Body Language - The Tail

There is something so heart warming when your dog greets you with a wagging tail. I consider myself very lucky to have that  wonderful feeling every day.

Your dog will communicate everything from "I'm confident" to "I'm frightened" with the position of her tail.

If your dog has a short nubby tail, either due to nature or it being altered you will have to rely more on other body parts or the body as a whole.  And generally speaking you should be doing this anyway. However observing the tail alone can give you a good indication what's going on. Generally the higher the tail is the more confident the dog.

Tail positioning:

• High - indicates a confident dog
• Straight out - indicates an alert dog
• Low - indicates a relaxed dog
• Between the legs - indicates a fearful dog

Tail wagging:

Most people think of a dog with a wagging tail as happy. This is often true, however not all the time. If the rest of the dog's body, ears and mouth are relaxed that is a good indication of a happy dog. But if the dog's body and features are tense and rigid the dog is unsure, tense or uncomfortable.

The dog on the left looks happy to see whoever she is walking towards. The body, mouth and ears and are relaxed and natural looking.

The dog on the right looks a little more unsure and tense. If this dog's tail were wagging you shouldn't assume it's friendly. She might be guarding something or wary of the situation.  Either way it's best not to approach.

Can you read your dog's tail?

Body Language - The Eyes

We say that the eyes are the windows to the soul. When it comes to our canine companions, it can also be a window into their emotions. Remember that old expression "sad puppy dog eyes"? The next time you look at a dog, study her eyes closely. Are they bright? Do they appear large or small? Are they studying you?

Size Matters

A dog's eyes will appear different sizes depending how they feeling.

Normal size generally indicates:

• happy
• relaxed
• friendly
• alert

 Larger than normal size generally indicates:

• frightened
• stressed
• aggressive

Smaller than normal size generally indicates:

• frightened
• stressed
• in pain

You probably noticed that a frightened or stressed dog could have either smaller or larger than normal eye size. So you really have to take into account the situation and look at the rest of the dog's body to make an accurate assessment.


Direction

If a dog looks right at you with relaxed features (remember those puppy eyes) then she is happy, relaxed and probably looking for you to notice and give her some attention.

If a dog stares at you with tense features it can indicate that she is challenging you or trying to look threatening to you. If you don't know the dog, it would be a good idea to look away. In dog language that is like saying you mean no harm.





If a dog doesn't turn towards you but stares at you from the corner of her eye with her head lowered then beware. This is known as "whale eye". The whites of the eyes are large and shaped like crescents.

This dog is under stress or is guarding something and could turn aggressive if approached.