what the face tells you

mouth shape

The mouth gives information about anger, dominance, aggression, fear, attention, interest, and relaxation.

mouth relaxed, slightly open, tongue slightly visible: content relaxed dog

mouth closed no teeth or tongue visible: sign of attention or interest. dog is trying to determine the meaning of what he is observing, and evaluating the actions he is going to take.

lips curled to expose some teeth, mouth still mostly closed: sign of annoyance or threat "Go away you are bothering me."

lips curled, major teeth showing, nose wrinkled, mouth partly open: only tells you the intentions and feelings of the dog not what is going on to cause it. "If you do something I interpret as a threat I will bite."

lips curled exposing teeth and gums above the front teeth, with visible wrinkles on nose: last warning that a physical attack is not only possible but might be any moment.

Fear, Anger, or Dominance?

Threats can be triggered by any attempt to assert social dominance also by anger, or annoyance, and can be initiated by fear.

with a confident dog that is angry or annoyed the threatening will go away after the individual bothering it goes away. You can tell the level of aggression by the degree of which the teeth and gums are exposed. The nature of the lip curl and the shape of the mouth opening will tell you what triggered this expression.

Dogs showing fear aggression are not less likely to bite, a fearful dog will defend itself with more intensity than a dominate dog.

Head positions:

pointing the muzzle at someone is a threat used by dominate or aggressive dogs.

turning the mouth away is saying that they are not a threat.

Ears:

The ears give very significant signals. they should be read in context with the whole activity of the dog. When used with other signals the dog may give adds greatly to the clarity of the message and permit the addition of certain meanings.

Ears erect or slightly forward: dog is studying environment or a sign of attention

Ears erect, head tilted slightly, open mouth: means "this is really interesting"

ears erect, mouth closed, head tilted, eyes squinted a bit: means "I don't understand that."

Ears pulled back Flat against the head: means "I am frightened and I will defend myself"

Ears held flat, mouth drawn back, no visible teeth, and smooth forehead: submissive gesture meaning the dog likes you and realizes you are the dominate one.

Flattened ears, relaxed open mouth, blinking eyes and high tail: Means I like you and we can have fun together.

Ears pulled slightly back to the sides forming a v shape: basically means "I do not like this"

Eyes:

Direct eye to eye stare: threat, expression of dominance, or announcement of an attack

eyes turned away to avoid direct eye contact: sign of submission or fear

Blinking: breaks the dominance stare and shows submission

Eye shape:

the larger and more rounder the visual eye is the more threatening and angry the dog is.

Smaller, less visible, and narrower eyes are associated with fear, submission and pacification

barks

Barks were originally used for sounds of alarm. The barks does not tell us whether approacher is friendly or hostile. A dog may bark just as loudly when its owner approaches as when an intruder is breaking in. Once the approacher has been identified the dogs behavior may change. Dog may stop barking and start wagging its tail, or start growling and getting ready to attack.

Types of Bark

Barking in rapid strings of 3 or 4 with pauses in between with midrange pitch:

dog has sensed something is there but has not yet but is not yet identified or close enough to be a threat.

Rapid barking midrange pitch: Basic alarm bark, calling the pack to get ready for action because something is coming close.

Barking still continuous but a bit slower and lower pitch: Dog has sensed an imminent problem. "Intruder is close, hes not friendly get ready to defend yourself."

prolonged string of barks, with moderate to long intervals between each one:

"wuff" "wuff" is anybody there I am lonely and need love!

one or two sharp short barks of high or midrange pitch: means hello there and is usually followed by the typical greeting behavior.

Single, sharp short bark, lower midrange pitch: sound of threat or annoyance means stop that or backoff.

Single sharp short bark higher midrange pitch: surprise bark if repeated 2 or 3 times with short intervals in between it means come look at this!

Stutter Bark midrange pitch: "arr ruff" lets play

Growls:

soft low pitch comes from the chest: beware or backoff! Comes from a confident or dominate animal. If you hear this growl slowely back away.

soft growl not very low pitched seems to come more from the mouth: made by less confident animal means "stay away or keep your distance."

low pitched growl bark: I'm upset and I am ready to fight, but I may need some help over here.

higher midrange pitched growl bark: made by a dog that is not confident "I'm worried or frightened but I will defend myself"

undulated growl: fearful-aggressive sound made by a very unsure dog it means "Im terrified if you come near me I may fight or I may run."

noisy growl medium to higher pitched with teeth hidden: usually part of a play sequence means "This is a good game and I am having fun."

