What is your dog thinking?
Ever wonder what your dog was thinking or how it was feeling, well, reading a dogs body language is a simple and effective way of working out what sort of emotional state it's in, could be fearful, submissive, alert, relaxed, happy, dominant and many others.
Dogs instictually display their feelings subconciously through body language. If you consider that dogs can't speak then it's not hard to work out why your dog conveys so much communication through its posture, tail position, ear position and other physical displays.
A dog that is feeling fearful will display the following;
- ears back
- tail down and between the legs.
- head down.
- may try to make themselves look smaller.
- growling, baring teeth.
A dog that is submissive will display the following;
- ears back or relaxed.
- tail relaxed or slightly S-shaped
- may avoid eye contact.
- makes whining sounds.
A dog that is feeling alert will display the following;
- ears forward, or towards the stimulus(sound).
- tail up.
- standing in a prepared position.
- eye contact, intensely focused.
A dog that is feeling relaxed/happy will display the following;
- ears relaxed.
- tail up or down, possibly wagging.
A dog that is dominant will display the following;
- ears forward, relaxed.
- tail straight up.
- standing tall, relaxed and less excited than the submissive dog.
- less whining more growling.
A dog that is feeling aggressive will display the following;
- ears forward, alert.
- tail up or horizontal, straight and firm.
- hackles up (hair on back stands).
- growling, baring teeth.
This is just a basic guide on dog body language and shouldn't be used to conduct any sort of behavioral testing. Much more is needed to fully understand how a dog is influenced by its surroundings, as many things can change a dogs mood, like a squirrel running up a tree for example. Silly squirrels.
