Reading and interpreting the body language of dogs is very important; it can help you analyze behavioral problems, prevent a dog fight, or simply help you to understand your dog when it tries to communicate with you.

I made this little 'guide' to help you interpret your dog's body language; if anybody would like to add anything or correct me (as I'm not perfect!), please feel free. This is just what I have learned from experience by watching dogs at the dog park interact.

First of all, a nice little quote on the problem of using the 'Alpha Roll' to correct your dog's problems:

Quote :

"Forcing the dog onto its back is the equivalent of an abusive parent beating a child to force it to say, 'I love you.' Although he or she may have forced the words out of the child's mouth, they cannot force the statement to be true.... Forcing a dog into a submissive position is the Doggish equivalent of this scenario. Even worse, this technique may actually anger the dog enough to provoke it to attack. ... Forcing a dog into an alpha roll, or shaking the dog, both constitute physical aggression. Physical aggression is not communication. If there is good communication, then such confrontations need not occur."
- Stanley Coren, "How to Speak Dog"

In addition, rolling your dog, especially if your dog is more dominant, may result in a bite. My boy is a dominant little sh*t, and the first time I rolled him, he growled at me so loudly I thought he was going to bite me. Thankfully he didn't, but you may not be so lucky. Know your dog before you attempt a roll!


Aggressive Dominance

- General posture: Stiff-legged, body leaning slightly towards the cause of its behaviour. Hackles can be raised. Body stretched upward to make themselves taller; may slightly stand on toes to do so. Head high.

- Eyes: Staring at the object/thing that is the cause of this behaviour.

- Ears: Forward

- Mouth: Lips curled up into a classic snarl, teeth showing, mouth can be open.

- Muzzle: Wrinkled and tight

- Tail: High in the air. Stiff.

- Vocalizations: Deep growls, loud growls, aggressive barking.

Will likely bite/show physical aggression if he is challenged by another dog.
Note: Truly aggressive-dominant dogs are quite rare, and body signals may be mixed with the 'Fearful-Aggressive (Defensive)' signs. In most cases, the hierarchy in dogs is sorted out through scent and non-violent posturing.


Picture copyright to Modern Dog Magazine.

Passive Dominance

- General posture: Stiff-legged. Seen stretching the body to be over the other dog's head. Hackles may or may not be raised (to make self seem bigger). Stands on 'toes' to make self seem bigger.

- Eyes: Staring at the dog directly.

- Ears: Forward

- Mouth: closed; unless panting

- Muzzle: Smooth. Smells the other dog first; can smell the face first before going to the scent glands near the anus.

- Tail: Held high; stiffly wags in a tight arc when smelling dog. Wagging is medium to slow. Limited movement.

- Vocalizations: Usually none. Can softly growl?


Figure 2: The dog on the left is showing passive dominant behaviours. Notice the stiff posture of the dog and the submissive body language of the Boxer on the right.
(picture copyright: loscuatroojos.com)

NOTE: Some dogs are leash-aggressive, this does NOT necessarily mean they are dominant. Usually dogs that are leash-aggressive feel 'trapped' because they cannot escape. As in the 'flight or fight' response, because they cannot flee (due to being attached by a leash), they have no other choice than to 'fight' or to show aggressive behaviours.

NOTE 2: If challenged by another dog, this dog may switch to 'Aggressive Dominance' to reinforce its position (in which case a fight is imminent) or it may back off by showing submissive body language, or it may simply walk away and avoid the other dog in the future.

Fearful-Aggressive (Defensive)

- General posture: Body is low to the ground. Hackles may or may not be raised. Head low.

- Eyes: Pupils are dilated; eyes wide. Eyes are staring at the cause of his fear.

- Ears: Back and flat against the head.

- Mouth: Lips may be slightly curled (but not as much as a snarl). Teeth also may be showing.

- Muzzle: may have slight wrinkles

- Tail: Tucked in between legs. Stationary. The amount of 'tuck' indicates the amount of fear.

- Vocalizations: Usually none, but the dog can also snarl or growl to put on a 'brave face'.

Will most likely bite if it continues to be threatened. Behaviour may also switch to 'Fearful' if it continues to be threatened.


Picture copyright to Modern Dog Magazine.