Howls, Yowls, and Baying

yip howl: I'm lonely

Howling: I am here or this is my territory

Bark howl: I am worried and alone why doesn't somebody come help me?

Baying: Follow me I have got a scent

Whines, Squeaks, or Whimpers

soft whimpering: means "I am hurt or I am scared"

moan or moan yodel: Means "I am excited or Lets go!"

single yelp: ouch!

series of yelps: I am hurting or I am really scared!

Sounds of Communication

The sounds that animals use to communicate with each other have uniformity. The sounds are different with each species of course, atleast I would hope there were no barking birds out there. With any one animal type there is a universal language, that includes a number of common sound patterns. This allows for the various groups of canines to understand each other. Also for humans and other animals to gather a great deal of information from the signals used. The basics of the sounds are: Pitch, Duration, and Frequency

Pitch:

• Low pitched sounds usaully indicate threats, anger, and possible aggression.
• Hig pitched sounds mean the opposite.
• A growl is meant to warn someone away
• A dog that is going to attack will not give a vocal signal

signs of attack:

• Dog may growl at first but once it realizes its warning is not being accepted it will stop the growl.
• Its head will slighty lower
• Its curled lip may tremble
• and then a lunge
• and a SNAP!

once the fight has started the growling may return.

In both cases of Fear and Anger sounds no longer serve as communication so they stop.

Duration:

Duration is used to modify the meaning of sounds.

• shorter sound durations are associated with higher intensity fear, pain, or need.

ex: A yelp is a short duration of a whine

• Longer durations become a whimper meaning pleasure, playfulness, or invitation.
• The longer the sound the more likely the dog is making a concious descision about the nature of the signals and the behaviors about to follow.
• A dominate dog will have a low growl, threatening display and will have every intention of standing its ground.
• Growling in short bursts and held briefly indicates that fear is present.

Repition:

• Sounds repeated often at a fast rate indicate excitment adn urgency.
• Sounds spaced out indicated low level of excitment or passing stae of mind.
• Occasional barking indicates mild intrest in something.
• Multiple bursts adn repititionof barking indicates that the dog thinks the situation is important and a possible crisis.

Canine Language

OK so dogs obviously don't speak like humans, but that's not to say they don't have their own language . Dogs don't have the facial flexibility, voice box or degree of voluntary control needed for human speech sounds. Even thought they don't speak our language doesn't mean they cannot understand it. This is called Receptive Language Ability- which pretty much means that they understand the language but they don't have the means to produce the language. They can pick up on subtle nuances in human word pronunciation. An example of when a dog understands a spoken word is when you say "Fred Kennel" and the dog goes into the kennel. You can teach a dog a word by simply saying the word or name of something every time the dog is near it. For example say outside every time you let the dog out side, and pretty soon the dog will associate the word outside with going outside, it is like teaching a toddler their words. Psychologists such as J. Paul Scott suggests that an average dog can distingush nearly 200 spoken human words, which would put the dog at the language ability of an average 2 year old. Then you have some trainers think that dogs can leran more than 300 words. Dogs try to interpret our language and and try to figure out what words are directed at them. So if your dog seems to ignore you they probably aren't they just aren't comprehending that your words are directed at them. So if you want your dog to listen simply say its name, then give the command. When giving a command do not use sentances but use simple words because if you say "come sit and watch tv with me". First of all the dog doesn't know you are talking to it because you did not say the name to get its attention. Second there are to many commands in the sentance to know which one to do. first you would say "Fred Come" then Fred sit" and then those are the comands. Much simpler to get it right then get it wrong, and go through the whole my dog is stupid dog scenario when its really the human being stupid.

And please use simple names that will not become a problem when yelling to get the dogs attention. You dont want to be yelling a name like abracadabra chupracabra when trying to get the dog to come to you. Use something simple, Simple is better. I do realize that dogs have registered names and those names can be long and exhausting, but try to find something simple to call the dog as a "call name". SO you are saying Fred or BO and not wearing yourself out trying to say a name you may not even be able to pronounce.

Also for dogs Body language is a important means of communication, because it can be visually picked up from a distance. The problem with visual language is it can be turned against the user depending on viewing circumstances. Dogs must be able to see you for the visual cue to work.

Please check back often for more information and topics!