Understanding Canine Body Language: What Your Dog is Trying to Tell You

As dog training professionals, we know that canine body language is vital for anyone who owns or interacts with dogs. Dogs communicate primarily through their body language, making it essential to interpret their signals correctly. By learning to read these cues, you can build a stronger bond with your furry friend and ensure their happiness and well-being. This guide will provide you with the knowledge needed to understand what your dog is trying to tell you through their body language.

Why Body Language is Their Main Form of Expression

Body language serves as the primary mode of expression for dogs because it is the most nuanced and immediate way they can convey their feelings and intentions. Understanding these signals can significantly enhance our interactions with them.

The Dog’s Emotion Behind Each Action

Happy and Relaxed

A happy and relaxed dog often exhibits soft eyes with relaxed lids and a slightly open mouth resembling a smile, indicating contentment. In terms of body posture, they will display a curved body with a wiggling backside, signifying safety and comfort. Additionally, the tail is usually carried at medium height, wagging gently, which clearly indicates a positive emotional state. Soft sighs or gentle whines are common vocalisations, typically associated with a happy and relaxed dog. These combined signals—facial expressions, body posture, tail movement, and vocalisations—provide a comprehensive picture of a dog’s contentment and well-being.

Alert and Excited

An alert and excited dog will have bright, attentive eyes and pricked-forward ears, showing that it is highly focused and interested in its surroundings. When excited, a dog stands tall with its weight slightly forward, indicating readiness and enthusiasm. The tail is held high and may wag quickly, reflecting the dog’s high energy and eagerness. Raised hackles, or piloerection, can also indicate arousal, signalling heightened alertness or excitement. These combined signals—eye and ear positioning, body stance, tail carriage, and other physical signs—clearly demonstrate a dog’s excitement and keen interest in its environment.

Anxious or Stressed

Our canine companions often exhibit subtle cues when feeling uneasy rather than overtly demonstrating distress. Behaviours such as lip-licking and yawning, and the absence of hunger or fatigue, may indicate unease. Body language signs of apprehension involve “whale eye” and the ears pinned back, suggestive of nerves or feeling threatened. A worried pup could also display pacing, fidgeting, and avoidance, reflecting discomfort and a want to remove themselves from a stressful situation. Physiological cues of stress encompass panting with a tight-lipped expression and sweaty paw prints, implicative of anxiety or fear. These combined signals—subtle stress cues, body language indicators, behavioural variations, and physiological signs provide a holistic view of a dog’s unease.

Fearful or Submissive

Submissive dogs will often use appeasing body language to diffuse tense situations. Techniques like the “submissive grin” – showing their front teeth with a relaxed expression – or rolling onto their back reveal a friendly, non-threatening manner. These gestures aim to reduce any perceived risks. Fearful pups tend to make themselves appear smaller too, sometimes even lying down as a way to prevent problems. It’s common for their eyes to avoid contact with the perceived ‘threat’; another sign they mean no harm or arguments. Looking away or slowly moving further back are typical ways they try to escape what’s making them anxious. All these actions are attempts to slip away from something intimidating them. Taken together, these signals give a good insight into how scared or submissive a dog may feel.

Aggressive or Defensive

When some dogs feel threatened, they may exhibit certain signals indicating they are ready to defend themselves if needed. Hard staring with ears forward and erect are common warning signs that a dog’s threat assessment has been triggered. Growling, snarling and showing teeth are clear escalation signals intended to communicate that space needs to be given. In the worst-case scenario, a dog feeling very threatened may lunge, snap or even bite if these signals are ignored as a final resort to protect itself. Defensive stances involve a lowered body with weight back, while offensive aggression is a forward stance with weight forward. Knowing the difference between these can help effectively manage aggressive behaviour. It is crucial that you recognise these warning and escalation cues to prevent incidents and address any issues safely if they do, unfortunately, occur.

Conflicted or Unsure

If a pup appears perplexed or unsure, they may give off mixed messages. Their ears may flip between positions and eyes may dart around, showing they’re muddled. Rapidly switching stances can also suggest they’re uncertain as their body language reflects an inner debate. Displacement actions like sudden scratching or sniffing indicate the pup is feeling conflicted, using these to calm themselves in stressful scenarios. Together, these behaviours demonstrate the doggo’s effort to make sense of and reply to what’s going on around them.

Reading the Whole Picture

When trying to understand a pup’s signals, it’s important to look at the whole picture. Take into account the surroundings and what happened recently, as the context gives clues on what your dog might really be saying. It’s best to watch several areas at once, like the tail, eyes and ears together, to get a full view of how they’re feeling. Don’t forget that each doggo is unique – some breeds show things differently, and what they’ve been through in the past matters. Once you consider their breed traits, history and the situation, you’ll have a better idea of how to interpret your pup’s body language. Taking it all in helps ensure you understand properly and know how to respond in a way that keeps both of you happy.

Common Misinterpretations

While tail wagging is often seen as a sign of joy, it’s important to note that context is key here. The speed and position of the wag can denote excitement, anxiety or even aggression in our furry friends. Being able to spot the difference between a submissive smile and a display of dominance is crucial. Misreading these signals could lead to misunderstandings or potentially risky scenarios. Similarly, what looks like playful play bows may in fact indicate stress, not an invitation to roughhouse. To properly understand what your pup is trying to say, taking in the full context clues and body language is paramount. Proper communication is about more than just the tail – it’s about observing the whole energetic picture.

Improving Your Dog Language Skills

Getting better at reading dog body language is all about practice. It obviously helps to develop a good understanding with your dog when it’s still at a young age, and a good puppy school (such as Canine Evolution’s) will often cover such communications. Take time to watch dogs in different environments and pay close attention to even small changes in their posture and expression. You can contact a dog trainer who can give advice and exercises to help you better understand what your dog is telling you. These activities will help reinforce your idea of how dogs chat to each other, leading to more positive interactions when you meet new puppers. With observation and experience, you’ll get better at interpreting what your dog is really trying to say.
Understanding canine body language is an ongoing learning process that brings numerous benefits. By paying close attention to your dog’s signals, you can improve communication, enhance safety, and build stronger bonds with your canine companion. Embrace this knowledge to ensure a happy and harmonious relationship with your dog.