Fearful

- General posture: Body low to the ground. Head low.

- Eyes: Pupils are dilated; eyes wide. Staring at the cause of his fear. Whale eye.

- Ears: Back flat against the head.

- Mouth: May be panting rapidly.

- Muzzle: Wrinkled and tight

- Tail: Either completely in between the legs or slightly in between. (varies based on the degree of fear)

- Vocalizations: Yelps, whines, yips.

Will most likely flee or hide; however behaviour may change to 'Fearful-Aggressive (Defensive)' if it isn't given an option to flee the situation.


Figure 4: Notice the lowered body position, the tucked in tail, the bent legs, and the lowered head and ears. This is all to make the dog appear smaller and less of a threat.
(Picture copyright: DogTime Images)

Passive Submission:

- General posture: Body lowered. May look away with head.

- Eyes: Eye contact will be brief before they look away; may avoid contact altogether.

- Ears: slightly back

- Mouth: mouth closed; unless panting.

- Muzzle: smooth. Allows other dog to smell first; rarely greets face to face.

- Tail: low to the ground or in its normal 'relaxed' position.

- Vocalizations: None

Active Submission

- General posture: Body is lowered; head is lowered. A front paw can be lifted either slightly or all the way off the ground.

- Eyes: Eye contact is very brief; may be reluctant to maintain eye contact or they look away frequently from your gaze.

- Ears: Back

- Mouth: Licking the more dominant dog's chin (or, if your a person, licking your chin if they can reach!)

- Muzzle: smooth/relaxed

- Tail: low to the ground.

- Vocalizations: Can whine.


(Picture copyright belongs to gsdhelp.info)

Complete Submission

- General posture: Rolled over on back, showing his jugular and stomach. Head turned to completely avoid eye contact. May sprinkle some urine. Allows more dominant dog to stand over him.

- Eyes: Slightly closed.

- Ears: Back; flat against head.

- Mouth: closed; unless panting

- Muzzle: Smooth

- Tail: Can be in between legs as far as it'll go, but not always. Sometimes the tail isn't in between the legs.

- Vocalizations: Long whines, yelps.


(Picture taken from: http://4hpetpals.osu.edu/)

Playful

Usually 'invites' play by play bowing. (lowering self's nose towards the ground; butt high in air. Tail wagging). Can hold play bow until other dog responds with their own bow, or release it right away when other dog does not respond.

- General posture: Relaxed. Pace is bouncy when running/trotting. Might jump in the air while running. May also roll around on the ground (scent rolling), with tongue lolling out of mouth.

- Eyes: normal/relaxed

- Ears: relaxed

- Mouth: Closed, usually panting. If play fighting, teeth may show, but no other signs of aggression (no growling, etc.). Tongue is loose; may loll out of mouth.

- Muzzle: Smooth

- Tail: varying levels of height depending on their current mood during play. Can be wagging quickly.

- Vocalizations: Playful growls (soft, broken up), yips, yowls, barks.


Figure 8 - the Siberian Husky in this photograph is inviting the other dog to play.
(Picture's copyright belongs to myself)

Relaxed

- General posture: Relaxed. Loose.

- Eyes: Normal; blinks slowly. May have half-lidded eyes if lying down.

- Ears: 'normal' position.

- Mouth: Closed, or panting. Tongue may be loose.

- Muzzle: Smooth

- Tail: in the 'normal' position.

- Vocalizations: Usually no sound.



Figure 9: The Siberian Husky in the photo is relaxed. Note the partly closed eyelids and the loose tongue.
(Picture's copyright belongs to myself)

Happy/Excited

Similar to 'playful'

- General posture: Relaxed position. Pace may be bouncy or feel 'light'

- Eyes: wide eyes; but relaxed.

- Ears: back, touching head.

- Mouth: Usually open, with tongue loose. May loll out of mouth. Dogs that are not properly trained will mouth your body (usually hands) and loose clothing or lightly nip at them.

- Muzzle: Smooth

- Tail: wagging rapidly in wide arcs. Loose movement.

- Vocalizations: Excited yips, yowls, woos, howls, barks.


Pain

Depending on the degree of pain and where it hurts, their reaction to pain tends to differ. This part's format will be different than previous...as the previous formats are not applicable.

