Speaking "Dog"- Recognizing Body Language, Part 1

There are millions of how-to books, videos, blogs, and TV shows on strategies to train your dog. I'm not here to tell you anything of the sort. I want to help anyone interested in learning how to understand what their dog is thinking simply by looking at how they communicate with other dogs and attempt to communicate with us. Namely, through body language.

A lot of the things our dogs do go unnoticed until significant problems arise, or worse, we humans misread them and react in a way that is frustrating to the dog. When you get used to recognizing how dogs "talk", it is actually quite simple to see what they are trying to get across. Most of the examples I will be giving come from a great book called Canine Behavior: A Photo Illustrated Handbook by Barbara Handelman, who also got a lot of information from studying a wolf pack in Wolf Park in Indiana. I encourage anyone wanting to get more in depth to check it out. It is a more science-based read without a lot of opinions getting in the way of the information, and I recommend it because the pictures really help show the concepts they are talking about. Any other information I give not in this book comes from experience handling dogs and observing behavior.

For Part 1, I'll start with two dog behaviors that are more serious/ a warning before aggression; they are also some of the easiest to recognize if you know what they are and what they mean in "dog" language.

The term "agonistic" refers to aggression, but this is not always the case.  An agonistic pucker has a few different meanings depending on context and other body signals.  An agonistic pucker is a warning snarl, in which the lips are drawn up to show teeth and the nose pad is wrinkled.  The mouth is often also short (I'll explain this in a minute) and the tongue may be back to indicate preparation for a bite, or it may be done accompanying a tongue flick as a distancing signal. 

If a dog is displaying an agonistic pucker, it may be feeling defensive, territorial, submissive-aggressive, or aggressive.  Do not try to approach a dog displaying this signal; he is telling you "Don't get any closer, I'm warning you." The dog may have no desire to bite you but if you continue forward they may feel threatened and feel it needs to defend itself. 

I have seen dogs show an agonistic pucker when it feels unsure about the situation and need the other party to slow down or go away for a while.  At the shelter where I volunteer, I have seen fights break out between dogs because one of them failed to react correctly to the others warning.  Some dogs will display this behavior without apparent provocation- they may be "guarding" a bone, food, or even their owners, becuase they feel they must.  Handle these types of dogs with extreme caution and if possible ask for professional help before a bite occurs. Do not try to challenge them by giving direct eye contact as this can cause a bite.

Below is a picture of an agonistic pucker on a dog in a very bad mood. 

As I mentioned before, the agonistic pucker is often paired with short lips. Try to frown seriously and notice the way your end of the lips actually goes forward and your mouth is shorter from side to side. If you smile then your lips are long and stretch across your face :)

Dogs have a similar type of facial expression when they are upset. Usually a growl will also accompany short lips and the nosepad wrinkles.

When the lips are short this is an indication of tension. It often also constitutes a threat, to another dog or to a person or any other object of the dogs frustration. For example, a dog with territorial/ boundary aggression might bark whenever a mailman goes by or a siren sounds. A bark can simply convey a message to alert nearby dogs that a newcomer is in the area, but if the mouth is tense, that bark can signify that the dog is prepared and willing to defend its territory. You should never approach a strange dog who is showing this sign. Like the agonistic pucker, it can preceed a lunge and bite. A dog who is growling or barking with a long commissure is showing less of a threat than a dog with short commissure, although there are exceptions, as with dogs who are not well socialized and do not fully know how to express their intentions to other dogs.