Dogs’ Body Language Explained
In this video, you’ll learn how to interpret canine body language to help you better understand your dog, and to make you a responsible dog parent.
Wagging Tail
All a wagging tail means is that the dog is emotionally aroused. It could be excitement, but it could be frustration or negative feelings. Excited dogs hold their tails higher than a neutral position, and wag them quickly from side to side. An uncertain or nervous dog will also wag their tail, but their tail will be slightly lower than a neutral position, and wagged slower and more steadily.
A tucked tail
A tail tucked between the legs is an unmistakable sign that the dog is scared, afraid, in pain, or feels uncomfortable. Putting a paw on youIf your dog puts their paw on you, it is their way of saying “I love you.” Avoiding Eye ContactDogs who are fearful or afraid will often look away as though they are avoiding something. You often see this if you scold your dog.
Squinting Their Eyes
Dogs squint their eyes to indicate peaceful intentions. If your dog squints their eyes when they look at you, they are expressing their love and desire for your attention.
Tilting their head
For many dogs, head-tilting helps them hear better. Rotating their ears, or their entire head, can help triangulate the location of the sound so they can hear it more clearly.
Ears forward
If the ears are standing straight up, or in the case of dogs with floppy ears, inclined forward, the dog is paying close attention to something or someone. The dog is curious and alert.
Ears flattened against the head
Slightly pulled-back ears signal that the dog is feeling friendly. You often see this when you are stroking your dog.But ears laid tightly back against the head may indicate fearfulness.
A Raised Paw
A raised paw is when a dog lifts one paw slightly off the ground. It often indicates the dog is uncertain about a situation or perhaps feels a bit insecure.
Licking you
Dogs lick you for a lot of reasons. They may want to show you affection and love. They may even want to groom you to show that they care about your well-being. Or they may simply enjoy the taste of your skin as you may have the residue of some yummy treat on your skin.
Play Bow
An easy-to-read aspect of dog body language is the play bow. This is when dogs place their chest on the ground with their butt in the air.This playful gesture is a clear sign that your dog is happy and is trying to initiate play with you or another animal.
Trembling
Trembling or shivering in response to another person or dog means your dog is scared. If it’s freezing cold outside, bring them indoors to help them stay warm! Smaller dogs may be more prone to shivering than larger breeds due to their lack of body fat and thinner fur.
Exposing belly
More often than not, belly-exposing behavior in canines indicates trust and acceptance. A dog may also use this submissive display as a way to avoid confrontation. At times, the dog may even dribble or squirt small amounts of urine to communicate a submissive status to a person or animal.Easing TensionA dog who is in the middle of a challenging or unfamiliar situation may suddenly turn away and start sniffing the ground to politely avoid interaction and calm themselves down.
Hunching over
A hunched-over posture in dogs indicates they are fearful and feeling particularly vulnerable. By hunching over, dogs try to make themselves small, almost wishing to become invisible.
Whale eyes
When a dog shows the whites of its eyes, it is known as “whale eye”. it’s a signal they are feeling anxious or stressed in a situation.Smiling A dog’s mouth mimics the emotions human mouths show. A happy dog will have a soft, relaxed mouth which may look like a grin.
Yawning
In dogs, yawning is also a sign of stress and indicates your dog is feeling nervous. If your pooch yawns after you, it means they are very attached to you. Recent studies have shown dogs that dogs yawn contagiously, and dogs that are bonded with their owners are more likely to yawn when their especial humans do.
Turning their back to you
When your canine turns their back to you, they are showing you that they are friendly and trust you
Shaking off
If your dog shakes without some kind of irritant such as water, it’s a way of relieving tension. Probably your dog was stressed.
Zoomies
You often see your dog getting the zoomies when they’ve been confined in a crate for some time, or after a bath.
Nose And Lip
Licking Licking lips or noise is also a sign of stress in dogs.
Raised Hackles
When a dog’s hackles are raised, it is a clear sign that the dog is aroused, but not necessarily in a negative way.
Baring teeth
If a dog shows their teeth, but doesn’t bark or snarl, it is often a sign of territory protection. You will often see this if you try to take food away from a dog who is eating.
Whining
More often than not, dogs whine when they need or want something from you, like some food, or going out for a walk
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My dog has the “ zommies”😅
My golden retriever girl is the most happy girl dog 😊
My dog whines when I'm combing my hair and getting dressed because she hopes she's going somewhere with me, or maybe hopes I won't leave her home alone. She follows me around whining and it's very annoying.
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U know how u can tell apart who is a dog or cat person? A cat person will walk away from u when ur in mid sentence!
When I want my boy to stop I stare he retreats! One thing I don't like about dogs is that they attack on stares!
My neighbors German Shepard attacks seeing peoples exposed laundry and he only understands German language! These things are because he's formerly an abused retired police dog! I'd like to see a vid on how to deal with dogs like this?
Thank you love from India 🇮🇳🔥
I really enjoyed your video's.
I love my Dog 🐶. I take her everywhere with me including work. Dogs are the greatest companion you could ever want.
