#dog language

[thehmn]

I’m pretty sure I’ve made a post about this before but I think I need some gifs to illustrate my point.

I’m something of a dog nerd. I don’t know a lot about breeds but I love diving into dog language and it’s a common misconception that a dog wagging its tail means it’s happy. That could not be further from the truth. A wagging tail just means it’s excited and that could mean happy, scared, curious or angry. A wagging tail is the dog asking you to pay attention to it. A dog that’s trying to hide never wags its tail.

First off, happy. A wagging tail combined with soft loose body language is a happy welcoming dog.

Stiff body means the dog is on guard and you should only approach with caution. It’s trying to determine if you’re a danger so if you approach you should avoid making eye contact and talk in a friendly high pithed voice. If the dog’s body remains stiff leave it be. If it lowers its head and starts wagging its tail more slowly and loosely that means it’s softening up to you.

Basically if it goes from acting like the dog on the right to the dog on the left you’re in the clear.

For understandable reasons I have trouble finding a gif of a truly scared dog but closed stiff body language with no snarling but a wagging tail means fear and you should only approach with caution because fear can quickly turn to anger.

If a dog looks away or try to avoid making eye contact it’s terrified and if it suddenly turns to look at you you’re probably in trouble.

And of course anger. We all know what that looks like but most people are so focused on the snarling teeth they don’t see the wagging tail. If you do don’t try to rationalize it. Listen to your fear. It’s not playing roughly. It’s fucking angry and you should absolutely not approach.

Btw, I don’t want to get into all the tiny micro expressions that dogs make but if you see a dog making this face it’s not smiling. It’s terrified. If it’s not accompanied by soft wiggly motions it’s a very very scared dog that is trying to appease you and though it’s not always the case it’s most likely a dog that’s used to getting hit or beaten.

These are broad guidelines but you should always approach a dog you don’t know with caution. They are individuals who doesn’t always follow set rules for how to behave but if you keep this in the back of your mind you’re far more prepared for interacting with dogs than just “tail wag means happy”.

[bringbackgoth]

Reasons why I haven't been online - please ignore our busted ass fence/yard, we work with what we got. This home has been in the fam since the 60s and we're trying to get funding to fix shit.

Dog Behavior Breakdown under the cut for anyone who cares, I'm mostly just analyzing the video for my own education(and encourage anyone to give their own notes)

It's encouraging to see that Daisy has incredible dog-language, and I'm happy to see Scoops is respecting(at some level) what she's broadcasting to him.

In the beginning of the video, you can see that he gets interested in smelling her rear - I believe she's either in heat or coming out of it - she signals to him that she's not okay with that by jumping away. He tries again, so she pivots and offers a play-bow to indicate that she's willing to play but she doesn't want him to keep sniffing her or engaging in breeding behavior.

He appears a bit confused for a moment but then understands what she's saying and play bows back at her, indicating that he's game to just have fun.

In a show of good faith he jumps to the side and bows again, then takes off, encouraging HER to chase HIM.

She chases him for a minute but then stops because she sees the neighbors dogs across the alley, he keeps running because he is acclimatized to those assholes lmao.

Scoops notices that she's stopped chasing and so he kind of stops and circles back, noticing the neighbor dogs are barking - it seems that Daisy is really interested in this and can't shake her focus until Scoops comes back and engages her back into his game of 'chase'.

She happily follows him away from the barking dogs but he's being pushy and wanting to be side-by-side with her.

As they round the tree he maybe puts his mouth against hers, which she does NOT like. She stops and he turns around to see why she isn't still running with him. Daisy is a bit stiff, but Scoops play bows to indicate that 'It's all cool, girl! I didn't mean anything serious!'. She reciprocates the bow, though it's not as confident as it was last time... 'ok, lets keep playing...'

Scoops takes this as a green light to do an Epic Cool Dude Move by trying to jump over her(he loves jumping over other dogs) and they engage back into Daisy chasing Scoops until he tries subtly to turn the tables.

Unfortunately there is a Stick Pile in the way which he crashes into(and which interrupts their rhythm)

Scoops recovers but they get back into a stare off like 'are we still playing?' and despite both of them indicating SEVERAL times that they want to PLAY, Scoops idiot boy brain seems to have switched back to 'stud' mode as he clearly tries to assert himself over Daisy with plans to mount her several times.

Unfortunately for Scoops, Daisy is NOT having it, and is quick to pivot and run, but he keeps trying to insist on it.

I stopped the video so I could yell at him and tell him to cut it out. After the reprimanding, they went back to playing.

[bones-n-bookles]

Dog Language: An Encyclopedia of Canine Behavior, by Roger Abrantes, 1997

[derpduck99]

If you were a dog, and you had a dog wife, would it be socially acceptable to call her a bitch?

Like if you were a dog wife, would you get offended if your dog husband walked up to you and said "Hey bitch! Got a bone for me?"

[doghowto]

Man unintentionally teaches his Corgi sign language! 😊 Follow me for more smart puppers!

[pointers4dogs-blog]

Using Dog Language To Train Dogs

Use Dog Language To Up Your DogTraining Game No matter what we’re teaching a dog, it’s crucial to be able to read dog body language. Then we can offer a visual cue as a means of letting him know what we want him to do. Obviously, inter-dog communication doesn’t use verbal language like we do. Instead, dogs communicate via complex combinations of body postures, movements, facial expressions and…

[estragonsgayass]

[kaionyx]

If I can’t bruise your insides from fucking you into the mattress like I hate you for a few hours then cook for us to eat and cuddle together while I cover you with licks and kisses like an devoted dog after, then I don’t want it.

[brainrotcharacters]

Mothers and fuckers of the ketchup and mustard household (I'm going even more insane than usual)

[canisalbus]

✦ Dies Veneris ✦

[critterbitter]

Language divides and building bridges.

Elesa’s feeling homesick. Emmet, bless his heart, tries to help by infodumping while Ingo frantically runs off to find water (crying is a very dehydrating experience).

((Would you look at that! The kids are picking up kantonese and galarian from each other!))

BONUS:

Heh. Callback.

Want to see more? Here’s the masterpost for submas!

[lotus-pear]

"dazai would princess carry chuuya" "dazai would hold chuuya bridal style" no shutup dazai would pick chuuya up like he's a sopping wet kitten or a sack of potatoes

[dire-wolf-days]

“I love you”

“I love you too”

<3

[beardedmrbean]

good doggy

[elrohirtheneurodivergent]

I just wondered:

If a dog grew up, not ever meeting another dog, would it still know the social cues of dog languages?

Do dogs learn social cues or are they instinct?

[dogcub]