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Steps
- Spend some time just watching your dog. Learning your dog's habits, mannerisms, and movements through observation will allow the process of understanding her behavior to feel more natural and there will be plenty of things she does that will make sense to you without explanation. Just as every person is unique, so is your dog, and knowing her particular way of being is something that only you can understand fully.
- Be aware that much of a dog's language or communication skills are subtle.
- The importance of learning canine language resides in the fact that you will be able to respond to any problems she expresses before they become more marked. Not noticing small signs of stress or unhappiness can soon lean to more aggressive or distressed behaviors.
- Remember that this is a two-way learning process. Dogs have to learn our behavioral cues as well, and knowing this is just as important because it will affect how you respond to your dog, causing you to be more careful about your own gestures and posture.
- Note that a dog's ability to signal may be hampered by the breed in question, for example, if a dog has squat ears, a docked tail, etc.
- Be aware that much of a dog's language or communication skills are subtle.
- Start by understanding the value of dog eye contact. Consider how you feel when someone stares at you directly rather than uses normal eye contact standards. Just as you find it confronting, dogs also feel confused and threatened by direct head-on staring because it is a threat stance for them. A dog that looks away in this situation is actually being polite (or submissive) and is seeking to avoid confrontation.[1]
- Look at your dog's posture. The ways in which a dog holds her body can tell you a great deal about her mood and emotions. Many of the signals will be subtle and it can take some time to learn all of her expressions but it is well worth the effort. Here are some of the most common positions to know:
- Confident stance: A dog that is feeling confident will stand tall, have her tail up and probably wagging slowly, her ears will either be pricked up or relaxed, and she will generally look relaxed. Her eyes will have smaller pupils as they are also relaxed.[2]
- Bowing: Facing you and with head and chest dipped low to the ground to the ground, front legs splayed out, and with rear end and tail up is a clear invitation to play. This is known as the 'play bow'.[3] It can be mistaken by owners as an attack stance but it clearly denotes playtime.
- Hip swings: Hip swings or nudges are another sign of play.This involves the dog swinging around another dog and knocking them to the ground using the backside (the end of the dog without teeth!).[4] When the dog's rear is presented to you, it is an indication of trust and depending on your dog, it might mean your dog wants a scratch. Wiggling her rear end is a sign of excitement and friendliness.[5]
- Rolling over: This action exposes the dog's underbelly and is a gesture that shows respect for authority. Giving a belly rub serves as excellent reinforcement for this behavior. This action can also indicate passive resistance, resisting a threat in a passive and indirect manner, using feet to push away the problem (such as an owner clipping nails); in this case, if it is you she is directing the passive resistance at, she is likely to resort to finding a number of play distracting behaviors to get you to do something else![6]
- Pacing: Pacing can mean excitement, nervousness, or boredom (from a lack of exercise or things to play with).
- Raised hackles: This refers to the strip of fur running down the middle of the dog's back. When it is raised, it can be a sign that the dog feels threatened and is trying to make herself appear larger than normal. It is not necessarily an aggressive stance but one of 'high alert', making herself ready for whatever may come next.[7] A scared dog can bite, so be extremely careful around a dog raising her hackles.[8]
- Frightened or insecure: The dog will cower or crouch down. A slight crouch will denote submissiveness or nervousness. Another response can be an arched back, slightly bent legs, and the tail down (but not tucked under), and looking at what is concerning her.[9]
- Suddenly freezes in the middle of action: This means that your dog isn't feeling sure of herself and would rather be left alone, or is preparing for an attack.[10] This is commonplace when a dog is holding a bone; don't get between the dog and her bone!
- Aggressive or threatened: The dog will lean forward and appear rigid. This occurs in response to what the dog perceives as a threat or a challenge. The tail will usually be tucked down or under, wagging in a quick and frantic manner.[11] The whites of the eyes will likely show as the dog turns away to look.
