We all know the term “body language “ as humans most of us know each others body language as we have a great way of communicating, speech, posture, if we smile people know we are happy pair it with body language could happy or sarcastic, but we can read this with our eyes , our facial expressions. .
Do you ever consider your dogs body language? If you closely watch they can also tell us things about what they see and what they want to tell us.
Not every wagging tail means they are happy, look at how the tail wags, is it up and wagging or low and wagging, a wag to the right or to the left, look at the environment they are in as a whole picture. Consider the breed as different breeds have different tail carriages.
Some people consider raised hackles as a threat, this is not always the case it can be an involuntary reaction to something, stress, cold, upset, a bit like goosebumps on humans, again consider the environment.
Posture, paw placement, ear sets, all these signals a dog can give to let you know how they are trying to communicate whether they feel threatened or happy. A cowering dog is often hunched down , fear or stressed, trying to make themselves smaller. Weight shift forward, tail high could indicate interest or something they find offensive. A paw held high up could interpret insecurities, unless the dog is HPR again breed specific.
Ever considered smiling at your dog? I often have little games with my dog, I put on a happy smile face and watch them, their tails wag and their eyes light up, then I pull an angry face, tails stop wagging, eyes give a guilty look as if to say “what have I done”. I always finish on happy face though.
Dogs read us too and are very good at it, it’s not about yelling at your dog for chewing the remote, it’s the body language you are presenting to him because you are angry.
Don’t always tell your dog off for that growl, it’s the only verbal communication they have, it does not always mean that he will bite, its a warning that he is not happy or maybe he is. Listen too the growl and look at what is going on around him, another dog annoying him, a person he does not like, we as humans don’t like everyone, so again look at the environment, one of my dogs emits low growls when being stroked in places that he likes.
Take the time to learn from your dog, learn to speak his language, in time it will help you have a better understanding and build a bond with your dog.
Learn from your dog.
Around the circle
I am part of a fabulous blog circle with other dog trainers. Each blog in the circle links to the next so you can read what each of them has to say about choosing the right dog.
So next in the circle is –