In general, most dogs try to hide their pain - and are very effective at it! Most, from my experience, don't vocalize their pain unless it REALLY hurts (like a broken bone.)

You might notice small differences in their movements - for example, if they are experiencing arthritis in one of their hips, you might notice a very slight limp. The dog would favour that leg and use the other legs more - this is seen by the difference in muscle mass. The leg that is hurt would have less muscle mass than the other legs because it is not being used as often.

You also might notice behaviour changes. Maybe they are walking a little slower than usual, not pulling as hard, or falling behind slightly on walks. They might have difficulty going up stairs, or they might have difficulty getting up from the lying down position. Their appetite might have decreased.

In summary, the following is a list of behavioural changes you might notice when your dog is hurt or suffering:

- Loss of appetite

- Stumbling

- Having trouble getting up/down stairs.

- Difficulty in getting up (from sitting or lying down)

- Reluctance to exercise

- Reluctance to play

- Temperament changes - more aggressive or very timid

- Lethargic

- Favouring a certain part of the body

- Atrophied muscle of the favoured limb (if applicable) due to favouring it.

- Swelling of the hurt joint/muscle/limb

- Bleeding

In addition to different types and classifications of pain, there's also the sudden pain reactions (like whining, whimpering, or yelping) or the more-difficult-to-spot gradually increasing pain.

Also, different breeds have different pain thresholds (or the amount of pain they can stand before they start showing signs). Breeds that were bred to fight, for example the Pit Bull breeds, would have a higher pain threshold (and therefore not show as many signs - or none at all!) than a breed that has been bred to do something else.

Other Misc Behaviours...



Scent-Marking

There are many ways for dogs to mark their scent: scratching the ground, urinating on objects (usually vertical objects, if possible, with their leg hiked if they are more of the dominant type), and scent-rolling.

Scratching the ground usually occurs after the dog pees on an object, although it can occur just by itself. Up to 4 paws can scratch the ground, although some dogs only use the 2 hind paws.

The paws contain glands that secrete the dog's individual scent; the scraping action stimulates these glands to create more 'scent' to wipe on the ground.

Another method of scent-marking is by urinating on an object. In either sex, the dog will lift its leg up (hike it up) to mark on the object - that is usually vertical. The higher the dog lifts its leg, the more dominant it is trying to be as it would want its scent to be as high as possible.

In more dominant dogs, the dog might 'mark' or pee over another dog's urine or it might pee on a lot of objects (like, for example, on a walk or at the dog park.), or it might 're-urinate' over the objects it already urinated on.

Humping/Mounting - Why does my dog do it?

Please read the following link - it contains 4 pages of an article that explains why they hump and how its a perfectly normal behavior. (But, you can still correct it if you don't like it.)

http://www.husky-owners.com/forum/showthread.php/42769-Humping-Why-do-they-do-it?

wow!! great read!!!

Thanks for taking the time to post all of that, very informative. Maybe there should be a sticky.

Thank you!

And you're welcome.

I just read a book about this the other week as I get concerned when being approached by loose or unfamiliar dogs. I read the whole book and ended thinking I need a condensed version to study before walking. Perfect!

+1! Awesome info! Thanks for taking the time to post!

bellecma wrote:

I just read a book about this the other week as I get concerned when being approached by loose or unfamiliar dogs. I read the whole book and ended thinking I need a condensed version to study before walking. Perfect!

Sarah - a good rule of thumb is turn your body sideways to the dog so as not to be a threat. This works for trying to capture loose dogs, too. Let them walk up to you and sniff you.

I don't know where the rest came from, but aren't those two illustrations at the top copyright? At least that's what it says in the front of Coren's How to Speak Dog. I don't know US copyright law, but don't think this would count as fair use.

Edit: They are neat notes, but I think it would be fairer to acknowledge where the illustrations came from.

Ghost wrote:

I don't know where the rest came from, but aren't those two illustrations at the top copyright? At least that's what it says in the front of Coren's How to Speak Dog. I don't know US copyright law, but don't think this would count as fair use.

Edit: They are neat notes, but I think it would be fairer to acknowledge where the illustrations came from.

Oops, I thought I gave credit. Will go do that now.

Some of the pictures are mine, but some I took off of google.

