Is your dog doing the hundred yard stare? Are they staring right at a ghost? Creepy.
In this article, we’ll be helping you understand why your dog is staring at nothing. We’ll also tell you if your dog staring at nothing should be something to worry about, and how to stop your dog staring off into space. It’s just bare scary when they do that.
Now that you’re here, we’re guessing you’re also looking for a great puppy training programme. We don’t mean to brag, Zigzag is definitely it. With Zigzag, you’ll learn how to teach your puppy all the important skills they need to be happy, confident dogs, but also how to have fun and play. We have a fully structured and personalised programme, based around your pup’s stage of development and their breed, as well as a team of professional dog trainers on hand to help you through any rough patches with a 24/7 accessible in-app chat. Doesn’t get better than that.
Why is my dog staring at nothing?
Dogs have different vision to humans, so they can see things we can’t. They are also highly receptive to scent, so when they stare into nothing, it may be that they are simply trying to pay attention to a certain smell, which can look like they’re staring.
Let’s take a look (pun intended) at why your dog might be staring at nothing.
Orientating to a scent
Dogs have a powerful sense of smell. If you see your dog staring into nothing, it might be that they’re actually sniffing the air and staring at the scent trail. They might also be trying to locate a smell coming from a particular area, like a kitchen cupboard, or the corner of a room.
Listening as well as looking
Dogs have an excellent sense of hearing too, and may be hearing sounds in the distance. This means they will stop and wait to listen very attentively…which can look like they are staring. They might also orient to a place where the sound (no matter how faint!) could be coming from.
If you feel like your dog is having problems hearing, they might need their ears cleaned or the hair trimmed!
Daydreaming
Okay, so we don’t know if they’re actually daydreaming, but they might be just having a think about things. Yes, this is perfectly possible.
Learn more about puppy sleep in our article puppy sleep explained.
Depression or lethargy
If your dog looks sad or lacking energy, they can appear shut down. This might look like them just sitting around and staring, not doing very much. It’s kind of heartbreaking, not gonna lie.
To know more about how to keep your dog’s spirit high, read guides “why is my puppy lethargic” and “why is my dog suddenly distant”.
Age
As dogs get older, they do tend to slow down, and cognitive and sensory decline can happen. This means they may sit and stare, sometimes at nothing, or maybe they’ll stare at you! It happens to all of us.
Should I be worried about my dog staring at nothing?
Staring at nothing is often pretty harmless, but there can be medical reasons behind it too. Here’s our list to work through of things that might be concerning. As always, for anything medical related, your safest best is having a chat with your Vet.
Sudden staring
Any behaviour which is out of the ordinary for your dog should be recorded and diarised. See if you can spot any triggers, and report them to your Vet. Keeping a diary is really useful, as their stares might be due to illness…but you may just as well have some critters or rodents roaming under your house!
Neurological issues
Seizures and other brain traumas, illnesses or syndromes can have staring at nothing, or looking vacant as part of a range of symptoms too.
Doggy Dementia
Yep, this is a thing. Signs of canine cognitive dysfunction can include prolonged staring at nothing, or staring at walls or at the floor. You might also hear this called “sundowner syndrome”, and it generally affects ageing and senior dogs.
Pain
If your dog is feeling pain, any kind of discomfort, or ill, they may stare into space as a coping mechanism to help them think about something else. We’re so much more alike than we think, aren’t we?
Compulsive Behaviours
What some may call obsessive compulsive disorder or doggy OCD, prolonged fixated staring, can become compulsive. Staring at lights and reflections, or shadow chasing, can also be a compulsive problem for some dogs.
How to stop your dog from staring into space?
If you have a dog who’s staring into space, you may want to do something to have them stop doing that. But first, it’s worth investigating why they’re doing that to rule out any rodents, funny smells, or problems only your vet would know about.
After you’ve done that, you can move on and follow these tips:
Increase their enrichment.
Playing interactive games, puzzle feeders or providing them with other opportunities for enrichment can help with reducing boredom and signs of cognitive decline and reduce boredom in dogs too. This should help them from going looking for trouble on their own, and fixating on staring at nothing.
Distract them with a toy
Play tug, or fetch to distract them from the staring. This is something you want to do especially if they’re getting too fixed on a smell; it can help get rid of that intense staring and give them something else to do.
Teach them to leave it
Teach them a reliable “leave it” cue with positive reinforcement training, to help break the staring and get them to do something else.
Play some white noise or music
Certain music has been shown to help reduce anxiety, lower stress, and can block out noises that might be causing them to fixate on listening to the outside noises. Our article on puppy white noise machines can tell you more about this.
Get their attention
Call their name, ask them to come to you, and then get them to do something else. Perhaps you can indulge them in some grooming, or teach them some tricks to keep their mind busy on something else.
Give them plenty of exercise
Make sure your puppy receives the correct amount of exercise. Depending on their age and breed, dogs will have different exercise needs; but all dogs appreciate an enriching sniffy walk.
Give your dog a structured routine
Predictable routines for mealtimes, playtimes, training and naps, will work beautifully to keep them engaged. Predictability helps your dog understand what comes next in their day-to-day life, and can help to lessen stress and anxiety. Something as simple as giving your dog a routine can reduce their need to stare and fixate compulsively. Dogs really aren’t as high maintenance as we think. All they need is love and care.
Understanding why your dog stares at nothing is important. Remember that you first need to find out the underlying reason for it, and rule out any medical problems that might need your vet’s attention. Once you understand that, you can move on and follow our tips to help reduce their staring, by redirecting, following routines, making sure they get the right physical and mental exercise and helping them through these lessons with positive reinforcement training.
While you’re here, you might want to find out how do I know if my dog is bored, but perhaps you’re looking for fun things to do with your dog. If that’s the case, you might want to check out our tricks guides like how to teach a dog to spin, or how to teach a dog to bow. We also have a great training games library to help improve your recall and lead walking…there’s much more than you can imagine.
Download the Zigzag app, and get your pup off to the best start with their training. Our lessons are personalised based on your pup’s stage of development as well as their breed type, so your learning path is as smooth as it can be. We also have a fantastic team of professional dog trainers that will be happy to help you guide you through all the rough patches you encounter.
