Top 9 Reasons Why French Bulldogs Yawn So Much + 4 Tips

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Even after your french bulldog gets their beauty sleep they still seem to be yawning a lot. If this happens quite often you might start to wonder:

Do french bulldogs yawn so much because they aren’t getting enough sleep or is something else going on?

Why Do French Bulldogs Yawn So Much:

For the most part, french bulldogs yawn so much because they aren’t getting enough sleep or are trying to communicate something to you. This could be that they’re bored and want to play, they’re trying to keep the peace or that they’re becoming impatient.

In this post you’ll discover:

9 real reasons why french bulldogs yawn so much
When yawning is something to worry about
4 tips to help reduce how much your frenchie is yawning (tip #1 is the most effective!)
And much, much more..

Let’s jump right in.

Table of Contents

9 Reasons Why French Bulldogs Yawn So Much

1) Impatient Pup

You come home from one day but it was a looong day and you’re tired.

It’s now 5:46 PM and your frenchie knows their regular evening walk usually takes place at 5:30 PM.

As you sit or lie down on the couch you notice your pup sitting and staring at you.

During their stare down you might notice a yawn or two while they paw at the couch.

These yawns are more than likely indicating their impatience with you.

They want you to get your butt up and take them out for their regularly scheduled walk.

They’ve waited all day for you to come home and need to relieve themselves, get some exercise, as well as enjoy some different outdoor smells.

And you’re 16 minutes behind schedule!

Your perky little pup is starting to get impatient waiting to do their favorite thing in the world.

Another time you may notice a yawn of impatience is during their actual walk.

Not while walking, but if you’ve ever stopped to have a conversation with a neighbor you haven’t chatted with in a while.

If this conversation goes on for more than 5, 10, 15 minutes you may notice a few yawns come from your pup.

Almost as if to say, “Hey, let’s keep this party going mom/dad! Quit the chit chat!”

During this time of being a little impatient you may hear a big sigh as well.

Yawning in these types of situations are more than likely your pup’s way of communicating they aren’t happy with how long things are taking.

2) You’re Yawning(?)

At one point in your life you’ve likely been around someone who’s yawned and then yawned yourself a few moments later.

One of the more unexplainable things in this world is how a yawn can be contagious.

But it is!

And frenchie’s experience the same thing.

For a long time studies thought that when a dog yawned because their owner did, it was a sign of empathy.

However, a more recent study in 2020 found this not to be true.

They weren’t able to find any real evidence to support that, when a dog yawns after seeing their owner yawn, it was them demonstrating empathy.

Which means there’s no real explanation for it.

Yawns are simply contagious and your pup can’t help themselves but to yawn after seeing you yawn.

3) Wanting To Play

If your french bulldog is bored and wanting to play, they may communicate this through a few yawns.

They’ve tried other ways to get your attention and initiate a play session but nothing seems to have worked.

So, they’ve decided to lie down and yawn to showcase they’re bored and wanting to play.

They may yawn a bunch of times because they’ve noticed in the past it’s gotten your attention.

So they want to try again.

Dogs are quite smart in their ability to notice and pick up on patterns.

Which means they become very aware of what gets a reaction out of you.

When all else fails, being a little drama king/queen usually works to get your attention!

So sometimes a yawning doggo could be them letting you know they’re bored and want to play.

4) Uncontrollable Excitement

This is a rather peculiar reason for your frenchie to yawn but definitely happens.

A scenario where this happens is right when you’re about to take them for a walk.

As soon as they hear their leash being taken out or they see you’re going to grab it they get really excited.

One minute ago they were lying down, relaxed, maybe just waking up from a little nap.

The next they’re running in circles around you in excitement, unable to sit still.

Yet, you notice they yawn a few times regardless of their high levels of excitement?

It’s been said that yawning helps people stay awake. So when your frenchie is yawing here it could be their body attempting to wake themselves up quickly.

They don’t want to be tired in the slightest during their favorite activity of the day!

5) Attempting To Keep The Peace

There’s also an instinctual purpose for french bulldogs to yawn when around other dogs.

If the other dog is showing signs of aggression, your frenchie may yawn to signal back to them that they’re not interested in conflict.

A behaviorist from American Kennel Club says that yawning when one dog is showing signs of aggression is showcasing their disinterest.

Which is quite different from demonstrating submission.

If your frenchie yawns around other dogs that are showing aggressive signs, they’re essentially saying they want things to remain passive.

But, they’re not going to submit to an aggressor. Which is demonstrating more dominance/confidence than a submissive dog.

Which isn’t good because that means a fight could break out if neither wants to back down.

If your frenchie is around another dog showing signs of aggressive behavior and they’re yawning, it’s best to remove them from the situation.

Another way yawning is a way for your frenchie to show disinterest is if someone else in their pack is feeling anxious.

If your pup thinks they’re the alpha of your pack, and they sense you’re feeling anxious, but they don’t think there’s anything to worry about, they may yawn to help put your mind at ease.

This is instinctual behavior passed down from wolves.

In a wolf pack, when the dominant wolf sees that other members of their pack are feeling anxious or stressed, but they don’t think there’s anything to worry about, they’ll yawn to help put their mind at ease.