- Look at your dog's gestures. Just as with people, certain gestures are clear signals that can be interpreted and understood. Some of the more common ones include:
- Uncertainty or puzzlement: This can be expressed in a number of ways, such as raising one paw, keeping most of the body away from the person, animal or object creating uncertainty, and backing away. If the head is tilted to one side, this means that the dog is listening, or is uncertain and puzzled and is awaiting more information.
- Mounting: Mounting (or humping) can be a sign of stress in a dog, especially where a low-confidence dog is trying to establish allegiance with a higher-confidence animal.[12] Mounting is difficult for owners because it can be used as a dominance gesture, seeking to be more dominant in the pack than another person. Care should be taken when interpreting this gesture and the standard training approaches to prevent a dog from jumping up can be applied.
- Raised paw touching knee or other part of person: The kneading associated with obtaining mother's milk as a pup turns into a pacifying gesture.[13] As time goes on, the raised paw becomes a way for the dog to get attention when she wants it from a human, to make a request or ask for something, or to indicate a wish to play with other dogs.[14] Pawing at the air is often used by puppies as an invitation to play.[15] You can interpret the raising of a paw as similar to that of offering a hand for a handshake – it's about connecting and friendship.[16]
- Dominance: This can be established in a number of ways, including placing their head or chin, or a paw, on the back neck or shoulders of another dog.[17] This may be accompanied by staring and standing tall or standing over another dog.
- Shaking the head and shoulders: This signals an end to an activity, such as resting, playing, or training. It can also signal the end of a certain level of tension, such as being alert to a threat or an anticipated event that doesn't occur.
- Check the tail signals. While adorable, given that we don't come equipped with tails, it can be a little harder for us to understand tail gestures without further understanding of the behavioral meaning behind tail wagging. The tail can convey some very important information to the astute watcher and it's important to bear in mind that this doesn't always mean happiness! Here are some common tail signals:
- Upright tail: This indicates confidence, assertiveness, or high excitement.[18] It can also be seen as an 'alpha' dog position around other dogs.
- Tail in neutral (level with body or slightly lower: This indicates a relaxed dog, feeling secure and friendly.[19]
- Tail lowered or tucked between legs: This shows anxiety, fear, and uncertainty.[20][21] Wagging can still occur in this situation, which can lead to the misunderstanding that the dog is happy. This position can also indicate a need for reassurance or protection.
- Fierce wag and tail up: This can indicate that the dog is feeling mischievous and inclined to bother and annoy you or a fellow canine![22] It could also signal swatting away another animal.
- Slight wag: This indicates that the dog is relaxed but alert and is anticipating, ready to play.
- Slow wag, tail slightly lowered: This can indicate that the dog is confused and is asking for an explanation, or is investigating a non-threat (curiosity).
- Slight trembling of the tail, erect: This means that there is a challenge and the dog is displaying dominant behavior.
- Rapid wagging, tail in low position: The dog is submissive.
- Slightly lowered tail, and still: This indicates that the dog is alert and watching. If the tail is lowered and is barely moving, it can also indicate insecurity.[23]
- If there is slight movement with a low tail, this can indicate that the dog is either sad or not feeling well.
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- Look at your dog's ears. While we're not able to do much with our own ears, a dog's ears can be incredibly expressive.
- Ears pricked forward or straight up: This can indicate that the dog is fully engaged in play, hunting, or concentration. It's a sign of paying attention.[24] This ear position can also indicate curiosity and can express the intent to do something, as the dog is turning to catch sounds. It is an obvious ear position in the early stage of a chase.[25]
- Ears flattened: Ears that sit against the dog's head indicate that the dog feels afraid or threatened. Ears that are forward but close to the head can also indicate aggression.[26]
- Ears part way back but not flattened: This indicated unhappiness, anxiety, or uncertainty.[27]
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- Learn about your dog's eye signals. A dog's eyes express as much as human eyes do, and just as you learn to interpret people's eye signals, you can also learn to interpret your dog's. Here are some of the more common eye signals:
- Eyes wide open: This means that your dog is feeling alert, playful, and ready.[28]
- Staring: As noted earlier, this is dominant, challenging behavior.
