Body Language of Dog's

File Under: dog aggression, dog behavior, dog psychology, DogAggression, DogBehavior, DogPsychology, dogs,Body Language , Dog Body Language

What Is My Dog's Body Language Saying?

Meet Mary Burch, American Kennel Club Canine Good Citizen Director and Paw Nation's new expert columnist addressing your questions on animal behavior. Dr. Burch has over 25 years of experience working with dogs and she is one of less than 50 Certified Applied Animal Behaviorists based in the United States. She is the author of ten books including the new official book on the AKC Canine Good Citizen Program, "Citizen Canine: 10 Essential Skills Every Well-Mannered Dog Should Know."

I've recently adopted a 3-year-old pug named Hank who seems to be settling in very well. But this is my first dog and I don't really know how to read his body language.

I know that tail wagging is a good thing, but he also crouches down and then kind of jumps with his front paws at other dogs' faces when he wants to play. This seems to alarm the other dogs and owners because they think he wants to fight. Could you explain the difference between typical aggressive body movements and those that tend to be happy ones? Any other tips on reading my dog?

How wonderful that you have a pug as your first dog! Pugs are a great breed and it is good that you are working on socializing Hank with other dogs.

The main thing you want to look for when determining if a dog is friendly is a relaxed body posture. When Hank crouches down with his front end lowered and his rear end up in the air, he is doing a "play bow." This is his invitation to the other dog that he wants to play. When a dog's ears are up, mouth is relaxed, and tail is loosely wagging, it's a good sign that the dog is friendly.



If you see a dog with its ears back, tail down, hackles (the hair at the base of the neck and along the back) up, with a tense, snarling mouth, the dog is telling you or Hank to back off.

It is a myth that a wagging tail is always a good sign. A dog that is stiff-legged, staring at you or your dog, holding his tail up and wagging it with a stiff wag may be getting ready to engage in aggression.

Play should always be supervised and if you see any sign of aggression such as one dog trying to dominate or bite another dog, you should break up the play.

As far as body language goes, with pugs it is hard to apply the "tail up" and "tail down" rules, but you can be sure that when they are relaxed and wiggling their whole rear ends, they are ready to play.
Do you have an animal behavior question for Dr. Burch? E-mail your questions to mary@pawnation.com.
Source: by Paw Nation Staff (Subscribe to Paw Nation Staff's posts)