Dog Body Language - Understanding Your Dog | Print |  E-mail
User Rating: / 0
PoorBest 
Written by Adrian Fletcher   
Thursday, 27 March 2008
A dog communicates with you by barking or through body language. Unlike humans, and like other animals, dogs communicate more via body language than barking. By understand common dog body language you will understand you pet better and have a closer relationship with him.
by AdrianFletcher


A dog communicates with you by barking or through body language. Unlike humans, and like other animals, dogs communicate more via body language than barking. By understand common dog body language you will understand you pet better and have a closer relationship with him.

Most of these body language cues will become obvious to you once you have lived with your pet for a few years but here are some common characteristics in the meantime.

If a dog has it's rear end in the air and it appears to be prancing or bouncing on it's front legs this generally means it is happy or feeling playful. It will wag it's tail vigorously and the mouth will be open in a dog type smile. You will notice this if you are playing fetch with it. Your pet will drop the ball and then prance around waiting for you to throw it away.

Rolling over to expose the belly is generally a sign of submission to you or another dog. It is an acknowledgment of pack hierarchy. Other body language that indicates submission to the hierarchy is a wagging tail in a lowered position. It may also have the ears back and the eyes will be lowered to the ground.

A dog that is in a relaxed mood will have it's weight evenly spread on the four legs. The tail may wag sporadically at a half raised position in a lazy fashion. It head will be raised and the eyes focused on you.

The dog will look the same if it is suddenly alerted to something. However it my start to put more weight on the front feet, leaning forward. The hair around the joint between the tail and back may raise up. The head will point in the direction of the noise with eyes focused and ears pricked towards the source of attention.

An aggressive demeanor is similar to an alerted body language with a few important and obvious differences. Firstly the dogs face and muzzle will look completely different. The lips will be raises to reveal the teeth and it may even start to snarl. The eyes may have a wild or strained look in them as the focus intensely on the object of their aggression. The hackles will be raised. This is the fur on the shoulder blades just below the top of the neck. The body may be prone or rigid in a state ready to attach or run away.

By understanding these signals, you can prevent possible problems from occurring. You can also understand when your pet is just playing or may have more serious intentions. You can also confirm that you are still the pack leader by watching your pets body language when you call it.

About the Author:

Learn more about dog body language and details of a popular dog behavior training course at doghealthncare.com.



Reddit!Del.icio.us!Google!Live!Facebook!Slashdot!Netscape!Technorati!StumbleUpon!Spurl!Newsvine!Furl!Yahoo!Ma.gnolia!Squidoo!FeedMeLinks!Free social bookmarking plugins and extensions for Joomla! websites!
 
< Prev   Next >
[ Back ]

Related News

Related Items
RocketTheme Joomla Templates