What is your Dog Trying to Tell You? (Body Language Series 1)
Dogs are social creatures and for anyone to survive and get along with others in this world, it is crucial to have some form of language or communication. Dogs are master communicators. Not only are they great at conversing with their fellow canines, but they have the ability to know how humans (another species) feels. We understand our dogs pretty well but there is so much more our dogs may be telling us we are not aware of. Here are a few examples of what your dog may be telling you. The more we understand their language, the better the relationship and communication with our dogs will be.
Tongue Flick or Licking Lips
a dog isn’t always wanting food when he licks his lips. He maybe telling you many other things if you notice your dog is licking his lips or nose when food isn't present.
1. One meaning may be that he is nervous and is wanting to show the other party (person or another dog) they are not a threat. This gesture is sometimes paired with a lowered head to appear smaller. Social dogs will likely accept this behavior and respond positively. Be aware that some other dogs could see this as weakness and will try to take advantage of the situation.
2. Dogs also lick their nose to calm themselves down and to take the focus off of themselves and onto the action they are doing.
Try yawning when your feel anxious or stressed out, it works for people too.
Yawning
yawning is a gesture that not only indicates your dog is tired. Your dog is trying to tell you many things when they yawn.
1. One reason could be they are stressed out about something and they are trying to calm themselves down. They are trying to get rid of the tension they are feeling and the yawning helps alleviate the pressure. Try yawning when your feel anxious or stressed out, it works for people too.
Shaking
Shaking is not only used to shake off water after a bath or a swim in the creek. If they are not wet, they are saying something else. Shaking is used mostly to calm themselves. It is very similar to when we feel stressed or anxious about something and we take a deep breath and it calms us down. It is the same for dogs. They feel a rush of adrenaline about something like seeing another dog or a squirrel running by. After feeling that, they need an outlet for that energy and the shaking brings their heart rate down. If you see your dog shake, praise him for shaking because he is learning to cope with the things that makes him more excited or nervous.
Dogs will scratch to stall or tell you he is frustrated or stressed about the situation.
Scratching
Dogs will scratch if they are itchy but they will also scratch to say something else. Dogs will scratch to stall or tell you he is frustrated or stressed about the situation. This may be your cue to give your dog more help or make the situation less difficult for him.
Play Bow
You may see this position a lot at the dog park, which is a good sign. The Play Bow is a posture dogs will take when wanting to engage in play with others. This signal shows the dog is social, relaxed, and ready to play.