Understanding Dog Body Language

Familiarize yourself with the warning signals dogs typically offer when they’re uncomfortable and prepared to defend themselves. This will help you prevent dog bites.

Dogs communicate with body language “packages.” This means that at any given moment, they are using their ears, eyes, tail, body posture and mouths to communicate how they’re feeling. To gauge their mood, you need to look at all these body parts simultaneously as a “package.”

Examples of common dog body language packages:

Calm & relaxed: neutral ears, mouth partially open (no teeth bared), tail low, loose body (not tense) and possibly a light pant.
Playful: play bow, ears up and forward, tail up and/or wagging, rapid jerky movements and playful barking.
Submissive: ears down and back, body lowered, may offer belly, tail down or tucked, whining, paw lift.
Assertive: ears up and forward, body up on toes, tail up and stiff, may growl or bare teeth.
Fearful: ears back, body cowered, whale eye (looking at you from side corner of eye), tail down or tucked, lip licking or yawning. May also avoid eye contact, tremble, whine, growl, try to move away or look for an escape route.
Defensive aggression: ears back and flat, direct stare or whale eye, body leaning forward or could be retreating back, tail up and stiff, lips puckered and/or mouth open with teeth exposed.

Now that you know what to look for, always be aware of what a dog’s body language is telling you. Remember that a dog’s body language is a constant conversation and it can change in an instant. Dogs can easily become uncomfortable by something you do or something that happens in the surrounding environment. For example, perhaps a loud car goes by outside and scares the dog as you’re petting them. Or perhaps you unknowingly begin petting a dog in a spot that’s sore. If a dog’s body language tells you they’ve become uncomfortable, stop what you’re doing immediately and give them space.