Elyse this is great.
I often look at Fre and wonder how she's feeling, but this sums it up. It's great, thank you.

Love this. Would really like to poster it everywhere at the dog park. Some people are just really, really terrible at reading not only everyone else's dogs, but even their own.

The link about why they hump was also very interesting!

Thanks for posting!

Always give credit where credit is due

http://www.bluedogtraining.com/videos-dvds.html

"The language of dogs" is a great film/lecture with video clips and everything pertaining to dog body language. It's a great resource and I've watched it probably 5 times. We used to have it in our kennel. Goes through every behavior. It's really awesome.

A wealth of knowledge for anyone who wants to study up on posturing and body language. Being able to read and understand your pup is always the best way to avoid problems. Knowing when and how a reaction will be triggered is very important.

Though I am 100% sure we have a post on this somewhere, it included small diagrams as well, I can not at all find it this morning. If I ever find it I'll merge them in the future but for the time being thank you for your post.

Quote :

I don't know where the rest came from, but aren't those two illustrations at the top copyright? At least that's what it says in the front of Coren's How to Speak Dog. I don't know US copyright law, but don't think this would count as fair use.

Edit: They are neat notes, but I think it would be fairer to acknowledge where the illustrations came from.

Quote :

Oops, I thought I gave credit. Will go do that now.

Some of the pictures are mine, but some I took off of google.

I agree 100% with both Ghost and Kristina here. Ideally we are all here trying to help one another though trouble or issues or just share our stories. Because the bulk of this needs to be done in text or via visual aids it is all too easy to just go out and copy and paste an image or some text.

This is a well written and thought out post and I am not bashing it, but it does serve as a reminder to us all to cite where we get the content for our information/help. Especially when dealing with images from very well known or sold books as in this case.

Kristina said it best.

Quote :

Always give credit where credit is due

It doesn't make the post or info any less valid and it can open up a whole other resource for the people looking into this stuff by simply finding out who the originator was.

~Chris~

great post, wish I could post it at my dog park too. People are idiots and always think Cloud is being aggressive but he just growls a lot when he plays, he even 'play bows' and runs circles around the other dogs. Yeah, real aggressive XD

Very great read! Nice and informative.

I pose a question - what does it mean when a husky 'steps' on you (i.e. puts one foot on your foot)? I heard from someone that it means they're trying to 'dominate' over you. Since hearing this, I don't let Juneau do that to me anymore. I originally thought it was cute, but now I'm not sure how to feel. When we house play, she also puts her paw over my reached out arm (kinda wraps it around my arm). She will also paw at other dogs face's to get them to play! Some actually don't like it and snap at her. Does this mean she's trying to dominate them too, or just puppy play? I'm planning to start fostering soon and I want to look out for signs to see if she is trying to be the alpha or not.

Once again, very well done! You're quite the contributor already.

VintageJeans wrote:

Very great read! Nice and informative.

I pose a question - what does it mean when a husky 'steps' on you (i.e. puts one foot on your foot)? I heard from someone that it means they're trying to 'dominate' over you. Since hearing this, I don't let Juneau do that to me anymore. I originally thought it was cute, but now I'm not sure how to feel. When we house play, she also puts her paw over my reached out arm (kinda wraps it around my arm). She will also paw at other dogs face's to get them to play! Some actually don't like it and snap at her. Does this mean she's trying to dominate them too, or just puppy play? I'm planning to start fostering soon and I want to look out for signs to see if she is trying to be the alpha or not.

Once again, very well done! You're quite the contributor already.

I'm not really sure. When I first got Suka, he did that to me, but once I established myself as the 'boss' using the NILF (Nothing in Life is Free) method...he doesn't step on my feet anymore.

If she's a puppy, she very well could just be uncoordinated at is accidentally stepping on your foot. Not everything is dominance related - this is why I don't like Cesar's methods...he chalks up everything to dominance.

I think the way she swats her paw at other dogs is really just trying to get them to play, similar to how dogs bite each other's faces - they're trying to get a reaction from the dog (hopefully a good one!) so they can play together? That's my take on it, anyways.

Suka does the 'put a paw on me' thing to me too. I don't really know why, but it certainly isn't dominance. I find he does it while I'm petting him, so maybe its his way of saying 'thank you for petting me'?



