Recognizing Your Dog’s Face and Head Signals

1-Understand your dog’s ear position.

While we’re not able to do much with our own ears, a dog’s ears can be incredibly expressive. Be aware that dogs whose ears were clipped as a puppy may not have the full range of motion to express themselves through their ears.

• A dog whose ears are pricked forward or straight up is fully engaged in play, hunting, or concentration. This ear position can also indicate curiosity and can express the intent to do something, as the dog is turning to catch sounds. It is an obvious ear position in the early stage of a chase.

• A dog’s ears being flattened, sitting against the dog’s head, indicates that the dog feels afraid or threatened. Ears that are forward but close to the head can also indicate aggression.
• A dog’s ears part way back but not flattened may be feeling unhappiness, anxiety, or uncertainty
  

2- Interpret your dog’s eye signals.

A dog’s eyes express as much as human eyes do, and just as you learn to interpret people’s eye signals, you can also learn to interpret your dog’s. Here are some of the more common eye signals:

• Eyes wide open: this means that your dog is feeling alert, playful, and ready.
• Staring: staring indicates dominant, challenging behavior.
• Avoiding eye contact: a dog trying to look away from your face can be showing politeness, deference, or submission.
• Blinking or winking: these indicate that your dog is being playful.
• Narrowed eyes: this can indicate that your dog is feeling aggressive and is preparing to attack. This gesture may be accompanied by staring.

 

3- Watch your dog’s face.

Dogs often show how they are feeling with facial expressions. Understanding facial expressions can help you interpret your dog’s feelings and communicate with your canine companion.

• Smiling: believe it or not, dogs can smile. While it can be difficult to differentiate a smile from a snarl, checking other body language for signs of play or aggression can help you determine whether your dog is happy or feeling aggressive. If everything else adds up to a happy dog, then your dog is smiling, and this means it’s happy and relaxed.
• Yawning: the meaning of a dog’s yawning is dependent on the context, just as it is with humans (humans yawn because we’re tired, need more oxygen, we’re feeling stressed or embarrassed, or we notice someone else yawning). For dogs, yawning appears to be contagious just as it is with humans. Indeed, if you yawn in front of your dog, it may interpret it either as you being stressed (in which case, it will likely turn away from you to give you some space), or it will respond in kind and yawn too. Dogs also yawn as a way to ease tension, to show confusion or when they feel slightly threatened especially when meeting new situations or new dogs or animals.
• Mouth position: a dog that has its mouth stretched back, closed or just slightly open, is showing that it is very stressed, in fear, or in pain. This may be accompanied by rapid panting. If its mouth is stretched back and open, it is a neutral or submissive sign. A dog that is alert and content will have its mouth closed or slightly open, with the teeth covered.
• Lip licking: if your dog licks its lips in combination with a yawn, this can be a clear indication that it is feeling stressed, under pressure, or facing a threat. It’s a commonplace gesture shown by puppies around adults, but the behavior should not continue into adulthood. In mature dogs, licking can also be part of the dog’s sexual behavior as it finds chemical signals on grass, carpet, and the genitals of other dogs.
• A dog that is licking another dog’s lips is showing deferring behavior.
• Bared teeth: a dog whose lips are curled out and his teeth bared is signaling aggression and an intention to use the teeth for biting. This doesn’t mean that every flash of teeth means aggression though, and you must take care to note the other elements. If the teeth are bared and there is no wrinkling of the muzzle, this is a warning and a sign of dominance and territorial defensiveness. If the lips are curled, the teeth are bared, the muzzle is wrinkled, and the dog is snarling, this indicates that the dog is angry and ready to fight, and there is every chance that it will bite.