- Avoiding eye contact: This can be a form of politeness (in human speak) or of deference or submission (in dog speak).
- Blinking or winking: Your dog is being playful.
- Narrowed eyes: This can indicate that your dog is feeling aggressive and is preparing to attack.[29] This gesture may be accompanied by staring.
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- Watch your dog's face. Facial expressions do exist on dogs and they are quite specific. As part of interpreting your dog's gestures and behavior, understanding the facial expressions is crucial:
- Smile: If may be hard to spot a smile from a snarl, but check the entire body language. If everything else adds up to a happy dog, then your dog is smiling, and this means it's happy and relaxed, as with humans.
- Yawn: Yawning is very dependent on the context, just as it is with us (such as because we're tired, need more oxygen, we're feeling stressed or embarrassed, or we notice someone else yawning). For dogs, yawning appears to be contagious just as it is with humans.[30] Indeed, if you yawn in front of your dog, she may interpret it either as you being stressed (in which case, she'll likely turn away from you to give you some space), or she'll respond in kind and yawn too.[31] Dogs also yawn as a way to ease tension, to show confusion or when they feel slightly threatened especially when meeting new situations or new dogs or animals.
- Mouth: A dog that has her mouth stretched back, closed or just slightly open, is showing that she is very stressed, in fear, or in pain.[32] This may be accompanied by rapid panting. If her mouth is stretched back and open, it is an neutral or submissive sign. A dog that is alert and content will have her mouth closed or slightly open, with the teeth covered.[33]
- Lip licking: If your dog licks her lips in combination with a yawn, this can be a clear indication that she is feeling stressed, under pressure, or facing a threat.[34] It's a commonplace gesture shown by puppies around adults, again deriving from suckling behavior. If puppies continue this behavior into adulthood, their constant licking will annoy both people and other dogs alike. And for mature dogs, licking can also be part of the dog's sexual behavior as it finds chemical signals on grass, carpet, and the genitals of other dogs.[35] A dog that is licking another dog's lips is showing deferring behavior.[36]
- Bared teeth: This is a signal of aggression and an intention to use the teeth for biting.[37] This doesn't mean that every flash of teeth means aggression though, and you must take care to note the other elements. If the teeth are bared and there is no wrinkling of the muzzle, this is a warning and a sign of dominance and territorial defensiveness. If the lips are curled, the teeth are bared, the muzzle is wrinkled, and the dog is snarling, this indicates that the dog is angry and ready to fight, and there is every chance that it will bite.
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- Listen to your dog. Barks, growls, yelps, and howls all carry their own unique language indicators that can take time to learn but are also an important part of understanding your dog's overall behavior. Many people think a bark is a bark is a bark. As you begin to really listen you will hear very distinct differences:
- Learn to differentiate your dog's barks:
- Loud, high pitched, rapid bark: This is both aggressive and territorial.[38]
- Guttural or short, frequent, alert bark: This type of bark is aimed at warning the pack (wolf or human) of potential danger. It may be accompanied by a snarl, or growls.[39]
- Crisp, short bark: This is a form of greeting from your dog.
- High pitched bark: This is often heard when your dog is being playful. A short, high bark is a sign of friendliness, and may be accompanied by whimpering or yapping.[40]
- High pitched, sharp yelp: This is an indication that your dog is in pain.
- Low pitched, single or spaced out bark: This is another warning to back off.
- Loud, high pitched, rapid bark: This is both aggressive and territorial.[38]
- Learn to differentiate growls. Be aware that play growls are common during play so not all growls are to be viewed as aggressive or worried, but still be careful because a dog that has become too boisterous and carried away in play may still snap at a human who intervenes or gets too close.
