What your dog’s body language is telling you
Dogs say a great deal without barking. Most of it is in the tail, the ears, the eyes, the mouth and how they hold their weight, and it reads best as a whole. A wagging tail on a loose, wiggling dog means something quite different from a wagging tail on a stiff one.
Breed changes the starting point. A beagle carries their tail high, a greyhound low, and floppy ears move less than pointy ones. Learn your own dog’s relaxed look first, and read everything else as a change from it.
The tail
- A loose, wide wag, often with the hips swinging. Friendly and happy.
- Held high and stiff, with a fast, narrow wag. Alert and wound up. This can come just before a snap, so it is not an invitation to say hello.
- Held low, or tucked between the back legs. Worried or frightened.
- Still, at the dog’s usual height. Calm.
Even the direction of the wag says something. A study in Italy in 2007 found that dogs wagged more to their right when they saw their owner, and more to their left when they saw an unfamiliar, dominant dog.
The ears
Relaxed ears sit in their natural position. Ears pricked forward mean the dog is paying attention to something. Ears pinned back against the head mean fear, worry, or an attempt to look harmless.
The eyes
- Soft eyes and ordinary blinking. Relaxed.
- Whale eye. The head turns away while the eyes stay fixed on something, so the whites show in a half-moon. The dog is uncomfortable. You often see it in photos of a child hugging a dog.
- A hard, fixed stare. A warning.
- Looking away. Usually politeness, not guilt. The “guilty look” is mostly a reaction to being told off: in a 2009 study, dogs looked just as guilty when scolded for something they had not done.
The mouth
- Relaxed and slightly open, perhaps with the tongue showing. A happy dog.
- Closed tight, with tense lips. Something is bothering them.
- Licking the lips, or yawning when not tired. Small signs of stress. Dogs often do this at the vet, or when someone leans over them.
- Lips pulled back, teeth showing, a growl. A clear warning. Never punish a growl. It is how a dog tells you they are uncomfortable before they bite, and a dog punished for growling may learn to skip the warning.
Posture
- The play bow. Front legs down, back end up. An invitation to play, and a sign that whatever comes next is a game.
- Weight forward, body stiff, hair raised along the back. Highly aroused. Raised hair is not always aggression, but it means the dog is very worked up about something.
- Weight back, body low, crouching. Frightened.
- Rolling over. A loose, wiggly dog on their back may want a belly rub. A stiff one, with a tucked tail and whale eye, is asking you to back off.
- Shaking off when dry. Like shaking off water after a bath. Dogs often do it after a tense moment, as if to reset.
- Freezing. A dog who goes suddenly still is deciding what to do next. Stop what you are doing and give them room.
How a dog asks for space
Dogs rarely go from calm to a bite. They work up through small signals first, and they get louder only when the quiet ones are missed:
- Yawning, blinking, licking the lips
- Turning the head away
- Turning the body away, or walking off
- Ears back, body lowered, tail tucked
- Freezing and staring
- Growling
- Snapping, and only then biting
The earlier you notice, the easier it is to help. Move away, give them room, or take away whatever is worrying them.
Dogs and children
Most dog bites to children come from a dog the child knows, often the family dog. A few rules help keep everyone safe:
- No hugging. Most dogs put up with it rather than enjoy it.
- Let the dog come to the child, not the other way round.
- Leave a dog alone while they are eating or sleeping.
- An adult watches whenever a young child and a dog are together.
Read the whole dog, and the moment they are in. A dog who seems to be misbehaving is often doing their best to tell you something.