Body Language of Dogs: Communication with Ears, Tail, Head, and Snout

By Dylan Green
Published on 01/29/2024
Reviewed by Dr. Joseph Howard

Communication Without Sounds: the Body Language of Dogs

Dogs constantly communicate with us and with their fellow canines: While they have a wide range of vocalizations—barking, howling, growling, whining—they convey most of their messages through their bodies: With their facial expressions, ears, tail, and overall posture, dogs speak volumes. It’s only in the context of body language that the vocalizations of dogs gain complete meaning.

Four-legged friends possess an extensive repertoire of communication methods. To understand your dog, you should be familiar with these and learn to “read” them.

Vocalization

Barking, howling, and whimpering are useful when there is no visual contact between dogs or between humans and animals. A hunting dog may inform the hunter about the location of prey by barking. A pack of dogs can stay in touch with each other even when the individual animals are not in close proximity.

But even in everyday life, dogs like to use their “voice”: With loud barking, your four-legged friend may invite you to play or defend its territory. With howling or whining, your dog “tells” you about its feelings such as pain, fear, or discomfort.

Gestures

The position of the ears or the posture and movement of the tail are among the most important elements of a dog’s body language. These visual communication methods are also visible and understandable from a greater distance. Even the smallest change can have significant differences in meaning. Therefore, you should observe these two body parts closely if you want to know what’s going on with your four-legged friend.

Facial Expressions

Eyes and lips dominate the actual facial expression of the dog and can convey very differentiated messages when viewed up close.

Posture of the Dog

The position and body tension provide you with information about whether your dog is confident or defensive, relaxed, or nervous.

Communication Through Touch

Nudging, resting the head on you, rubbing along the legs—your dog also communicates with you and its fellow canines through touches.

Communication Through Scent Marks

Dogs communicate with each other through scents. Marking with scent marks and sniffing also belong to canine communication. Who was here before me? Is the neighboring female dog in heat? How old is the dog that walked here this morning? Dogs constantly leave messages for their fellow canines: through urine and feces or the scent emanating from the anal glands above the tail base, which is spread by wagging.

If you want to interpret the body language of your dog, you should always pay attention to the overall picture: posture, facial expressions and gestures, as well as the vocalizations of your dog are individual puzzle pieces that need to be put together to form a complete picture. The effort is worth it because only a understood dog is a happy dog!

Body Language of Dogs — Source: iHugDogs

How can I interpret the body language of the dog?

If you want to understand your dog, it’s important to pay attention to the small and subtle differences. Below, we have compiled the most important signals of canine body language and their meanings for you.

Head:

If your dog seeks direct eye contact, it is self-assured. However, depending on the context, this gaze can also indicate aggressiveness and/or confrontation.
Averted eyes and a head turned to the side, on the other hand, signal peaceableness or fear/discomfort. The dog avoids confrontation in this way and exhibits appeasing behavior.
A lowered and tucked head indicates submissiveness and/or fear.
If the dog holds its head straight and elevated, it is attentive and self-confident.
When the head is “questioningly” tilted to the side, the animal shows uncertainty and assesses the situation.

Eyes:

Contracted and fixed pupils, as well as a staring gaze, are to be understood as a threat. They indicate that the dog is focused and on alert, e.g., for an impending fight or the pursuit of prey.
A relaxed, friendly dog has wide pupils and a rather gentle expression. The position of the eyebrows also emphasizes this friendly demeanor – just think of the famous “dachshund look.” In some cases, however, greatly dilated pupils can be a sign of fear.

Snout:

Lips, corners of the mouth, and teeth say a lot about the dog’s state of mind.
Mouth corners pulled far back indicate submissiveness. If teeth are shown or bared, it is a threat.
However, if the lips are directed forward and the canine teeth only slightly peek out, your dog is relaxed and in a good mood. A slightly open mouth is always a sign of relaxation.

Body language of the dog: Ears

Depending on the breed, deciphering the “ear play” of the dog can be somewhat challenging. An animal with pronounced drooping ears, such as a basset hound, cannot prick its ears like a German shepherd. So, you always have to look closely at what signal your dog is sending with its ears.
Loosely hanging ears in dogs indicate a friendly mood with a relaxed posture.
When the dog lays its ears back, shows a tense neck, and slightly opens its mouth, these are signs of submissiveness and/or fear.
If the ears are erect, the dog is confident and alert. If it also bares its teeth, it shows aggression.

Tail:

The body language of the dog is also expressed through the tail position of the dog: It clearly reveals the dog’s mood. It is somewhat difficult with animals with very short or docked tails.
A calmly swaying tail reveals a friendly disposition. If a dog wags its tail very quickly, it may be excited or aggressive. In breeds with a short or docked tail, the entire hindquarters may wag.
If the tail extends the line of the back, then the dog is neutral but interested.
If the tail is held up, the dog is usually self-assured, dominant, or threatening. If annoyed, the tail may tremble.
If your four-legged friend tucks its tail between its hind legs, it is showing fear with its dog body language. Here, there may be “communication problems” in breeds with short tails.

