Barometric pressure is atmospheric pressure measured by an instrument called a barometer. That pressure rises and falls, causing changes in our climate. High pressure is pressure greater than the pressure around you. It is combined with clear, cloudless skies and drier air. Low pressure is a lower pressure than the surrounding pressure. Casualties are combined with wind, atmospheric elevators, warm air, clouds, humidity, rain, thunderstorms, tropical storms, cyclones, and tornadoes.

Human studies have shown that differences in barometric pressure cause numerous physical, emotional, and behavioral changes. They include headaches, mood swings, and complaints about more aches and pains. Perhaps you, or someone you know, claim that you can predict the weather better than the meteorologist, simply because you feel changes in your body or mood.

So how do these atmospheric changes affect your dog? Science is not very sure. However, dog owners, especially hunters, and those with hounds as companion dogs, have noticed that as barometric pressure drops, their dogs change the way they track. This observation leads them to believe that their animals change the way they follow a scent, to compensate for changes in the way scent travels.

They also noticed that their dog tends to hold his head higher in the drier air, to pick up odors like when the atmospheric pressure is higher. If it’s very windy, your dogs have a harder time following a scent; most likely because it changes the direction of the smell. When the barometer drops and the wind dies down, indicating a low has moved, your dogs tend to keep their heads lower to the ground when they follow a scent.

There are those astute owners, who are particularly close and attentive, who have reported that they are alerted that there will be a change in the weather, by observing the physical and behavioral changes of their dogs. They included restlessness, gasping, shaking, whining, and drooling. Some of them discover that their animal needs to hide; others find that their dog needs to be exceptionally close to them.

There are arthritic dog owners who report that their pets often appear stiffer and have more difficulty getting up or walking when the barometric pressure is low. They may be correct. Why can’t dogs feel the extra pressure on their joints, like us?

Bottom line: if you’re aware of changes in your dog, that’s great! If not, maybe you will pay more attention now, because you will know what to look for. Your dog may be trying to tell you something, the only way he knows how.