Dog Body Language by Sherry

Just like people, dogs communicate using “body
language.” Your dog is communicating with his
entire body, not just his tail or his voice. You’ll
need to learn to read your particular dog’s body
language if you want to know how your dog is
feeling. To get a sense of what your dog is trying
to tell you, spend as much time as you can
observing your dog and his body posture.
Because each dog is an individual and will express
fear, aggression, stress or joy slightly differently,
there are no hard and fast rules for interpreting
dog body language. Tail-wagging, for
instance, can indicate several emotions. The important
thing is to look at the entire body of the
dog. With that said, here are some examples of
dog body language and what they might mean.
Play bow. The
rear end of the dog
is up, while the
front end is down.
The play bow generally
means “I
want to play.”
Tail wagging.
Contrary to popular
belief, tail
wagging can mean
many things:
• A low-hung wagging
tail could
mean “I am
scared or unsure.”
• A high, stiff wag can mean “I am agitated, unsure
or scared, but not submissive. I might bite
you or your dog.” If the dog’s body is stiff,
he is staring, and his ears are up, use caution.
Keep the dog out of trouble – he may be about
to make a bad decision.
• A loose wag – not really high or really low –
normally means “I am comfortable and friendly.”
But, you should keep watching the dog’s
entire body: Some dogs have a large personalspace
requirement. They will tell you if you
get too close.
Freeze. A dog freezes if she is scared or guarding,
or feels cornered. She may bite, so please
slow down.
Rolling over. Rolling over generally means the
dog is being submissive, but look at the whole
dog. If the tail and mouth are loose, the dog is
probably comfortable and asking for a belly rub.
If the tail is tucked and the lips are stiff, the dog
may be scared. Some dogs will solicit attention
and then become fearful and bite, so observe the
whole dog, looking for comfortable, loose body
language.
Ears perked up. When a dog’s ears are forward,
he is alert, interested in something.
Tail between the legs. If the dog’s tail is tucked
between her legs and her ears are back against
her head, she is afraid, uncomfortable with
something.
Signs of Stress
When a dog is stressed, he often shows displacement
behavior – any of a variety of activities
that seem inappropriate in the situation they
are seen in. These behaviors occur most often
during times of emotional conflict. For example,
a dog starts self-grooming when he’s afraid and
faces the decision to fight or run away; grooming
is an odd response to a “flight or fight” situation.
Displacement behavior can be the dog’s
attempt to calm himself.
Here are some typical displacement behaviors:
• Yawning in new or emotional situations
• Panting when it’s not hot
• Scratching himself when he’s not itchy
Far left: If the tail and
mouth are loose, the
dog is probably comfortable
and asking for
a belly rub.
Left: Tail tucked, body
stiff, looking away:
indicates fear and
discomfort.
• Lifting a front paw as someone walks toward
the dog
• Licking his lips, even though the dog hasn’t
been eating or drinking
• Looking away as a person or another animal
walks toward the dog
• Shaking off after someone handles the dog or
another dog plays too roughly
• Stretching out as though doing a play bow,
but not asking for play (sometimes a greeting
when a dog is stressed)
• Making a puff (exhale) of breath, sometimes
whining at the same time, and looking away or
turning away
• Lying down and trying to make whatever is
happening stop by not taking part in it
There is stress along with fear when a dog:
• Starts to drool when she normally doesn’t
• Paces or circles
• Tucks his tail and moves away from
something
• Starts to whine
• Sweats through her feet
• Puts his hackles up, his tail is low or high, and
his body is still
• Starts to growl, and may start to move away,
though not all dogs move away from things
they fear (Many people punish dogs for growling,
which takes away a valuable form of communication)
• Starts to curl her lips (Sometimes this is all the
warning a dog will give before biting)
• Starts to show his teeth (Again, the warning
before biting can be brief, so try to remember
every detail of what triggered the behavior so
you can work on improving or at least managing
it)

Diffusing the Stress-Inducing
Situation
If you notice that a dog appears stressed, stop
whatever you are doing and try to determine
what the dog is reacting to. You want to help the
dog become more comfortable or manage the
behavior in the future so that a bite to a person
or animal doesn’t happen.
Often, if we slow down whatever situation
caused the fear and start exposing the dog in
small amounts at a distance, we can help him to
completely overcome his fear. We can also help
dogs to become more comfortable in general,
in order to keep them safe and to keep us safe.
For more details, see “Managing a Dog with
Behavior Challenges,” in this section, and the
resources in Section 4 of this manual.