The great thing about dogs that they bite the hell out of my legs
Lately I've been noticing that my golden stretches out when I begin talking to him, I'm not worried about it, just curious to know if that's normal behavior in Goldens. He still jumps up at me when I get home and leans on me all the time, but the stretching is something new, I still can't get him to bring me his toy when I play fetch with him but that's fine. 😂😂
As for the "Zoomies" thing, while the things said can be true, it seems that the narrator forgot the OTHER REASON doggies do the zoomies.
Our lil guy starts the zoomies when he wants us to chase him and then be chased.
He loves it as it's a time for him to show off his amazing zoomie abilities. LOL He'll come, zooming right for me, then just before reaching me, he'll zoom out into an arch and go around me… only to skid as he does an about face and zooms back.
For him, this is not a stress indicator. It's one of his many playtime behaviors.
Before he wants to play the zoomies game, he come up and stare into our eyes, then, jump to the chest down, butt up position and ZOOOOMMMM! IT'S ONNNN!
LOL
So not all zoomies are stress related. At least, not with our lil guy.
As for the whining thing to get something, that's so right. LOL
I sometimes wonder if dogs have a way to tell time, because, like clockwork, at around 7PM, he'll start his eye contact + whining routine. LOL That's because he's getting hungry or at least, he KNOWS it's close to din din time.
It turns into a full-on game, which usually leads to some short zoomies as we get his food.
It's like he want to zoom from the kitchen to the livingroom where he eats.
It's like, "IT'S OVER HERE, DADDY… RIGHT HERE… THERE… SEE!?"
We love our little guy so much and couldn't imagine our lives without him.
So true thumbs up
??????? pop all balloons? WTF
When dogs stick their tongues in and out, a bit like a snake, they are chemical testing, especially around humans..
Wait wait wait wait! This is just too much over-simplification.
A dog can put the tail between the rear legs to show inferiority rather than anxiety or being scared.
And a paw on you can also be an attempt to dominate you or test your rank in the context of dog vs master/mistress.
Sure it can, and often does mean, what you say in the video. But please don’t oversimplify a dogs very rich (and individual) language to this level. As you say; they do tell us. But we have to listen.
My dog is bilingual
Speaking as a former dog I approve
I always thought the dog turning it's head is out of confusion too
And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent: (Acts 17:30)
Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions. Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me. Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight: that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest. (Psalms 51:1-4)
So my fur daughter always has a rigid body, straight tail with no movement, and eyes the size of dinner plates. When she was little she would always smile at me while doing a cute growing thing and when I would get close she would feel my hand with her mouth… wait a minute, I think I’ve been misunderstanding her all along
I think it’s time to start sleeping with one eye open and inside a underground bunker
Our Dog and I Thank you🙏✌️
Nah my dog shakes randomly to fix hair
"paw lift" can also meaning that a dog is stalking or hunting, picking a prey smell. The whole body language clearly shows you the difference
I knew what some of the body language positions meant, but I learned about several that I didn't know. Thank you for taking the time to explain each one & give examples of what the dogs are trying to communicate. Very helpful
Who all are a husky lover
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Remember…a wag doesnt always mean friendly. Be careful when approching a dog you dont know.
Thank you for the video.😊🥰
That animated corgi looking dog always gets me smiling 😁
ima use this to tell when a dog is about to attake me
Hahaha how about 4.4 million reasons dogs are hurting people annually. 20,000 people need reconstruction surgery annually. 5 a month are killed. Can you imagine a product for the home that had those kind of numbers? It would be cries in the streets and lawsuits to be had but nope not for dog owners. They are definitely a special breed of stupid.
My dog always has her tail tucked.. She always has for about a year? She's been to the vet .. I never really thought about it .. Thank you .. I will investigate ..
My Shih-Tzu Bichon cross Josie ALWAYS gets the Zoomies after a shower or even just rinsing her feet and legs off after walking on wet, dirty pavement. 😁
How do you know
I was watching this video wondering what it means when a dog howls, the other day I was watching tv and my dog started howling he never done it before at least that I heard, I checked him and he was ok.
I still learned other things here tho😅
I have two dogs one is a puppy and one in old and a pet bull
Where’s a message to all..DONT. TOUCH. A. DOG. WHEN. HE. IS. EATING!!
If my dog saw me, his tail just moving like crazy!
When I pet her neck he close eye loving it😍
10:08 my dog use to do this with my other animal but what I did was every time she ate I went down there and took some and ig bc it was me she eventually let the other dogs eat with her
thanks a LOT for the USEFUL information SERIOUSLY
Trivering sometimes means my dog is going to puke!
Many comments mention that zoomies (8:57) are a good thing and dogs do it for joy. This can be true in many cases, but also wrong in others. I watched a puppy doing zoomies to relieve stress. Kids would force him to play all day long and chase him a lot. Also putting him up, carrying him around, stuff like that. He had zoomies so much, it was crazy. Please tell your kids how to interact with dogs, how to read their signals and respect them..!
Thank this really helped for me, I've been thinking what to make my dog more comfortable with me
Awsomeeeee
What about dogs with ducked tails? I can only look at the little nub on my corgi
“When a dog puts its hand on you, that’s their way of saying i love you” – source: i’m a basset hound.
Finally, an answer to "What the dog doin?"