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My dog's mouth tightens, baring teeth, and he whimpers. Is it serious?

Updated on September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Dog | Mixed Breed Small (up to 22lb) | Male | neutered | 20 lbs

Hi. My dogs mouth muscles seem to tighten up looking like he's baring his teeth but it gets stuck like that for awhile sometimes causing him to whimper or yelp. Any idea? How can I help him? It's becoming more frequent.

2 Answers

Most Helpful Answer

Answered By Debi Matlack

Veterinary Technician

Published on December 27th, 2017

This could be a form of seizure activity. I recommend getting your dog seen by your vet as soon as possible for an exam and lab work. If you can get a video of the episode, please do, so your vet will know what you're seeing. Sustained or repeated seizures can cause the body temperature to rise to dangerous levels and increases the risk of brain damage.

When you have a chance, take a look around and see if you can find anything he might have gotten into, since poisoning is one of the causes of seizures. If he has a history of liver or kidney disease, this is also a potential cause. Sometimes we never know why a pet has a seizure. If he does have a series of seizures, your vet will want to do an exam and bloodwork to try and determine a cause and potentially put your pet on anti-seizure medication to lessen the chances of this happening again in the future.

1Pet Parents found this answer helpful

Related Answers from Veterinarians

Answered By Andrea M. Brodie, DVM
Veterinarian
Published on December 22nd, 2018
This sounds like Poof may have had a seizure. There are different kinds of seizures, small ones like this or the usual ones that everyone recognizes.
Young dogs sometimes suffer from what we call idiopathic seizures (cause unknown) and older dogs that have never had a seizure before, can suffer from a brain tumor causing seizures. You should keep a diary of the seizures: situation that triggers it, time start, time ends, what the seizure looks like. If the seizure lasts more than 4-5 minutes your dog needs to see a vet right away, as this can cause hyperthermia and damage the brain. If you can you should take a little video of one such seizure to take with you to the vet and show him. Please make an appointment with your vet for an exam. He may want to put him on anti-seizure medication such as phenobarbital.
Sometimes certain diseases can cause seizures, so it is important that you take Poof to a veterinarian for an exam.
1Pet Parents found this answer helpful

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