Dogs are very honest with their body signals, and you can learn a lot about what your dog is thinking and feeling by watching how he looks, acts and moves. By looking at the overall picture of your dog’s behavior and body language, you’ll have a better understanding of what your dog is trying to tell you. What are some things that your dog does to try to convey his feelings and actions?
Something else you’ll want to pay attention to is the position of your dog’s eyes. If your dog is looking directly at you and his facial expression is relaxed, then he’s letting you know that he’s being approachable and friendly.
The message is a little different, however, if your dog makes eye contact with you and then breaks his contact by either looking away or looking down. This is his way of telling you (or another dog) that he’s feeling submissive and doesn’t want any trouble.
Quite differently, if your dog is angry or feeling aggressive, he’s going to try to make himself look large and intimidating. He’ll immediately stand tall and his muscles will be tight and tense. His neck and head will be raised up high and he’ll probably have his weight on his front feet so he can lunge forward if he needs to.
It’s important to pay attention to your dog’s ears for communication signals. But it can be deceiving to tell how your dog is feeling just by looking at his ears alone. His ears may be pointed towards you at first, but then he’ll hear a sound in the distance that gets his attention. He’ll quickly move one or both ears towards the direction of that sound. And then in a flash, his ears could be right back listening to you. You’ll need to look at the whole picture (not just the ears) to better understand what your dog is trying to tell you.
Here’s a wonderful picture of Abby and Lexi, taken at our Doggy Day Care Centre. This picture demonstrates squinting – Abby is in a very happy, content and joyful mood, you can even see her smile, with her friend Lexi.
Dogs will use eyes to express moods, and we love dog’s squinting, this is usually a positive sign of contentment, joy and happiness.
A confident socialised dog, during dog to dog induction will squint whilst gazing elsewhere. This is a clear indication your dog is not at all interested in rough play or even a hint of aggression.
When you next give your dog a belly rub, have a look at his eyes, hopefully you can detect a squint and maybe even a smile!
Sometimes if you tell your dog of, your dog may squint, but this is usually followed by your dog nudging your hand in an act of saying “sorry”.
Grimacing
With us humans, we can determine the difference between a smile or a grimace. It’s the same with your doggo. When she draws back her lips horizontally, and you can see all her teeth, it typically means discomfort or fear. When it accompanies ear flattening, it could mean she’s in pain, so watch her expression to see if it continues.