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The day has just started and your schnauzer is already yawning. You both got a good 8 hours of rest but they’re still yawning? What gives? Is it normal for schnauzers to yawn so much?
Why Do Schnauzers Yawn So Much:
There are quite a few reasons why your schnauzer will yawn beyond needing more rest. They could be relaxed, showing disinterest, in distress, bored, or even excited. One of the more unexplainable reasons why your schnauzer may yawn is because they saw you yawn.
In this post you’ll discover the top 8 most common reasons why your schnauzer is yawning, when it’s important to remove your dog from the situation that’s making them yawn as well as 4 tips to help reduce how much they yawn.
Tip #2 is the easiest to get started with!
Let’s jump right in.
Table of Contents
8 Reasons Why Your Schnauzer Yawns So Much
1) Bored
Much like when you’re bored at work and aren’t doing an activity that really grabs and holds your attention, you may yawn to stay awake.
So will your schnauzer if they haven’t done anything exciting for a while.
A bored schnauzer may let out a big yawn to really demonstrate their boredom.
They may even do it in an attempt to get your attention to jumpstart some playtime.
Dogs are quite intelligent when it comes to picking up on patterns.
If in the past you’ve given them a response they liked from yawning, they’ll do it again.
Usually being a drama king/queen gets mom’s attention, maybe this will get them to play…
Sometimes a yawning doggo can simply be a bored doggo.
If it’s been a while since they went for a walk or played, their yawn is likely to showcase their boredom.
Related Reading: 10 Best Toys To Entertain Your Dog | Boredom Buster Toys
2) Impatience
It’s 7:06 AM and your schnauzer is staring at you still tucked under your blankets.
They know their regular morning walk time is at 7:00 AM and you’re sleeping on the job.
Whether they’re sitting on the floor staring at you or lying on the bed as well.
You may notice or hear a couple yawns come out while they wait for you.
Yawns here are more than likely showing impatience.
They want you to get your butt out of bed and take them out to do their favorite activity as well as relieve themselves.
Another time you might notice yawning due to impatience is when you’re on your walk but stop to chat with a friend or neighbor.
If you stop for too long your pup might get restless and want to keep going. So they let out a big yawn which is probably followed by a sigh.
They have trees to sniff and this chit chat is taking too long!
3) Yawns Are Contagious
Everyone at some point in their life was around someone who yawned in front of them which made them yawn.
It’s involuntary! You can’t help but yawn for some reason when someone else yawns.
And your schnauzer can experience the same thing.
If you yawn in front of your pup and they immediately follow up with a yawn of their own, they ‘caught’ your yawn.
It has been thought for a while that when a dog yawns because they saw their owner yawn that it’s a sign of empathy.
However, more recent studies have found that there’s no real evidence to support that theory.
Yawns are simply contagious. Whether it’s from person to person or from person to dog.
So if you yawn around your pup there’s a good chance they’ll yawn too.
4) Disinterest
Yawning can also be a sign from one dog to another that they’re not interested in conflict.
A behaviorist from AKC says that if your schnauzer comes in contact with another dog that’s showing signs of aggression, your dog may yawn to demonstrate their indifference.
This is different from being submissive. It means they want things to remain passive and not escalate.
A submissive dog will roll on their back and for a lack of better words, submit, as they don’t want any conflict.
However, with a dog that’s indifferent, they’re showing more confidence/dominance. They want things to remain passive, but aren’t going to submit to an aggressor.
It’s best to remove your schnauzer from situations like these. If your pup yawns often around another dog that behaves rather aggressively, they could end up having an altercation.
And the last thing you want is for your pup to get in a fight and get injured.
Another way your schnauzer may yawn to show disinterest is if someone else in their pack is feeling anxious.
In a wolf pack, if the dominant wolf notices that one or some of the other wolves are showing signs of stress, they’ll yawn to put them at ease.
This shows that the dominant wolf doesn’t see what’s bothering them as a potential threat to help them relax.
Their disinterest helps put the other wolves’ minds at ease.
So if you have another pup that’s anxious often, or you feel anxious often, your pup might yawn to help you relax/put your mind at ease.
5) Distressed
If your schnauzer is feeling overly anxious or stressed out it may cause them to yawn.
And if they feel anxious often, they may yawn more often than you think is normal.
They may also yawn if they’re anticipating punishment.
For example, if you’re attempting to train a new behavior in them, they can tell by your tone of voice and body language when they aren’t doing what you want.
In this instance, they may yawn because they’re anticipating they won’t get a treat or afraid they’ll be punished.
If their yawning is excessive or you notice them yawning many times strung together, it could be a sign of larger, more serious feelings of distress.
Potentially even separation anxiety.
If you’re noticing their yawning to be quite excessive, it’s a good idea to have a vet take a look at them.
