Did you know our dogs are speaking to us all of the time? It’s just not always as obvious to us, humans. Dogs use body language, facial expressions and scent to express themselves while we humans are all visual and verbal speech.
Some of the body language and facial expressions dogs will use to speak to each other include
▪︎ curving their body into a C shape, ▪︎looking away and avoiding eye contact, ▪︎squinting their eyes when faced with each other,
▪︎tail positions,
▪︎shaking off when dry
▪︎pulling their mouth back into a grin, ear position,
▪︎pawing the ground,
▪︎sneezing,
▪︎rolling over to expose their belly
▪︎suddenly stopping to sniff the ground
▪︎ lip licking
▪︎ yawning
▪︎ Humping/ mounting
These signals are called conflict behaviours and will sometimes be utilised in stressful or scary situations to signal discomfort and a dog’s attempt to defuse tension with the thing causing them discomfort. These signals could be lip licking or yawning if getting their nails cut for example. When dogs are utilising these signals, it often means they need space or distance or theyre feeling overwhelmed or vulnerable.
They are also used in dog to dog greetings as a way to avoid conflict. These signs are considered social niceties and a way of telling each other they mean no threat.
Next time your dog is playing with a friend, take out this list and see how many conflict behaviours you notice. If your dog or both dogs suddenly stop playing and sniff the ground, it’s not that suddenly something is very interesting and they just have to smell it, it’s a way of your dog taking a break from play getting too rough or diffusing any tensions by saying “I’m busy sniffing, give me a moment”
