Reading your puppy’s body language

Dogs have always communicated with each other by using body language. This involves facial expressions, body postures, noises and scents. Dogs will use their mouth, eyes, ears and tail to express emotions. By learning how to interpret your puppy’s body language, you can interpret your puppy’s intentions.

Signs of aggression or submission

If your puppy is feeling brave or aggressive, he’ll try to make himself larger by standing tall, with his ears and tail sticking upright. He’ll also push out his chest and raise the hair on his neck and back. He might also growl and wave his tail slowly.

On the other hand, a submissive dog will try to make himself appear small and act like a puppy. This is because an adult dog will “tell off” a puppy but not attack him. Submission will take the form of a sideways crouch near to the ground, his tail held low but wagging away. He may also try to lick the face of the dominant dog or human. He may even roll on his back.

Your puppy’s tail

Most of us recognize that tail wagging is a sign of friendliness and pleasure, but the tail can indicate other moods, too.

The normal way a dog holds his tail varies from breed to breed but generally speaking, a tail held higher than 45 degrees to the back expresses alertness and interest.

If your puppy’s tail is waved slowly and stiffly, that’s an expression of anger. If it’s clamped low over his hindquarters, it means your pet is afraid. An anxious or nervous dog may droop his tail but wag it stiffly.

Your puppy’s eyes

If your dog’s eyes are half closed, that’s a sign of pleasure or submission, while eyes wide open can indicate aggression.

In the wild, dogs stare at each other until one backs down or makes a challenge, so you should never attempt to outstare your puppy, especially if he’s nervous.

Your puppy’s smile

Submissive dogs and some breeds such as Labradors often open their mouths in a kind of lop-sided “grin”, and indeed, it is a sign of friendliness. But when lips are drawn back tightly to bare the teeth, that’s aggression, make no mistake.

Wanting to play

If your puppy wants to play, he’ll raise a paw or bow down and bark to attract attention. Or he might offer up a toy, or bound up to another dog to get him to join in a chase.

How your dog sees you

Your puppy will watch you to read your body signals more than he will listen to you, and he’ll quickly learn what you’re feeling even without you speaking.

If you want to improve communication with your puppy, you can improve upon your own body language. For example, crouching down with arms opened out is a welcome sign while towering over him and staring is a sign of threat.

How your puppy learns

Your puppy will learn very quickly, so it’s important that he learns how to behave properly right from the start.

Dogs learn by association, so if your puppy does something good, reward him. Then the action is much more likely to be repeated. But the reward must be linked to the action, so he must be rewarded quickly, within a second or two. The reward itself can be a few kibbles of puppy food or praise, or both.

Your puppy needs to be taught what he can and cannot do. Some harmless behaviors can be ignored, but potentially dangerous ones need to be handled immediately by interrupting the behavior with a sharp “no” to get his attention — be sure to reward him when he stops and pays attention to you. Shouting or hitting will not help your puppy learn.

Understanding barking and whining

Barking

Barking is a totally natural aspect of a dog’s behavior, but you, your family and your neighbors will be happier if you can bring it under control.

It’s hardly surprising many people have barking problems with their dogs, since most dogs have no idea whether barking is something good or bad. That’s because our reaction to his barking is confusing to the dog. In his eyes, when he barks, he is sometimes ignored, while at other times he is shouted at to stop, and then again he may be encouraged to bark if, for example, there’s a suspicious stranger nearby.

To help your dog know when barking is acceptable, you simply need to teach him that he may bark until he is told to stop. “Stop barking” should be considered as a command for obedience rather than a telling off.

Start the training by letting your dog bark two or three times, praise him for sounding the alarm, then say “Stop barking” and hold out a treat in front of him. Your dog will stop immediately if only due to the fact that he can’t sniff the treat while barking. After a few seconds of quiet, give him the reward. Gradually increase the time from when the barking stops to the giving of the reward.

If you are concerned about excessive barking that you have no control over, you should seek advice from your vet about next steps, such as specialist training or therapy.

Whining

If you comfort your puppy whenever he whines, it may actually make things worse. It will make your puppy think he’s being praised for whining, and get him into the habit of repeating it for your affection.

You can help your puppy learn to stop whining by not going to him when he whines. By ignoring your puppy, and only giving him attention and praise when he stops whining, he’ll learn that whining and whimperig is not the way to earn your approval.