- Low, quiet growl: This indicates that you need to back off. It is a sign of assertiveness in a dominant dog.[41]
- Low growl ending with short bark: This is the sound made when your dog is responding to threat. It can be a prelude to a snap.
- Medium growl, leading to or combined with bark: This type of growl indicates that your dog feels nervous, and possibly aggressive.
- Low murmuring grumble: This is a lovely sign of contentment. Soft growling is generally play growling;[42] assess it by taking in the context and the general stance of your dog. It will often be accompanied by excited barking.
- Low sustained growl or 'woofing': This noise is an indication that your dog is feeling either anxious or suspicious.
- Low, quiet growl: This indicates that you need to back off. It is a sign of assertiveness in a dominant dog.[41]
- Learn to differentiate howls:
- Long, sustained howl: separation, loneliness
- Short, howl with rising pitch: This noise indicates that your dog is happy and/or excited.
- Baying: This is a hunting signal.
- Siren: This is a response to another howl or a sustained noise.
- Long, sustained howl: separation, loneliness
- Learn to differentiate whines and whimpers:
- Short whines accompanied by short barks: This indicates that your dog is eager, curious, and excited.[43]
- Short whimpers: This demonstrates fear or anxiety.
- Low pitched whine: This indicates that your dog is mildly anxious or submissive.[44]
- Persistent high pitched whine: This is a plea for attention, or reflects intense anxiety, or severe pain.
- Short whines accompanied by short barks: This indicates that your dog is eager, curious, and excited.[43]
- Note that a lack of barking or other dog noises can indicate a predatory state, aimed at not alerting the prey. This may also be accompanied by sniffing the air, keeping low, remaining rigid, ears flicking forward and backward to catch sounds, mouth closed and eyes wide open.[45] Equally, no noise can indicate a submissive dog seeking approval.
- Understand pack order. Dogs are pack animals, genetically programed to follow the hierarchy of the pack; their behavior and communication is based on their 'perceived' position in the pack. The Greek Alphabet is used to designate the positions held in the pack. The more dogs you have, the more this behavior is emphasized. Many of the gestures or postures that dogs use are related to pack order and they are often mistaken for meaning other things. When you understand the gestures as dominant, submissive, or challenging behaviors, you will then be able to understand your dog better and can respond accordingly.
- Alpha is the leader. This should be you, but look for indications that the dog may think she is.
- Other dogs will fall into next positionsBeta, Gamma, Delta and so forth until the most submissive is Omega. If you have more than one dog you may see different dominance, submission, challenging behaviors in their play and everyday habits. It is their nature to try to move up in the pack order as well as strive to maintain their own position, so you may notice challenging behaviors at times, even though there is a clear pack order.
- Alpha is the leader. This should be you, but look for indications that the dog may think she is.
- Watch your own language and messaging. Dogs understand your language but it's on their terms, and through their eyes, although recent research does suggest that dogs may have the ability to understand some of our language.[46] It's very important to understand how you appear to your dog and how some of your gestures may be causing your dog distress, fear, or worry, even though you're completely unaware of this. Always be aware that your dog is watching you, learning, and seeking to predict your routine, habits, and preferences. This is why dogs are so good at predicting what we're about to do; they pick up on our subtle body changes and are able to use these to predict our leaving, the arrival of visitors, and even epileptic seizures.[47] It's also how dogs learn that bared teeth in humans is no worry, and that our loud emanations such as sneezing and coughing are of no concern! Some of the common messaging that we can portray to our dogs includes:
- Withdrawal of our gaze and our arms at the same time. This informs our dog that we have decided not to touch her anymore and this results in her responding negatively.[48]
- Staring at our dog. This is viewed as a threat by our dog; some trainers believed that a dog looking away was a sign of disobedience but it is better understood now as being one of politeness or submission.[49]
- Seeing the signs of fear on a dog as guilt and reacting as if a dog deserves punishment. This only serves to increase a dog's sense of fear and does nothing to instill better behavior from our perspective.
