Understanding Canine Body Language

By Julie Jacobus, owner Training by Julie & Associates

An important part of your relationship with your dog is to understand what he is telling you. Dogs are especially adept at communicating exactly what their emotional state is at the moment. If you can determine whether the dog is feeling relaxed, aroused, or fearful, you can manage the situation accordingly. Much of our dog’s behavior around other dogs or people is ritualistic posturing, not intended to cause harm and not worth the anxiety we bring to the situation. Other behaviors are stress or arousal signals that we often ignore.

Many people are unaware that dogs exhibit stress in recognizable ways. From a dog’s point of view, he has done everything possible to show that he is stressed, but these humans, unlike most other dogs, just haven’t picked up on the signals.

Common stress signals we may recognize in our dogs may include pinning their ears back, pacing, a low body posture, excessive shedding, and trembling. Often overlooked signs can include yawning, licking their lips, slow or no movement (a lack of behavior in a dog means something!,) stretching, checking out the “private parts,” dry panting, and ridges at the corner of the mouth or at the brow. These are all signs the dog is feeling uncomfortable in the situation they are in.

As dogs become even more stressed, or possibly aroused (agitated,) we may see piloerection (raising hackles- the hair on their neck and/ or back, although some dogs display this in play,) excessive drooling, vocalizations, and cheek puffing.

As dogs adapt to their situation, they may offer appeasement signals, ways to say “look I’m stressed, but want to be your friend.” They may offer deference signs, to tell you they don’t want to challenge, or cut-off signals that say they want distance, in a peaceful way.

Dogs are masters at body and head positions. Is the dog turning sideways to you? That’s the best way to meet. Some dogs will face their body to you, but turn their head. This is why taking pictures of some dogs can be difficult to get a good head shot.

Often when dogs are stressed, but non-confrontational, they will offer a paw raise, yawn, start sniffing the ground randomly, or shake off. More subtle signs include sneezing, soft blinking, scratching themselves, or a change in position, such as standing to sitting. Every behavior means something.

When a dog feels confronted, they may show the following signs- these are distance increasing signals- a way of saying “please back off now!” These will include marking territory near you, tense body or face, the tail may be held high and wagging stiffly, heightened posture, hard eyes, and the mouth may be closed tight. Make sure to respect these signs; dogs will avoid aggression if given the opportunity.

Never punish a dog that growls at you. It is the most polite way of a dog telling you to back off. It is better to defuse the situation, and resolve the triggering behaviors at another point. Attempting to show the dog “who’s boss” at this point makes as much sense as getting into an argument with a toddler. No one wins.

Fear and anxiety, which are the primary causes of aggression, are involuntary emotional reactions. If we punish dogs when they are already anxious and fearful, we may escalate their aggressive responses or temporarily shut down behavior, which will re-emerge.

Of course, there are also distance decreasing behaviors, the ways dogs tell us they want to interact. Dogs will offer us play bows, loosely wagging tails or the circle wag, submissive licking, care soliciting behaviors (leaning, etc.,) relaxed eyes and body positions.

Try observing your own dogs, and other dogs, and try to catch some of these signals. It is amazing how dogs are so good at communication, without saying one word. If we can understand what they are saying, we can improve our relationships with them, and their relationships to the world around them.