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It is known that dogs are very sociable animals and that they naturally always conceive their life in the context of a pack, whether it is a pack formed by other dogs or by their human family.
Of course, nature also provided them with the language necessary to establish a communication that allows the pack to be kept in harmony, and this communication is used both with other dogs and with humans, and if we don't get informed beforehand, we can't decipher everything. that our dog wants to convey to us.
In order to better understand your dog and be able to provide him with the greatest well-being, in this article by PeritoAnimal we will explain how interpret dog body language.
signs of calm
I'm sure you've heard of the signs of calm in the dog, although the use of this term may cause some confusion. Puppies use these signals to convey calm to their fellow dogs, to their human family or even to themselves, a calm signal in its essence is a response to an external stimulus.
The dog can use them to minimize his excitement, to prevent a threat, to establish friendship... But calm signs can also indicate that a dog is scared, stressed or angry.
Calm signals are a very important part of a dog's body language, however, are not the only ones there, as puppies can use other types of signals to convey excitement, threat or aggression.
Learn to interpret the most important calm signals
There are approximately 30 different calm signals, and their meaning may vary slightly depending on whether the dog uses them with another dog or with a human. Therefore, it is very difficult to approach this topic in a deep and complete way, but if that is your intention, we recommend the book "The language of dogs: the signs of calm" by the writer Turid Rugaas.
However, next let's decipher for you what your dog means when he uses one of the most common calm signals:
- blink repeatedly: When a dog blinks repeatedly, it is indicating that he feels forced and uncomfortable in the face of an external stimulus (usually an order) and that he wants to calm down.
- turn your head to one side: It is a sign often used by dogs when a human leans excessively on it to transmit an order. With this sign the dog tells us he feels uncomfortable, the same happens when he looks sideways to avoid eye contact.
- Turn the back: If the dog turns its back on you, it can be mainly for two reasons: either it is very excited and startled and needs to reduce this energy and the stimuli it is receiving very quickly, or it senses that you are approaching it angry and want to reassure it it.
- To yawn: When a dog yawns it is trying to reassure itself in a situation that it perceives as not being calm, and it may also be trying to reassure its human family.
- lick and lick: This calm sign can have several meanings. When a dog licks you, it can be interpreted as a social interaction and a display of joy. In contrast, when a dog licks its muzzle it can indicate that it is scared, nervous, or uncomfortable.
- lie down on your back: It is one of the signs that your dog uses to show great confidence in you, when a dog puts itself like this, it is totally submissive and surrenders itself totally to you.
One of the most important benefits of knowing these calm signals is that you can also use them with your dog, this way he will easily understand what you want to convey.
Bodily Signs Before a Bite
If we're talking about canine body language, one of the most valuable knowledge is knowing how to identify when a dog poses a threat and prepares for a bite, in which case the signs are usually as follows:
- Shows discomfort looking away, turning, yawning and moving slowly.
- It scratches and smells the ground.
- Shows signs of stress: the hair on your loin is standing on end, it gasps, your pupils are dilated and your eyes are wide open, you may also tremble and shake. These signs indicate that the dog prepares to flee or to attack.
- The dog stops showing signs, remains immobile and focuses on its threat if it has not been able to neutralize it.
- The dog growls and shows its teeth.
- Finally, he makes an attack and marks or bites in an act of self-defense or as a defense of something or someone he considers belongs to him.
Of course, if we know the body language of dogs this process does not have to occur at all, as we can act depending on what our dog is manifesting, managing to calm him down.