General posture:

The “change” in body size plays a big role in posture: If the dog makes itself big or “puffs” itself up, it is self-confident and wants to impress its counterpart.
The dog also appears larger when it raises its back fur: With raised “bristles,” the dog expresses annoyance or a clear threat. In the body language of the dog, this can mean “attack.”
If the dog tries to appear smaller, for example, by crouching down, ducking, or bending its hind legs, it is insecure and fearful.
If it lies on its back and exposes its belly, it is a gesture of submission.
On the other hand, if the four-legged animal lowers the front body forward and raises the hindquarters, accompanied by tail wagging, it is a clear invitation to play.

When interpreting the body language of the dog, it is always important to pay attention to all communication signals simultaneously.

Dog Body Language: 3 Common Misunderstandings

Because dogs communicate very differently from humans, misunderstandings often occur. Even falsely held beliefs contribute to these misconceptions. We clear up such errors here.

Do dogs wag their tails when they are happy?

Many people automatically assume that dogs wagging their tails are friendly and in a good mood. This interpretation is also taught to children from an early age.

However, this is not always the case: A dog wagging its tail is not always friendly. Primarily, the dog is in an excited emotional state, which means it can be in a good mood, but also aggressive, stressed, or insecure.

Therefore, it is not only important where and how the tail wags but also what signals the dog sends with the rest of its body:

A dog whose tail swings extravagantly from side to side, so that its entire hindquarters sway, is more likely approaching you in a friendly manner.
A dog with a tense posture and pinned-back ears, whose tail is held upwards and wagging rapidly, is generally not friendly towards you. You should be cautious here.

In general, you should always behave cautiously around unfamiliar dogs and never rush towards them.

Are yawning dogs tired?

Often, dogs yawn with their mouths wide open. However, this does not necessarily mean that they are suffering from sleep deprivation: This gesture of dog body language can also indicate that the dog is stressed, excited, or displeased with something. Sending a yawning dog to sleep in its basket can therefore be completely inappropriate in some situations. If the dog is stressed or excited, it is unlikely to rest in its place.

Can dogs smile?

Most dog owners will answer this question with a clear “Yes.” However, the matter is not so clear-cut. Because fundamentally, “showing teeth” in dog body language does not signal anything good: Dogs that appear to be smiling may also be baring their teeth, which is understood as a threat.

But: Scientific studies by the renowned biologist and behavioral researcher Dorit Feddersen-Petersen show that dogs have likely learned to mimic humans and their smiles. However, dogs only display this smile to their humans. Furthermore, the friendly smile should not be confused with the so-called play face of dogs: This is characterized by wide-open, often twisted eyes and a wide-open mouth, exposing all teeth. So it’s always worth taking a closer look to see if your furry friend is really smiling.

By the way: Researchers at the University of Florida have found that dogs’ ability to interpret the facial expressions of familiar humans is more nuanced than the reverse. Dogs are far ahead of us humans when it comes to reading body language.

Appropriately Responding to Canine Communication

It’s not just humans who misunderstand dogs; it happens the other way around too. Often, as pet owners, we react inappropriately to the body language of our dogs or confuse them with our gestures and facial expressions. This sometimes leads to confusion for our four-legged family members, and sometimes even to strong reactions.

In your interactions with your dog, you should always try not only to pay attention to their body signals but also to respond appropriately to them.

Some elements of human body language are interpreted completely differently by animals than we intend.

These include the following:

Eye contact: When we greet a person warmly, we often look them directly in the eye. Dogs naturally perceive this as a threatening gesture.
Bending over the dog from above: This gesture also appears threatening to dogs and could lead to aggression. They also don’t appreciate it when you approach them from behind.
Patting the dog on the head from above: Intuitively, most people pet animals right where they don’t like it so much, namely on the top of the head. This can be really intimidating for larger people, especially if they are unfamiliar to the animals. It causes discomfort for the dogs and can make them feel intimidated. Most dogs prefer to be touched on the flanks, chest, and sides of the muzzle. You can learn everything you need to know about petting in our article “Petting Correctly.”
Hugging: When we want to show someone our affection, we like to hug them. We also do this with our four-legged friends. However, they don’t appreciate this display of love at all. You can tell by their reaction: Dogs usually try to quickly break free from a hug, yawn, flatten their ears, or start licking their lips. Many also simply turn their heads away.

If you want to become an unbeatable team with your dog, you must learn to understand the body language of dogs. Because only then is successful communication between humans and animals possible.