.

I guess that he is my surogate son after the other three all grew up.

Thanks again for your insights.
 
Both of my girls do that. We call it the whole body shake. Riley, who has SM, will sometimes knock herself over when she does it. Oddly enough, neither of my boys do it.
 
My little Ollie does this, as you say it`s as if they are shaking off water, my oldest cavalier has never done this shaking, but he is much shorter haired, although this probably has nothing to do with it.
 
My youngest boy does it after he's been out to the toilet, his whole body shakes from his head to his bum, It's like he's really pleased with himself for going ;)
 
It's normal behaviour, don't worry. :)

Dogs do this kind of shake for many reasons -- to calm themselves, to relieve stress, to defuse pressure, or simply to do the equivalent of a good stretch.

You might notice your dog also does this if startled, when meeting another dog, if another dog growls or barks at them, when suddenly surprised by something, etc.

Some have described shake-offs as a kind of 'reset button too, when a dog is stopping one thing (eg a nap) and starting some other activity.
 
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