By Abbie Volpone, VSA-CDT
https://www.dogtrainerabbie.com/
It’s no secret that dogs don’t talk like we do, but how do they communicate? The majority of dog communication is in the form of subtle body language. This language is so subtle sometimes, that wearing clothing, like a sweater or costume, or even having long fur is enough to disguise their intentions and make them scary and mysterious to other dogs. This is a big reason cropped ears and docked tails became popular– it makes their body language more vague and intimidating to dogs as well as humans and is why “guard” dog-type breeds typically have them.
So, you’ve decided you want to learn a new language. First, you have to learn some “words.” In the case of dog-talk, this means little cues, and their general meanings. It’s important to recognize though that, just like with words, they can have meaning by themselves and entirely different meaning in context. When it comes to reading a dog, we have to take the whole body and the situation into account. But we’ll get there.
“Words” to Know
There are the classic, easy to see cues, like a snarl, a play bow, a growl, tail tuck, etc., but usually, the ones that really matter are even more subtle. Here’s a collection of some of the most commonly missed subtle things our dogs tell us with their body.
Lip lick or tongue flick. This is usually a very small lick. Typically associated with stress, tension, frustration, or anticipation.
Side Eye or “Whale Eye”–very visible whites of eyes, usually looking without turning their head. Typically associated with stress, frustration, and fear.
Arched back posture. Typically associated with fear and apprehension.
Stiff body, weight shift forward or backward. Usually a sign of anticipation or uncertainty.
Furrowed or raised brows/ facial tension. Noticeable tightness or wrinkles in the mouth and eyes. Usually associated with concern, fear, or anticipation.
Paw lift. A stationary lift of one of the paws. Usually indicated anticipation or interest.
Piloerection–Raised hackles. Can be in small sections or the whole length of the back and tail base. Typically associated with arousal, excitement, or anticipation.
Yawning. A tense, uncomfortable yawn, sometimes accompanied by vocalization, normally indicates stress.
Other things to watch for
- A sudden itch can mean your dog is frustrated or stressed.
- Sniffing, while a normal and common dog behavior, can be displacement in tense situations.
- A wagging tail isn’t always a good thing– it really just means they’re feeling a big feeling.
- Good play behavior includes breaks, turn taking, and role reversal.
- Excess saliva or foam usually indicates overstimulation
Now let’s read some sentences.
By themselves, these body language cues could mean plenty of things. Of course, we always have to take the environment into account, for example, if a dog licks their lips while eating, we won’t pay much attention to that cue. And each individual dog will communicate differently, for example, some dogs display piloerection when they play from excitement. Knowing your dog and reading the whole environment is important. That said, we can fairly reliably read any dog by watching the combination of cues they give us, like a puzzle. Go back and look at the photos above again, and notice that, despite the close crop, you can almost always see more than one cue. The combination of different body language indicators is what writes the sentence for us.
Of course, the cues mentioned above aren’t the only ones to look for, just the lesser-known ones. Still look for snarls, tail tucks, one or both ears pinned back, moving away, etc. Really, any change in the baseline behavior is an indication of something. For example, if a dog is panting, and suddenly stops, that’s something to pay attention to– but so is a dog that wasn’t panting and suddenly starts. This is where knowing the dog and their baseline behaviors and personality is important in being able to appropriately read them.
Test yourself and see what these photos are telling you about the dogs pictured.
Below the slides, I’ll break down what I see in the photos in order.
- I see two dogs and a person in a tight space, what appears to be a tent. One dog is laying on a mat, another dog stands behind, and a person is beside them. There is also the person in front of them taking the photo. The tan dog seems relaxed, shows no facial tension, and isn’t looking at or moving away from any of the subjects. The white dog, who appears to have been laying comfortably, shows whale eye and a lip lick while looking towards the other two. This leads me to believe that the white dog is feeling uncomfortable, either startled or frustrated by sharing the tight space.
- I see a small dog standing on a bench in front of a mural. The dog shows lots of facial tension, mouth is neither open nor closed, and maybe some flared ears. The tail appears to maybe be doing a fast, low wag. This dog seems slightly nervous and displaying appeasement behaviors toward the person taking the photo.
- I see a dog in a field. This dog has a loose, swinging tail, a fairly relaxed face, and a curved body. The lifted paw appears to be from movement. The head is held in a normal position. Seems to be a happy pup!
- I see three dogs in a group. The two dogs parallel each other are giving lots of stress cues, both are displaying piloerection, a lick lip/ facial tension, and the left one has a lowered head, abnormal ear carriage, and possible paw lift. These dogs are having a tense interaction, and it would be a good time to recall to their owners to prevent conflict.
Dogs are so nuanced.
This is meant to be a crash course, to help you better understand what your dog is communicating to you. But the reality is, dogs communicate SO much better than we give them credit for. I’m always hearing people telling me about how unpredictable their dog is or how they just snap “out of the blue,” but that isn’t often the case. We just aren’t as good at watching and reading them as they are us. The best thing you can do to become more fluent in dog is watch for these things all the time. When you’re scrolling through Facebook and there’s a funny dog video that pops up, try to recognize the body language signals. Get yourself in the habit of seeing these little things and I promise your dog will start to make more sense. The most important take-away here is that dogs aren’t these unpredictable creatures that we must control. The majority of the time, they are very predictable, we just don’t take the time to notice and value the things they’re telling us.
Some fun facts about dog body language:
- There is a link between lateralization, behavior, and emotions. So, for example, the direction they are wagging their tail indicates which side of the brain that is activated. So, if a dog is wagging to the left, The right side of the brain is activated, which is most often a negative or uncomfortable emotional response. The opposite is true for wagging to the right. This also goes for paw lifts.
- Dogs stress-sweat too. Their paws may become sweaty when feeling stressed.
- Dogs that tilt their head when they hear something are usually trying to find the location of the sound.
- Dogs’ paw pads have scent glands that give off pheromones and many dogs when they are stressed or aroused will “wipe” their feet on the ground, marking using the pheromones.
This information is free to all. I believe that, if I truly want to be a good trainer and make a positive change for dogs, I have to be accessible and make the facts easier to find than the fiction.
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