I don't claim to be an expert at anything, but thank you! I think I've learned a lot in only 3 years of owning my first dog, but I know there's plenty more for me to learn.

Thanks for your response!

Yeah, I do think she wants to see their reaction after pawing at their face.

I agree - it's kinda like saying thanks for petting me. Lol!

Quote :

I pose a question - what does it mean when a husky 'steps' on you (i.e. puts one foot on your foot)? I heard from someone that it means they're trying to 'dominate' over you.

This seems to have come about or was popularized because of a training video online.



At about the one minute mark you'll see the handler request a sit and then correct Gloria when she does sit because she was going to sit on her foot. In essence the same issue as stepping on a foot.

She refers to it as Sassy, and implies it was disrespectful, which could be seen as a play for leadership to some.

Now it goes without saying everyone's experience and training methods are different in some way... But the ones placed online can cause issues with misinformation and spread like wildfire. This video is also all over E-how.

The trainer in the vid obviously adheres to positive reinforcement (She oozes it), but is falling victim to a lot of misconceptions about Alpha leadership roles popularized by many places for my liking. Nothing in Gloria's body language showed she was being sassy or disrespectful in the slightest and was more just a pup in training with ADD about being outside.


Old school alpha sub roles deal so much with what certain things have to mean that people get all tunnel vision on them and when a paw comes up and over the head of another dog they FREAK out because they are watching the movement instead of the body language of the dog.

A pup can wag it's tail all day at you and still bite you as soon as you try and touch it. Stance, positioning, and attentiveness can tell you so much more about a pup then what a certain movement means.

Quote :

When we house play, she also puts her paw over my reached out arm (kinda wraps it around my arm). She will also paw at other dogs face's to get them to play! Some actually don't like it and snap at her. Does this mean she's trying to dominate them too, or just puppy play?

This is pure play... and Not just puppy but flat out play. Wrapping paws or legs around is completely normal in play positioning to trip or out balance another pup, or when jumping into each other:




It is also 100% normal for a puppy to make mistakes while playing and is why it is so important for socialization. Older dogs will explain respect for them and they learn by making mistakes (Snapping when pawing the face).

Tika plays very respectfully with other dogs, she will however torment Ripley and do things to her I have never seen her do to another dog. This includes mounting (not humping), rolling, pinning, ect. These are all "Dominant" behaviors....

Come into my house for 2 seconds you tell me who my Dominant dog is.... It sure isn't Tika

~Chris~

ETA - Video being funny for this one. Link should work as I try and fix it and make it play on the board.

Thank you Chris, for your wonderful insight! I was getting kinda worried with what I had to deal with lol.

I learn something new everyday!

Chris great information.. We had a problem with a trainer at petsmart saying our dogs were going for the kill because get up on top of a dog that was in the store.. We know better with these huskies.

Yep, thanks for the info, Tika!

Yeah, when I first got Suka I did a whole bunch of behaviours that I thought made me the 'Alpha' but it really just made me look like an idiot.

Like going through the door first has NO effect on Suka and I's relationship...and he's a dominant dog to begin with! The thing, I found, that was the most helpful in establishing (and reinforcing) my position? Was during walks. I would make sure I would always lead the walk...as in decide where to go. If Suka want to go one way, I would go another way just so he knows I'M in control and not the other way around.

Also, I find that because he's a more dominant dog, if I let this slip even once, or if I let him go in front of me by a lot (half a body length seems to be okay) then he immediately takes advantage of that.

Another thing I found helps during walks: Don't be a 'taskmaster' (what my Dad calls me) all the time. Let them have some 'free time' during the walk where you give them all of the leash, so they can explore a little bit and just be a dog. But the 'free time' must never be more than the amount of time your 'structured walk'. I find, atleast for mine, that Suka isn't as straining on the leash as much and doesn't seem as...well...stressed that I'm controlling everything!

Could this possibly be stickied? I'd hate to see it get lost...

I'd hate to see it get lost too! I'd like to be able to quickly refer to it when I can't seem to remember for the life of me why Lucian is doing something, lol.

bump....can this be stickied?

SolitaryHowl wrote:

bump....can this be stickied?

You're still alive here?