Pampered Dog Blog

Dogs communicate using a complex “language”, based on physical cues. Learn to understand this language and you’ll develop a much better understanding of your dog’s needs, wants, and moods. You’ll also give your dog training efforts a serious boost, as you’ll be communicating on a level your dog readily understands.

Unfortunately, no-one has yet written a handy reference guide, but by following the guidelines set out below you’ll quickly be up to speed on what your dog is trying to tell you.

Here are the most important things you’ll need to watch for in your dog’s body language.

Standing Very Still – Dogs adopt this stiff, rigid stance as a signal that they want you to back off. You’ll also see the behavior when a dog is protecting something. For example, if he’s protecting his food bowl, he may stand rigid, and begin growling, to ward off another dog.

Flashing the Teeth – This is normally the first warning a dog will give to tell you to back off. If you have a dog that tends to be aggressive, or if it’s a dog you don’t know, it is safer to comply.

Growling – Growling is a dog’s way of telling you to back off. If you refuse to do so, you’ll hear the growl rise in intensity as the dog works himself up for an attack.Dog owners often shout at the dog, or punish him for growling. This is the worst thing you can do. Growling is a warning and if the dog is not allowed to growl he may just bite.

Raising the Hackles – When a dog raises the hair on his back, he is trying to look bigger in order to scare off a threat. It is often a sign of heightened fear, and means to dog may attack.

Putting the tail between the legs – This is a common behavior in timid, fearful dogs. The tail is tucked between the legs to indicate submissiveness, often when the dog is placed in an unfamiliar situation.

Putting the head down – Depending on the context this could be a attempt by a submissive dog to avoid eye contact. Or it could be a playful gesture.

Raised Paw -A raised paw is a playful gesture, which means, “ let’s be friends”.

Wagging Tail – The tail is a very powerful canine communication tool. A wagging tail is usually interpreted as a friendly gesture but this only applies if the tail is wagging loosely.If the tail is moving in rapid, short, side to side flicks, it means that that dog is agitated, while a tail that is wagged while being held between the legs indicates fear, or uncertainty.

Body language is the most important form of canine communication. Yes, you can teach your dog to understand and respond to voice commands, but body posture and gestures will always trump vocal messages.

Learn to interpret their language and you’ll understand your dog that much better.

If you want to discover more about dog training, dog care, dog breed info and other interesting dog information pay a visit to http://www.dogsanddogtraining.com