Have you ever wished that your dog could just tell you what she wanted? This primer on dog body language can help you and your dog communicate without words.
I have been taking my nervous dog — Jenna — to dog training class practically since the day we adopted her two years ago. Training has done wonders for her anxiety, and it’s helped us bond in a way that I don’t think we would have without our weekly classes. One of the most eye-opening moments in training happened maybe a year ago. The trainer asked us to run through our usual comments, but without the words. No sit. No stay. No come. Just hand signals and eye contact.
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I’d never tried communicating wordlessly with Jenna before and was amazed that she did every single command without me saying a word.
Verbal commands are still important, of course. If your dog isn’t looking at you, you need her to respond to her name and commands, so that you can get her attention. And humans are verbal creatures, so I think that it helps us, too. The point here, though, is that your dog is reading your body language, and she is trying to communicate with her own non-verbal signals.
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Take a look at the picture at the very top of this page. That photo is from the day that Jenna came home with us. See how she is sitting? Eyes straight ahead, and ears back? That dog body language is not saying that she’s calmly waiting to be petted. She is terrified. Jenna shuts down when she is nervous, but if she had aggressive tendencies someone trying to pet her in this situation would be in danger of being bitten.
That lolling tongue and ears nice and relaxed? You are looking at happy dog body language! I'm pretty sure Jenna is making eyes at the neighbor's dog in this photo.
Just as some words can mean different things in different context, dog body language can mean different things from your dog. Some signals are very clear while others might require you to get a feel for how your dog communicates. I learned most of the signals below through our years in training class and some just from bonding and communicating with Jenna.
Another early photo of Jenna. See how she refuses to look at me and that raised front paw? She's nervous and needs a little bit of space.
I would love to hear from the other dog owners out there! What signals does your dog send when she’s happy, nervous, or aggressive?
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