K9 Body language

[Zetaman40]

I noticed there isn't a thread about this yet from what I saw, and I feel its important for all pet owners to know this stuff to better understand how dogs communicate! Here's a pretty descriptive and accurate representation on k9 body language with real life examples!

Playful stance: A dog in this stance is excited and wants to play


Submissive-Relaxed: A dog in this stance is content and wants attention so long as its not accompanied by any negative body language (I'll go into greater detail further in the thread)



Fearful or unsure: a dog in this stance is trying to say he/she's uncomfortable with something, a lowered body and head are definite signs of fear or anxiety

 

[Zetaman40]

Nuteral relaxed: a dog in this stance is content (not a real life picture but its accurate) for dogs that don't have erect ears its actually normal for a relaxed dog to pull their ears back just slightly, but they'll still appear relaxed with no face tension


Submissive-Fear: a dog in this stance is really scared




Alert: a dog in this stance is generally curious about something new to them

 

[Zetaman40]

Alright here is more in depth explanations: (Remember you should never focus on just one body cue as the overall body language conveys a full message)

Eyes:
A dog that is relaxed will generally appear to have almond shaped eyes, they may appear to be squinting at you, a fearful dog will normally have "whale eye" (whites showing to an extreme extent) and avoid direct eye contact entirely, (its normal for dogs to avoid keeping direct eye contact held for long) however an aggressive dog will maintain direct eye contact while showing whites of eyes for more than a couple seconds and it usually is a threatening cue

Mouth:
A dog that is relaxed generally will have their mouth held open slightly, may or may not be panting, and can appear to be smiling (corners of the mouth in an upward angle. Stressed or fearful dogs generally keep their mouth closed, and usually display long lip (lips pulled back torwards ears in a straight line) now excessive panting when not excited and not in a hot environment can mean stress, so can excessive drooling in dogs who are normally not prone to it, however drooling can come from excitement (which is why overall body language is important!) An aggressive dog will obviously purse their lips and or snarl

Ears:
With a relaxed dog, ears will be in their natural state, whether that's straight up erect or down and slightly back, its easier to read a dogs ears that naturally stand up, but generally the more forward and relaxed a dogs ears are the more interested, the more flat and pinned back they are means they are more submissive or fearful about something, this isn't always the case as sometimes dogs will put their ears back when feeling friendly (again see overall body language)

Tail: A relaxed dog will normally hold their tail low, and may wag the tip. A happy and or excited dog will raise their tail and wag it rapidly, A curious dog will extend it out horizontally and may slightly wag it, a fearful dog will tuck their tail and wag the tip really slow, an over-aroused or aggressive dog will hold it straight up and out in a straight line, their may be waging at the base but it will be fast, slight movement, followed by holding it erect again

Hair: an aggressive or fearful dog will generally stand the hair up on their back, shouldn't have to explain this one any further than that

Overall body posture: watch your dogs overall body posture, if they are evenly distributing their body weight on all four paws they are relaxed. If they are pointing (leaning forward possibly with back paws straight out behind them) they are being alert and or dominant, if their body is stiff and upright they are feeling threatened (muscles will appear tense) if their body and head are held low and they're walking in a low stance, and or dropping onto one side in a sitting position they are scared (especially if they are shaking and cowering as close to the ground as possible)

 

[Zetaman40]

Bump

 

[nekdoneco123]

nice work

 

[Zetaman40]

 

[FloofyNewfie]

This is all good information, many behaviors I've learned by just living with canines, but since my girls both aren't aggressive it's good to know the signs. However, you may want to PM ZTHorse or SloppyTaco to get this entire thread moved to the "How tos and Educational" section where this topic would more appropriately fit.

It'll make it easier to find in the future, as the category it's currently in tends to get clogged with other newer posts very quickly.

 

[HoundDogRuffDog]

I love this thread!

I'd like to add:
A wagging tail does not always mean a happy dog! A dog's tail is more of an indicator of energy and excitement. A dog that leashed is barking, jumping, baring teeth and wagging it's tail is nervous but angry. A dog that is leashed, barking, but standing still while barking is standing it's ground, hoping you won't come closer and alerting others you are there. A dog which is leashed, wiggles and jumps from side to side and wags it's tail is happy to see you and wants closer.

The body language changes when they are not leashed somewhat.
Once I had a guard dog run towards me, barking, fangs bared but the rest of his body showed he was insecure. He was running towards the road so I walked towards him, asking him "Yo, dog! Why so anrgy! Go back home!" and he just screeched to a stop, stopped barking and started walking back home, his owner was then seen running after him, he had got loose by accident.
He had no confidence and he was outside his usual territory so he didn't dare to oppose someone outside of it.
Had I got spooked and ran away from him (which he expected to happen) he would've probably ran farther away from home onto the road. He might not have ran all the way after me, only to the very edge of where he feels confident, but it was not something I would've wanted to find out

So yeah, a barking dog is usually an insecure, not an angry dog, and dogs wag their tails to tell you much more than "I am happy". There's a lot more nuance to dog language that what we might expect first.

Going on a course with a trainer who uses positive methods is recommendable. Also, to watch a lot of videos of dogs in dog parks etc..

 

[Zetaman40]

I love this thread!

I'd like to add:
A wagging tail does not always mean a happy dog!

Thanks Glad this thread is getting alot of views! Yep, it all depends on the overall body posture and position the tail is waging in, that is why I expressed at the beginning of the thread to always watch overall body language! And ya generally a dogs behaviour can/does change to some degree on a leash compared to off, and usually bad behaviour stems from improper lead training tbh from what ive saw a lot of times (to much leash tension between dog and owner can cause a dog to be tense and dominant while on walks, keeping the leash "loose" generally = a calmer dog)