Body Language of Dogs

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dog bite photo

I have talked about the body language of dogs a few times on my blog, and I think this picture should help a lot of people, and hopefully save children and dogs a lot of pain.

Dogs, as well as many other animals, communicate very clearly, but its the people who don’t take the time to understand the animal.  Dogs actually make facial expressions–think I am crazy, go ahead–but its true.  This dog truly has a furrowed brow.

If you have a dog, stop and make a surprise expression at your dog and see if he or she responds.  Chances are he or she will stop, look at you and appear to be hesitant.  Yes, dogs pick up on our emotions, too.

And their body language is also very clear, if you learn what the signals mean.

You just have to take the time to truly get to know your companion animal to see it.

Please share this!

The Body Language of Dogs

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Copyright by Emmanuel_D.Photography

Many people are surprised when they hear me analyze the body language of dog or other animal in my presence.  Being astute to human behavior, I am keenly aware of animal behavior as well.

All animals communicate information.  Humans are certainly not an exception and movements by all species reveal key information, if we pay attention.

If you watch an unfamiliar dog walking down the road, his or her body language will convey if the dog is happy and feeling safe, or if they are in a bad situation.   Those of you who have pets and pay close attention will know a lot of what I am saying, if you’ve given it some thought.

The biggest indicators of happiness and confidence are seen in the tail and ears.  A tail is actually like a barometer for a dog.  The higher up it is (when it is natural for a dog to be held upward), say perched on its back, is a strong indication of confidence and happiness.  A dog that feels threatened or unsafe will drop his tail, hang it low or in the worst of situations will put it between it’s legs.

A happy dog will also have its ears attentive and forward–listening and engaged, whereas a dog under the command of a controlling or dominant person will typically have not only their tail down but their ears too. And their ears may move around frequently, constantly assessing the situation because they feel insecure.

Happy dogs will often bounce in their gate.  You may even call it a gallop. Whereas an insecure dog will walk with hesitation, may show tension, or an extremely sloppy, hunched over (“I’ve given up”) gait. They may show fear and concern, and may constantly look to their owner to please them and for reassurance.

You must always consider if the dog is sick or convalescing, and in that case, I give a glance to the owner.  Is the leash taunt and tight and is there an unnecessary tension in the owner’s body language?  That doesn’t support sickness. If, instead, I see an owner who is relaxed and casual and carefree, that could support a dog is not in good health.

I have actually raised a very insecure dog who I believe lost trust of humans.  She always hung her tail down.  I used to pet her, talk reassuringly to her and in the process I’d scoop up her sagging tail and say “Tail up!” in a very upbeat happy voice.     When her tail was in that position, you could see a natural boost of confidence come over her.   And while at first, she didn’t keep it up, over time she slowly would build confidence when the tail went up.  I continued to teach her–signaling to her that all was good–we were safe when I said “Tail up.”   You can never force an animal to do anything, but with encouragement you can even build confidence in a dog using their own natural body language signals.

Two Strangers Kiss

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This is a great video to see how well you read people.  Look at the match-ups of strangers. They are about to kiss.  Can you tell by looking at their faces (facial profiling) which pairs will physically connect on their first kiss as total strangers?

Look at their faces.

What do you think their preferences are?

Are they pleased with their match?

Are they attracted?

Do they look alike?

What does their body language tell you?

I will give you a hint:  people who look alike are often attracted to teach other. People who don’t–usually aren’t!

I felt a wave of nerves rush over me when I watched this video.  Do you think that is caused by mirror neurons?  I do.

Body Language

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Mooching along

Heading to see the doctor, I was in a new area that I wasn’t familiar with. Whenever I go anywhere I don’t know, I think it is automatic that I go into high-alert mode.  I think I do it without consciously thinking of it.  I push my shoulders back, put my head up high, and scan my surroundings. I want to see where people are, and who is focused intently, and on what.

I’ve never done it consciously and probably wouldn’t have been aware of it until I had my husband beside me when we went to visit the doctor in downtown Chicago this week.  We were walking down the street because I wanted to show him something I had seen before, and as we started walking to our destination–someone caught my eye.  It was a person who was opportunistic, without question–not that he was going to act, but he would if the situation was right.  He caught my attention as he normally would, but when I glanced at my husband to see if he was paying attention, I was shocked at what I saw.

My ever-so-sweet and caring husband was truly worried about me and the doctor visit.  He was caring my bulky radiology films, and when I looked at him, his shoulders were slumped over.  He was leaning forward in his steps, and he was staring at the ground as he continued forward.  He was also truly oblivious to anyone or anything around him.  I suspect that unpleasant thoughts of surgery were spinning through his head.

As the guy who concerned me passed us and started walking in front of us, I tapped my husband on his shoulder and said, “Hang back a bit” so the guy ahead of us got distance.

“Didn’t you pick up on him?” I said pointing to the guy gaining distance ahead of us.

My husband who is very intelligent and a beautiful man looked at me oblivious.

I said, “He was looking at us.  Didn’t you see it?  You are screaming target!  Target!  Look at your shoulders and how they slump over.  You weren’t aware of anything around you, were you?”

He admitted he wasn’t.  He was lost deep in thought, though he never told me so. It was then that I encouraged him for both of our safety to stiffen up, and to become aware of his surroundings.  He tried, but didn’t pass the sniff test for me, but I let it go.

I tried to tell him that he needed to be more aware of what he was communicating with his body–that he gave the perfect vibe to be a candidate for a mugging.  He told me he never worried about it–after all, he is a guy.

But he should!! My dad was mugged several times and my husband and dad are very much alike — and suddenly I could understand why my dad was a target!

As we walked, I said to him don’t you pick up on this stuff at all?

He replied that he does to some degree, but not like me.  As we continued to walk, I gave him an earful.

“That guy there?  Artistic, out of the box thinker, but he can be unpredictable.  “This one….”  Oh, wait, that’s the same opportunistic guy we saw earlier. As I said that, I had my camera in my hand as I taking a picture, and the man looked right at my camera, and then straight down to my purse as he approached us head-on.” 

This time my husband spotted the guy.

Are you aware of what you are communicating?

Arms Across The Chest

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PMizu

We’ve all seen people stand with their arms crossed across their chest. Nearly every body language expert out there will tell you that the person is conveying a non-verbal message that they are closed-off to you.

While some people do communicate this message, I am disagreement that all arms crossed in front of one’s chest means a person is closed off.

When people are cold, they will cross their arms to conserve heat. Some people find it comforting to put their arms in this position as standing with one’s arms at their side is not the most comfortable.

Next time you see someone with their arms closed off, don’t automatically assume it means they have no interest in you. They may simply be cold!