- Patting dogs on the head. Quite a number of dogs do not like being patted directly on the head and this is something a dog usually needs to learn to tolerate.[50] As such, it is never advisable to pat a strange dog on the head until you're more familiar with her. In turn, if you live in an urban environment where people are likely to want to do this, early training (with treats) to help your dog tolerate head patting is essential.
- Our own yawning, as noted earlier, can indicate to your dog that you're distressed and cause her to move away from you. It can be a good idea to cover your yawn around her if she responds negatively.
- Hugging and cuddling. Dogs are cute, adorable, and very hug-worthy. The problem is that nature has programmed the dog to believe that being held in close proximity means one of two things: one, that she is trapped as prey, or two, that she is being mounted.[51] Since neither of these actions brings on happy responses, a dog that is not used to frequent cuddling and hugging may respond by fleeing, wriggling, and snapping. If this is the case with your dog, be patient and take a gradual approach to getting her used to your loving embrace. Ensure that children who hug dogs always keep their faces away from the dog, and monitor the dog's reaction so that you can intervene quickly if needed.
- Instilling a sense of isolation. Dogs are social animals and need contact. The first nights of having a puppy in the home are a time when you need to dispense with your usual distancing from the dog; try to stay near the puppy (such as having her crate in your room), and then gradually moving her to where she will sleep permanently. This will reassure her that all is well. Do not share your bed with her unless you want this to become an ingrained, permanent (and very annoying) habit. Doing this creates a permanent expectation in your puppy's mind.
- Shouting at your dog and/or gesticulating wildly or shaking 'weapons' like the broomstick at your dog. This is crazy behavior and does nothing to change your dog's behavior but can certainly upset an already insecure and fearful dog even more (try seeing it from the dog's eye view – not pretty). Spare your energy and stay calm. Always abide by the rule of making the minimum of fuss (also a good rule to have in place with children).
- Withdrawal of our gaze and our arms at the same time. This informs our dog that we have decided not to touch her anymore and this results in her responding negatively.[48]
Video
Tips
- Take time to learn about your own dog's messaging. As a unique individual, while much of what is written here will be applicable, your dog will also display her own forms of messaging and it is through spending time with your dog that you will get to know her best.
- There are many more subtle signs that dogs use to show their anxiety, stress, interest, or other moods. Get to know these signs to help you predict a dog's reactions.
- It is important to note your dog's behavior around other species than humans and other dogs. When introducing other pets into the house, such as cats and rabbits, your dog's reactions are an important indicator as to the success or otherwise of the introduction and being ready to intervene quickly if things get out of hand can mean the safety of either animal is assured. Gradual introductions, careful supervision, and patience all tend to be required when introducing a new pet around a dog that has already established her place.
Warnings
- Note! Any whine or whimper can mean pain or injury. Do not ignore any sustained whining or whimpering if the cause is not known. Give your dog a thorough check over, and if you still cannot find anything wrong and she continues to voice her unhappiness, see a vet immediately.
- As clarified in the article's steps, be aware that a wagging tail does not necessarily mean that the dog is friendly or happy. Dogs can wag their tails for many reasons (just as humans can smile or show their teeth for many reasons). If you're not familiar with the dog, always look for other signs that may suggest she is not in the mood for handling or that a swift retreat is in order.
- Do not force your dog into doing anything, and do not communicate with it in a way that could come off harmful or offensive.
Things You'll Need
- Training equipment
- Time to observe your dog and to play together
- Notebook for recording observations (optional)
Related wikiHows
- How to Teach Your Dog to Sit with a Clicker
- How to Give Your Dog Basic Training
- How to Travel Safely with Your Dog in the Car
- How to Train Your Dog to Walk or Heel Without a Choke Chain
- How to Make Healthy Dog Treats
- How to Teach Your Dog to Drop It
Sources and Citations
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