Whether a dog dies with its eyes open or closed usually depends on the initial situation at the time of death. An awake dog often dies with its eyes open, while a sleeping dog usually has its eyes closed.
Open eyes are therefore not an indication that a dog suffered when it died.
Because even when they are put to sleep, many dogs have their eyes open. And this type of dying is, by definition, completely painless. [1]
Likewise, closed eyes do not automatically mean that the dog had a peaceful death. But you shouldn't bother with this question anyway.
A quick call to my trusted vet confirmed this:
“I have been a veterinarian for over 30 years and have seen many dogs die. No real pattern emerged here. Rather, the initial situation when dying determines whether the eyes are open or closed. If the dogs are awake, their eyes usually stay open. When dogs sleep, their eyes remain mostly closed.”
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Why don't your eyes close automatically after death?
Just like in humans, muscles prevent our eyes from closing automatically. Because both opening and closing are controlled by muscles.
What many don't know? The neutral state of the eye is neither open nor closed, but half open. By the way, it's the same with people.
Two opposite eye ring muscles are responsible for opening and closing the eyelids. I'll spare you the Latin names at this point.
At death, these muscles often relax, causing the dog's eyelid to either maintain its position or go into the half-open, neutral state.
In other words: If the opening eye muscle was last active, the eyes usually remain open after death – and vice versa.
If the dog was shocked when it died and opened its eyes very much, then the eyes often remain very wide open afterwards. This is often seen in car accidents.
Did you know? Puppies are born blind and mute. After birth, they are completely dependent on their sense of smell, taste and touch.
Which is more common: open or closed eyes?
There are also studies on dogs. So far, there has only been one study on this topic in humans. More specifically, 100 patients were examined in a hospital.
Accordingly, 63% had their eyes closed after death and 37% had their eyes half open.
Image may be used under these guidelines. [2]
Purely rationally, the result should be the other way around. Because people only sleep around 8 hours a day – around 33% of the time.
If open eyes in dead people really depend primarily on the initial situation, then statistically open eyes should occur much more frequently.
The reason for this distortion is probably the numerous medications that the patients received in the hospital before death. These significantly extend sleep time.
But what does that mean for dogs?
Well, according to studies, dogs sleep an average of 11.2 hours per day. Some breeds sleep up to 18 hours, while for others 8 hours is enough. [3]
According to this, an average of around 47% of all dead dogs must have opened their eyes.
Did you know? Some dogs often sleep and dream with their eyes open. When you have very vivid dreams, your pupils even move.
Why can't my eyes often be closed?
One thing in advance: The typical scene from films in which the eyelids of people and dogs are closed with a light stroke is absolute nonsense.
In some cases, the eyes cannot even be closed by force. The two main reasons for this are:
- Dry eye: After death, the eye fluid dries and sticks to the eyelid.
- Rigor mortis: The muscles in the eye become stiff so that the eyelid cannot be opened or closed.
Dead dogs' open eyes can hardly ever be completely closed. Since neuronal activity stops abruptly upon death, the muscles can no longer be activated.
In addition to opened eyes, the following symptoms also occur more frequently:
- Pupils enlarge
- Eyes become glassy
- Sclera (the white of the eye) becomes darker
- Tunnel vision sets in
Did you know? It is still completely unclear whether dogs even know that they are about to die. [5]
Importance of open eyes in dead dogs
In fact, open eyes simply mean that the dog was most likely awake at the time of death. On a spiritual level, however, there are other interpretations.
According to Chinese belief, every dog is condemned to death. If he has mostly done good deeds, then he can go to heaven.
On the other hand, if his actions were mostly bad, then he will be punished with hell. Open eyes in this case mean that the verdict was not a peaceful one.
Or to put it another way: The facial expression is said to be the soul's last reaction before it ascends to heaven or hell.
In other cultures, open eyes on dead dogs mean that the devil can see the world of the living. Consequently, everyone who is surrounded by the dead person should be marked.
For this reason, the eyes are often closed after death.
However, in our opinion, after the death of a dog, there are more important things than worrying about the eyes being open.
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