Communication
The subject of communication is a fascinating one; because dogs are master communicators. They shine far brighter than we do in this department; but, to fully understand what they are saying, you need to learn how dogs communicate. For this specific reason, I always ask my clients “are you watching?” If you aren’t watching then you are going to miss much or most of what your dog is saying.
Dogs communicate first with their body, it’s all about body language. Like us, dogs are individuals so there are great communicators and not so great communicators. But typically dogs know what other dogs are saying instantly and continuously; which is why a greeting can seem to start out great and go south quickly and we are left not knowing what happened. Much was probably said during the interaction; most of which was missed by you, the human.
The quick read on a dog is tail and ears, then the rest of the body follows. But learning about tail and ear position and movement can give you a huge amount of very necessary information so that you can understand what your dog is saying.
Tail
The tail (if it’s there) is the first thing that you should check out. But don’t be fooled, a wagging tail does NOT always mean a happy dog. A dog wags their tail for many different reason.
Over arousal.
Aggression.
Nervous.
Happy.
Submissive.
Excited.
Confident.
Guarding.
Along with a tail in motion, we need to look at tail position or height that it is being held at. In simple terms, position of the tail is how they are feeling. Speed of the wag if any is degree of feeling. The higher a dog holds their tail, the more confident they are. Many dogs that seem to be acting aggressive may have a low tail position which shows that they are not confident. Most aggression stems from fear.
By looking at the dog’s entire body, you get a clearer picture of what a tail is saying. A tail that is tucked under the dog’s body or between their legs is fear or submission. A tucked tail means that a dog is not comfortable in the situation that they are in. Fear tends to be a more still tail; but not always. This is why reading the whole picture is important.
Tails are fascinating to read; but you must look at the rest of the body to get the whole picture. One of the most desirable tail movements is what I call the “circle tail,” which I have only ever seen on extremely happy, relaxed dogs. Both Elsa and Riggs do circle tail where their tail goes in a full circle like a helicopter on it’s side. It is a great tail to see and when you know what it means, even better.
Another thing to watch out for is when a tail includes the body in it’s wag. When a tail wag moves into the dogs body and they becoming a full on body wag, that is good. A loose, soft body posture means that a dog is comfortable or content. In contrast to a still body with a moving tail; that can be a hard read and something to be aware of. The larger the motion and loser a tail wags is, the better. A concerning tail wag is tight and fast, often with no body movement and held very high.
The most important thing to remember about tails is that a wagging tail does not always
mean a happy dog. This is probably one of the largest misconceptions
about dogs and wagging tails.
Ears
Ears are another extremely important body part for communication. Of course erect ears are going to be the easiest to read; but all dogs use their ears for communicating. Even if they have big floppers, they are still moving them around to communicate their feelings. When a dog is relaxed, their ears will be relaxed, sort of dropped down loosely, but not held down.
When a dog is alert, listening or watching something intently; their ears will be up and held forward. This is a great way to know when your dog has seen something that they are interested in. Dogs can move their ears independently. So you may notice a dog paying attention to what’s in front of them but turning one ear back so they can also hear what’s going on behind them.
If a dog holds their ears down loosely it can be in greeting their family. Dogs also hold their ears down in submission; signaling that they are not a threat. Often a young puppy will hold their tail and their ears down when greeting an adult k9. Their tail typically wags quickly to signal submission even though they may be excited. They can also exhibit this to humans as well.
Think of body language as a whole picture idea. A calm or relaxed dog will display their tail at half mast, ears hanging softly and body loose. A dog that is over aroused or excited will have everything upright and tight, confident, intent and have dilated pupils. While a fearful or submissive dog will be low, ears low, tail low, body posture will be low and eyes may be squinted and darting. It really depends on the situation and emotion.
Eyes
Dogs use their eyes in communication as well. Just this morning, our girl Elsa gave Riggs a hard stare to keep him from moving in on her prime real estate spot on the bed. He very clearly understood and made no advancements. Eye contact is very important with dogs and it can speak volumes. Your dogs eyes can be relaxed, tense, fearful, over excited and submissive.
A direct hard stare is one of the first signs to be aware of. If a dog gives you a hard stare, meaning they look directly and hard right into your eyes, this can be a warning communication. You need to pay attention to it because if you don’t they may up their warning. Dogs hold their eyes soft when relaxed, wide and tight when fearful, give side eye or whale eye as a warning or when fearful and squint as a greeting or in submission. A lot is said with their eyes.
NEVER, STARE DIRECTLY AT A DOG IF THEY ARE NOT YOUR DOG!
A dog’s pupils can hold a great deal of information as well. Dilated pupils are typically not a great thing because it is a sign that a dog is not relaxed or calm. Fear, stress and over arousal can lead to dilated pupils. That said, each dog is an individual so it is important to know about your dogs pupils in general. Our boy Riggs has dilated pupils many times a day. He has over eggagerated body language so when he is having pretty much any emotion you can see it in him easily. Of course depending on what is going on with the rest of the body; a dilated pupil tells you that a dog is becoming over aroused, too excited, fearful or stressed about something.
All of these minute body language signals say so much and if you don’t know what you are looking at; humans typically get much of it wrong.
Vocalizations
Oh ya, dogs speak, some speak a lot; while others might not have a whole lot to say ever. Getting to know what your dog’s barks, growls, whines and wimpers mean takes time and attention. Not all vocal communications are bad; but there is a lot of meaning behind it all. Any vocalization can become a habit if it gets them attention. Let’s say your dog barks at you and you pet them. Next day they bark more often and you reach to pet them. You are teaching them that barking gets them petted. If this continues you will be petting more often and if you don’t, the barking will continue.
As a dog trainer, I recommend addressing the cause of a communication and not the communication itself. A dog that growls or barks is letting you know how they feel. If we suppress that communication then we may be left with a dog that does not let us know how they are feeling; leaving us in the dark as to what can happen. Figuring out why your dog is barking, growling or whining is essential if you want to modify a specific behavior. When you know why, you can then figure out how to help your dog. This is a very important thing that has been done wrong by humans for years.
Vocalizations from your dog is a gift of information.
Never punish a growl.
When humans communicate
When we communicate with our dogs; it is important to remember that they can learn a large amount of verbal cues (words) and really understand them. They will be watching you because that is how they first communicate. Often a message can be misunderstood because of our body posture; the dog sees something different than what we are saying. They also listen to tone of words; so often sounds from us will suffice in communication.
Short and sweet is how we should verbally communicate with our dogs. You can have great long conversations with them (which I do regularly) but they will pick out the few words in your long winded talk, that mean something to them.
A good example is when we tell our dogs “Daddy is not coming home". Your dog hears the words but only registers Daddy and maybe home. Or when you try to explain to your dog “no we are not going for a walk today.” All they are hearing is walk and are probably more and more excited, each time you tell them they are not going for a walk. So you may be saying that something is not happening; but they are hearing that it is. Be mindful of what you are saying and remember how they are comprehending what you are saying.
Be consistent with your words and your dog can learn a huge vocabulary. Use the same words for each behavior, item or place so that can learn more easily. It is very easy to confuse a dog if everyone in the family are using different words to communicate with them. Dogs are far smarter than we give them credit for. Remember when you think they are smart; they are far smarter than that.