- Range of non verbal body language
- Repetition is concerning
- Increase in frequency is concerning
- Combination – what other behaviours are offered.
- What was the purpose of the behaviour/what was the end result
- Objective observation – what is the dog doing ✅
- Subjective observation – how is the doing feeling ❎
- Context
Eyes
- Soft eyes – happy/relaxed – almond shaped – no furrows around the brows
- Hard eyes – tension/stress – stare – bug, round bulging – aroused/alert/hyper vigilant
- Pupils – dilation – stress/tension – glassy look – threatened/fearful/uncomfortable
- Whale eye – whites of eyes – nervous/anxious/pain – resource guarding – head styles. still, eyes follow something (bulldogs naturally show whites of eyes – saggy skin)
- Blinking – dog is not a threat, happy to engage
- Squinty eye – like blinking/ appeasement
- Direction of gaze – staring away from something – avoidance
- Avoiding eye contact – not a threat/non confrontational/stressed/fearful
- Hyper vigilant – can’t settle/alert/over aroused/fearful/defensive
Ears
- 16/17 muscles in each ear
- Ears read in context with eyes/tail etc
- Eyes can move independently – look at where the ear is pointing
- Neutral position (depends on dog’s breed) – relaxed
- Forward – alert/excited
- Low/pinned back. – pain/fearful/nervous – tension in the ears = nervous – make body look smaller and less threatening
- Cropped ears – removing flap, based of ear left – still see movement – communication inhibited
- Breed specific ear shape –
- Left side of ear linked to positive experiences – right side to negative experiences
Mouth
- Spatula tongue – elongated, widened, crinkled – stress/tension/needs rolling/nervous/pain/aggression
- Smile – is there any tension around smile – is the tongue loose or spatula – can you see the jowls (inside of the lips), no tension
- Open – happy/relaxed
- Closed – tense/stress – look at side. of muzzle
- Winkles on dog’s nose – stress – look for lip curl
- Snarling – in play – over excited
- Snarling – looked other body parts – is weight distributed forward (probably good) or backwards – stress/pain – winkles above muzzle, lip curl, front teeth shown
- Snap – over aroused – final warning
- Panting – stress/nervous/excited/pain
- Drooling – with panting – stress/nervous/excited/pain/anticipation/over arousal/aggression/fear
- Yawning – pain/stress/fearful/anxious – yawns are catching
- Licking – appeasement/engage/displacement in attention – self sooth – endorphins
- Excessive self licking – OCD – pain/self soothing
- Biting – depends on age – puppy soft body language – teeth makes contact with skin – last resort
Tail
- Use tails to communicate and to distribute their scent around – docked tails stiffer and thicker, can’t hide the scent glands
- Windmill – side to side, around, bum waggling
- Waggy tail (happy) – going through the dog’s body, hips moving too, floppy
- Waggy tail (unhappy) – tension, slow, stiff
- Position
- Midway – neutral (breed specific)
- High – dog is expressing scent – overly confident – rude
- Down- closed off scent glands, trying to hide, in a vulnerable situation
- Speed of wag – high wag, slow – alert/over aroused/intimidating
- Breed specific tails
- Curled up – difficult to read – scent glands exposed – seems ruse to other dogs
- Small tails
- Tails that wag/lean more to the left linked to negative experience
Coat
- Piloerection – hackles raised – involuntary (like goosebumps) -releasing scent – nervous/unsure/over excited/over aroused/aggression
- Moulting more than usual – anxious – vet check – daily routine?
- Coat patterns – changes – curl/wave/swirl – ttouch – skin condition – coat changes where they are holding tension – is dog in balance – claws equally worn – posture and behaviour is linked – good equipment that doesn’t unbalance
Posture
- Forward – sizing something up/looking bigger/intimidating – ready to take action
- Backward – fearful – ready to flee
- Tension – in different components of the body – stress/over excited/over aroused
- Leaning
- Into you – comfort/attention
- Away from something – unsure
- Head tilt – friendly/inquisitive/undecided
- Paw lift – ready to take action – where is weight distribution – running to or away? – indicate something
- Shake off – full body shake – releases tension
- Freeze – solid – tension – stare – deciding what next move is going to be – weight distribution? – don’t allow dog to freeze for more than 3 seconds, more likely to be bad choice as they’re staring, do a touch to interrupt or go sniff or positive interrupter