This might explain the itching. My puppy scratches behind his ears when he gets nervous or uncomfortable...
"5. Yawning, lip licking, shaking, stretching, and a million other seemingly insignificant behaviors. As social creatures, dogs evolved with a complex system of behaviors designed to diffuse and deflect tension. These behaviors are called calming signals. Calming signals include:
Turning away, yawning, lip licking, shaking off like she’s trying to dry herself, scratching, stretching, blinking repeatedly and/or slowly, dipping the head, sneezing, lifting a paw like a bird dog on point.
Calming signals are subtle behaviors dogs offer when they are in potentially uncomfortable situations. It’s their attempt to calm themselves and others. If a dog yawns or sneezes at another dog or human, he’s saying something along the lines of “chill out, dude! It’s all good.”
__________________  Rudy |