Canine Body Language : The Basics

Reading a dog's body signals is always a conversation starter and I get a lot of questions about what it means when a dog does something. Here's a little information to help you figure some of that mystery out!

Ear and Tail Carriage...
The position of the ears and tail are often very telling about what a dog is going through at that moment. In general, a dog with a tail that is expressive (is sometimes up, down, parallel to the ground...) is easier to read. Dogs with tails normally carried high (like a husky or chow chow) are oftentimes misread because they do not drop their tail as often to express themselves. Same is true for ears. A dog with expressive ears (like a German Shepherd) is easier to read then a Basset.

That said, take both into account when you are assessing a mood in your dog. A dog with a low, tucked tail and lowered ears may be showing fear, submission, anxiety or insecurity. There's still a wide range to what may be going on inside so you need more clues. A dog with a high tail and ears perked forward may be confident, alert, aroused, aggressive or insecure. Again, there's a wide range to what is going in within.

Beyond Ears and Tails...
It's pretty obvious that we need more to go on then just the ears and tail, so let's look at facial expressions. Specifically, paying attention to the eyes and mouth will give you a lot more insight into what your dog feels. "Soft eyes" are typically the eyes you see when your dog looks up at you with affection. They are slightly closed and relaxed. This is a clear sign of relaxation. "Whale eye" or "fish eye" is used to describe when your dog's eyes are so wide that you can see the whites. This is usually a sign of stress. Take it with a grain of salt because if your dog can't move it's head (Say, while wearing a Gentle Leader) and is trying to look behind it, you may still see the whites while the dog is not necessarily stressed.

Mouth and facial expressions can tell you a great deal since the exposing of teeth is generally relative to how comfortable your dog is. A dog exposing all it's teeth (when not playing - which we'll discuss in another post) it's a pretty clear sign that the dog is NOT OK with what is going on. There are many different levels of teeth exposure from slight lip curls, which only expose the very tip of the canines, to front partial exposure, where you see the full canines but not the front small teeth, to full frontal exposure, where you see all the front teeth but not the back. These are generally warnings of some sort from slight "Ew! I don't like that" all the way up to "IF YOU MAKE ME DO/SMELL/FACE/GET CLOSER TO THAT I'LL BITE YOU!". Beware when your dog is exposing a lot of teeth.

The Whole Body...
The last element to take a look at is the rest of your dog's body. It's becoming more and more accepted by behaviorists that we know only a small fraction of what dogs are trying to communicate through their body language. The body area and interpretation of it is open to the widest debate. In general, however, you can safely bet that a dog who's body is loose and wiggly is relaxed. Conversely, a stiff body is considered to be alert, aroused or defensive.

General Canine Body Language Recap:

• Ears & Tail Up : Alert, Aroused, Aggress
• Ears & Tail Down : Fear, Anxiety, Submissive
• Soft Eyes : Relaxed, Submissive
• Whale or Fish Eye : Stressed, Anxiety
• Little Teeth Showing : Negating, Warning
• Some Teeth Showing : Negating, Larger Warning
• Lots of Teeth, Grimace : Strong Warning
• Full Teeth Showing : Strongest Negative Warning (Bite Coming)
  
• Wiggly Body : Relaxed, Happy
• Stiff Body : Alert, Aroused, Aggress