Their disinterest in what seems to be bothering the other wolves helps them relax.

So if you have another pup that’s often anxious, or you’ve been feeling anxious lately, your frenchie might be yawning a lot in an attempt to help.

6) High Levels Of Anxiety

When french bulldogs are feeling high levels of anxiety, they may pick up some compulsive behavior as a means of coping.

Separation anxiety in a dog can create many different excessive behaviors such as, licking, panting, drooling, pacing, and yawning.

If you notice many yawns strung together, this is a sign that they’re feeling higher levels of anxiousness.

A less severe instance where your pup may yawn from feeling anxious is if they’re anticipating punishment.

For example, when you’re trying to teach them a new trick or behavior, they can tell by your body language and tone of voice when they aren’t getting it right.

Which means they’re anticipating not getting a treat or afraid they’ll be punished.

7) Naptime

An adult frenchie needs roughly 12 hours of sleep per day in order to feel well rested.

Which means if they aren’t getting that much sleep, they’ll yawn a lot more than usual.

AKC says that on average, dogs only get roughly 10% REM/deep sleep while they’re asleep.

Whereas people get anywhere between 20-25% on average per night.

So this means your pup simply needs more sleeping hours in order to feel well rested and get enough REM sleep.

Which means you may see your pup yawn much more than you think they should be.

While 8 hours is typically plenty of sleep for you, it’s just not enough for your frenchie.

So don’t be alarmed if you’re noticing your pup yawning a lot in the morning after what you felt should have been a great night’s sleep.

8) Wanting To Slow Down

For the most part, your frenchie is likely on your case to be go, go, going.

Whether it’s to play, go for a walk, or to go outside and run around.

But sometimes your pup may be tired and wanting to stop/slow down.

And how they’ll indicate this to you is through a few yawns.

So if you notice them starting to yawn a bunch of times while you’re out playing fetch, they may be telling you they need a break.

9) Contentment

One of the more simple, harmless reasons for french bulldogs to yawn so much is from them showing their contentment.

They’re completely relaxed and may let out a few yawns simply because they’re so comfortable.

There’s no real message they’re trying to communicate to you through these yawns.

They’re just so darn relaxed and comfortable that they can’t help but let out a big yawn.

4 Tips To Help Your French Bulldog Yawn Less

1) Attempt To Find The Trigger

More often than not, your pups yawning will be nothing more than a harmless, completely normal bodily function.

But sometimes when a dog starts to yawn too much, there’s something causing it.

And if you feel your frenchie is yawning more than they should be, do your best to keep an eye out for any possible triggers.

If they yawn a lot in certain situations, interactions or places, and you’re able to notice it’s mostly in these circumstances, you can reduce their exposure to it.

Which in-turn should reduce their yawning.

2) Help Them Get Quality Sleep

Do what you can to help your frenchie get a good night’s rest as well as some quiet time throughout the day for naps.

This can be in the form of a good bedtime routine while also being mindful of the volume during the day while they’re lying down.

A bedtime routine might sound silly, but just like you benefit from a ‘wind down’ routine before bed, so might your pup.

And if you don’t currently have a bedtime routine, creating one for your pup might help you also get better quality sleep!

As mentioned earlier, your pup needs a few more hours of sleep throughout the day in order to feel well rested.

Without the additional hours of sleep it’s likely that you’ll see your frenchie yawning quite a lot.

Related Reading: Top 12 Best Dog Beds For French Bulldogs

3) Plan Fun Adventures/Activities

Do your best to keep things fun for your french bulldog!

Your pup might be yawning a lot lately because they’re bored.

They aren’t happy about the amount of physical & mental stimulation they’re getting on a daily basis and yawn because their energy levels are low.

Do what you can to plan some fun activities for them.

Going for an adventurous hike, checking out a new dog park every now and then, or changing up their walk route/length a couple times a week.

The more you’re able to keep things fun with various adventures or activities the less bored your pup will be.

Which should result in less frequent yawning, better sleep, and an overall happier pup.

4) Peace Through Subtraction

If you notice every time your pup is around a particular dog that they yawn a lot, maybe it’s best to keep them away from them.

Remember, yawning around a dog showing signs of aggression isn’t submitting, it’s saying they don’t want conflict.

But if there is conflict, they aren’t going to backing down.

And the last thing you want is for your pup to get into a fight with another dog.

So sometimes it’s best to remove your pup from interactions with this certain dog.

This way you keep the peace by ensuring the two don’t interact.

Some dog’s simply don’t get along, and that’s okay! It’s just best to not have them be around one another if that’s the case.

Other posts you might find interesting:

9 Reasons French Bulldogs Eat Poop + 5 Tips To Stop It

7 Reasons Why Your Frenchie Is Shedding More + 5 Tips

Top 12 Reasons Why French Bulldogs Lick & Chew Their Paws

Sources:

Why Do Dogs Yawn?

Dog Yawning Decoded: Why a Dog Yawn Is Worth a 1000 Words

Familiarity Bias and Physiological Responses in Contagious Yawning by Dogs Support Link to Empathy

Contagious yawning is not a signal of empathy: no evidence of familiarity, gender or prosociality biases in dogs

Should I Let My Dog Sleep Late Every Day?