greenfreak
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Member since 9/06 11483 total posts
Name:
greenfreak
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Dog body language: tails, mouths and ears
I've been communicating with someone via FM about dog body language and how to tell a dog's emotional state. I thought other people might want to talk about it, so I wanted to share what I've read about and noticed with my own dogs. It's much more complex than this, but I thought I'd start with the obvious stuff. 
Disclaimer: all dogs are different and I'm not an expert by any means. Although there are fairly reliable indicators of body language, some can be very subtle and not noticeable to everyone. Take these photos and statements with a grain of salt, until you know a dog well enough to tell what they're feeling.
Dominance
Dominance and aggression are different. Do you know someone who always wants to control a conversation, has to have it their way? That's what a dominant dog is like. They're exuding a "I'm the boss" attitude, and challenge dogs and humans to see if they're stronger or weaker than them. Humping is a clear example of this. Unless dogs are un-altered and a female is in heat, humping is not related to sex drive, it is dominance.
Tail up, body tense, ears forward. To me, this looks like a dog that sees something it might want to chase. When my Ginger sees a bigger dog than her walking close by our property, her tail is like an exclamation point - straight up in the air.
Above is the same dog, different posture. Ears back, mouth pursed, back legs bent. Again, looks like he's ready to spring. Could be a danger sign, or it could be
Ready to play. Mouth slightly open, 'smiling', in motion.
Here is another example of an alert, confident dog:
Tail up, ears forward, mouth closed.
Look at the difference in this dog when it's alone, and then around a child with a dominant posture and a cat:
When we were looking at pictures on Petfinder, we would always be drawn to the pictures of dogs with their ears back. A picture doesn't tell the whole story of course, but I think everyone can agree that there's something endearing about a dog's face with wide eyes and ears back.
Submission
I have a soft spot for submissive, fearful dogs because our Brinkley was like that when we met him. Think of a submissive person as one who kowtows to a dominant person, who maybe fears them a little. Maybe they keep quiet, and maybe when they've had enough, they speak out. That's the decision a submissive/fearful dog makes. Stay and cower, hoping people and dogs are nice to them. Or, when they get fed up with being scared and anxious, try to protect themselves by lashing out.
Generally, people consider a dog with a tail between it's legs to be submissive and safe. But it's not always the case, you have to look at the rest of the body too.
With Brinkley, when we met him, he didn't stand up. He cowered and scampered into the room and laid down on the edges, not approaching us.
He was pressing himself into the floor, ears back, mouth closed, obviously not comfortable.
Once the hot dogs came out, he relaxed a little:
See how his body isn't pressed into the floor? His mouth is open and ears aren't flat against his head, but they're not completely forward either.
One of his first walks - head down, ears back, tail down:
After doing some work to build his confidence, his tail is level, he's trotting along happily, head up:
A year later, at a dog park in NJ with a bunch of new dogs, many of them (including Brinkley) jockeying for position and figuring out who is 'the boss'
Brinkley doesn't like bossy dogs so after he found his own buddies, the tails started going down
That's all I've got for now, but if anyone wants to add pictures or examples, I'd love to see/hear it.
Message edited 1/7/2011 10:27:41 AM.
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