Related Reading: 9 Reasons Why Your Schnauzer Whines & Cries So Much
6) Overly Excited?
This is one of the more peculiar reasons for your schnauzer to yawn.
You may notice that right before you’re about to take them for their walk, they get all rambunctious but also yawn a few times.
As soon as they see the leash come out they start feeling all kinds of exciting emotions.
And when this happens, they become completely awake and sometimes produce a yawn!
It’s been said that yawning helps keep a person awake.
So when your schnauzer yawns from excitement they could be waking themselves up for what they’re so excited about.
7) Maximum Relaxation
When your schnauzer is in complete relaxation mode, they may yawn because they’re just so comfortable.
This type of yawn really has no rhyme or reason, it’s simply because their body is relaxing and a yawn comes out because of it.
If you notice your pup yawning often while lying or sitting next to you, they could simply be extremely relaxed and comfortable.
8) Sleepy
Your schnauzer may yawn so much simply because they require more sleep than you do.
So if after a good night’s rest, you feel rejuvenated but your pup is yawning like they haven’t slept, it’s quite normal.
Interestingly, a behaviorist from AKC shares that dogs only get 10% REM sleep where people get 20-25% on average per night.
This means they’ll need more sleeping hours to feel well rested and get sufficient REM sleep.
While 8 hours per night might be perfect for you, it’s simply not enough for your schnauzer.
Which is why you’ll see them yawning even though they slept the same amount of time as you last night.
Top 4 Tips To Help Your Schnauzer Not Yawn As Much
1) Keep The Peace
If your schnauzer yawns around other dogs they could be attempting to signal they don’t want any conflict.
If you’re around a dog that’s a little more aggressive, or a lot more, you may want to remove your pup from the situation.
Since your schnauzer is yawning and not submitting, it typically means they won’t back down if forced into conflict.
Which is why it’s important for you to moderate and keep the peace.
It’s a good idea to simply remove your pup from these types of situations.
If it happens between two dogs in your own home, you’ll have to work on training the aggression out of one of your pups.
If there’s no aggressive behavior being demonstrated to your schnauzer they won’t feel the need to yawn as much.
2) Keep The Volume Down
When noises in your schnauzer’s environment are too loud, not only will this affect their sleep, but it can also stress them out.
It’s well known that dog’s have much better hearing than people do. So when the volume gets to a comfortable level for you, it might be loud for them.
And when it’s loud for you, it’s likely unbearable for your pup.
So if you have kids playing with loud toys, or you like the TV to be louder because you don’t have the best hearing, these situations could be contributing to their yawning.
The best thing you can do for your schnauzer is to do your best to keep the volume down.
At least for periods of time throughout the day so they can rest as well as at night.
Your schnauzer will be grateful of the effect you’re making to let them sleep or remove some stress in their life.
3) Keep An Eye On Excessive Yawning
For the most part, yawning is a rather harmless function of the body.
Typically it’s simply a response to emotional swings or feeling tired/low on energy.
However, it can also be a sign of extreme distress.
If you notice your schnauzer is yawning to an extreme extent or they yawn numerous times in a row, these are indicators your pup is in a great deal of distress.
When the reason for them to be stressed out is obvious, simply remove them from the situation.
If it’s not obvious and you think they might have separation anxiety, or experienced traumatic events when they were younger, it’s a good idea to see a professional.
Whether it’s a vet to see if their health is in check or a behaviorist to see if they notice anything out of the ordinary.
Having your pup looked at is never a bad idea.
4) Keep Things Fun
If your pups last couple days or even weeks have been rather uneventful, they may start yawning more because they’re bored/sad.
When your schnauzer doesn’t have anything fun to do or look forward to they’ll likely yawn because they’re low in energy.
Do what you can to play with them more or plan fun activities.
Whether it’s going a different route for their walk, going on a hike or maybe more frequent trips to the dog park.
If you’re able to keep things fun for your pup they’ll be less bored and burn off more energy giving them a better sleep.
Two birds with one stone to make them yawn less.
Bonus: Do What You Can To Help Ensure They Get a Good Night’s Rest
Just like how people benefit from a good bedtime routine, so could your schnauzer.
If you have a ‘wind down’ period roughly an hour before bed, you’ll likely notice you sleep better.
So if you can create a night time routine for your pup before they go to sleep for the day they’ll likely get better quality sleep.
If you don’t already have a bedtime routine this might also help you get a better quality sleep.
It’s a win-win!
Other posts you might find interesting:
9 Reasons Why Schnauzers Smell Bad + 5 Ways To Stop It
9 Reasons Why Your Schnauzer Whines & Cries So Much
17 Surprising Reasons Why Schnauzers Lick So Much + Tips
Citations:
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