Reading your puppy’s body language

Dogs have always communicated with each other by using body language. This involves facial expressions, body postures, noises and scents. Dogs will use their mouth, eyes, ears and tail to express emotions. By learning how to interpret your puppy’s body language, you can interpret your puppy’s intentions.

Signs of aggression or submission

If your puppy is feeling brave or aggressive, he’ll try to make himself larger by standing tall, with his ears and tail sticking upright. He’ll also push out his chest and raise the hair on his neck and back. He might also growl and wave his tail slowly.

On the other hand, a submissive dog will try to make himself appear small and act like a puppy. This is because an adult dog will “tell off” a puppy but not attack him. Submission will take the form of a sideways crouch near to the ground, his tail held low but wagging away. He may also try to lick the face of the dominant dog or human. He may even roll on his back.

Your puppy’s tail

Most of us recognize that tail wagging is a sign of friendliness and pleasure, but the tail can indicate other moods, too.

The normal way a dog holds his tail varies from breed to breed but generally speaking, a tail held higher than 45 degrees to the back expresses alertness and interest.

If your puppy’s tail is waved slowly and stiffly, that’s an expression of anger. If it’s clamped low over his hindquarters, it means your pet is afraid. An anxious or nervous dog may droop his tail but wag it stiffly.

Your puppy’s eyes

If your dog’s eyes are half closed, that’s a sign of pleasure or submission, while eyes wide open can indicate aggression.

In the wild, dogs stare at each other until one backs down or makes a challenge, so you should never attempt to outstare your puppy, especially if he’s nervous.

Your puppy’s smile

Submissive dogs and some breeds such as Labradors often open their mouths in a kind of lop-sided “grin”, and indeed, it is a sign of friendliness. But when lips are drawn back tightly to bare the teeth, that’s aggression, make no mistake.

Wanting to play

If your puppy wants to play, he’ll raise a paw or bow down and bark to attract attention. Or he might offer up a toy, or bound up to another dog to get him to join in a chase.

How your dog sees you

Your puppy will watch you to read your body signals more than he will listen to you, and he’ll quickly learn what you’re feeling even without you speaking.

If you want to improve communication with your puppy, you can improve upon your own body language. For example, crouching down with arms opened out is a welcome sign while towering over him and staring is a sign of threat.

How your puppy learns

Your puppy will learn very quickly, so it’s important that he learns how to behave properly right from the start.

Dogs learn by association, so if your puppy does something good, reward him. Then the action is much more likely to be repeated. But the reward must be linked to the action, so he must be rewarded quickly, within a second or two. The reward itself can be a few kibbles of puppy food or praise, or both.

Your puppy needs to be taught what he can and cannot do. Some harmless behaviors can be ignored, but potentially dangerous ones need to be handled immediately by interrupting the behavior with a sharp “no” to get his attention — be sure to reward him when he stops and pays attention to you. Shouting or hitting will not help your puppy learn.

Understanding barking and whining

Barking

Barking is a totally natural aspect of a dog’s behavior, but you, your family and your neighbors will be happier if you can bring it under control.

It’s hardly surprising many people have barking problems with their dogs, since most dogs have no idea whether barking is something good or bad. That’s because our reaction to his barking is confusing to the dog. In his eyes, when he barks, he is sometimes ignored, while at other times he is shouted at to stop, and then again he may be encouraged to bark if, for example, there’s a suspicious stranger nearby.

To help your dog know when barking is acceptable, you simply need to teach him that he may bark until he is told to stop. “Stop barking” should be considered as a command for obedience rather than a telling off.

Start the training by letting your dog bark two or three times, praise him for sounding the alarm, then say “Stop barking” and hold out a treat in front of him. Your dog will stop immediately if only due to the fact that he can’t sniff the treat while barking. After a few seconds of quiet, give him the reward. Gradually increase the time from when the barking stops to the giving of the reward.

If you are concerned about excessive barking that you have no control over, you should seek advice from your vet about next steps, such as specialist training or therapy.

Whining

If you comfort your puppy whenever he whines, it may actually make things worse. It will make your puppy think he’s being praised for whining, and get him into the habit of repeating it for your affection.

You can help your puppy learn to stop whining by not going to him when he whines. By ignoring your puppy, and only giving him attention and praise when he stops whining, he’ll learn that whining and whimperig is not the way to earn your approval.