Does anyone know what it means if a dog chatters his teeth?  Mine does it when he sees the cat cage (empty or with cat).  He gets all upset and bites and paws at it while constantly doing the chattering.  He also makes a funny kind of noise, not quite a whimper.  There is no aggression at all, no growling or barking.  Is this because he's scared of the cage?  He doesn't have a problem when he goes to the kennels.

CG

we see it abit at ob shows,when the dog has just worked & is on abit of a high!

flynn does it when hes bitching

He only ever does it at the cat basket.  Must just be getting in a flap.  It's almost as if he thinks I'm going to hurt the cat when I put it in there as he gets majorly upset.  It's not a problem, its just odd when he does it.

CG

maybe he fancies it!!!

Ha ha!  Funny you should say that - he has tried to mount the cat in the past :o

CG

there you go then!!!!! poor cat!! poor confused dog!

All mine do this but only when in season.

My boys all do it but only when a bitch is in season and spot on ready to mate :D

Some inter species activity has been recorded when the cat actually has a problem with it's reproductive organs - I can't remember the exact details, but the dog of the household was very interested in this particular cat - it turned out it was the cat that had the problem, not the dog.......

Thanks everyone - the trainer that came to the house did say Copper was a very "sexy" dog (whatever that means!) so maybe that's got something to do with it.  However, I do fear for the cat - he's a male as well :D

CG

Don't know about dogs, but when hamsters do it, it means they're annoyed and you should leave them alone!  Maybe it's the same with dogs.

My dog does it quite often, usually if you are playing with him and take a toy off him. My bitch has never done it. The kids think it's hilarious because it can go on for at least 1 minute sometimes.

Glazby will occasionally chew and lick a little spot on the inside of both of his forelegs.  He will then do this teeth chatter inbetween chews and licks.  I've actually asked the question before as I've wondered why he does this?

He also does it out on walks sometimes - I think he finds a scent and will have a good old sniff (sometimes very gently uses his tongue too) and will then do a good ol' teeth chatter!!

Strange!!

Hi copper girl,

I've found the following on the www.dogtraining.co.uk website

'Some other methods of communication also seem to be individualistic in their occurrence.  One example of this is teeth chattering or snapping.  Some dogs use this in situations of play, others in warning or defence, and others still in anticipation or when generally excited.  Again whether this signal actually conveys a relevant message to the recipient is not clear and, as with howling, would be hard to study objectively'.

I hope it is of some help although still doesn't really pin down the reason for the teeth chattering.

A