{"id":181326,"date":"2017-09-14T12:19:25","date_gmt":"2017-09-14T12:19:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.petcloud.com.au\/d\/how-to-read-dogs-body-language-the-basics\/"},"modified":"2025-01-19T15:15:07","modified_gmt":"2025-01-19T05:15:07","slug":"how-to-read-dogs-body-language-the-basics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.petcloud.com.au\/d\/blog\/how-to-read-dogs-body-language-the-basics\/","title":{"rendered":"How To Read Dog Body Language: The Basics"},"content":{"rendered":"

It is a common misconception that if a dog\u2019s tail is wagging it is happy, today we explore how to understand a dogs\u2019 body language better.<\/h3>\nDecoding a dogs’ body language will allow you to understand how they are feeling and what their intentions are with the human and other pets around them.\n\nDogs also use sounds and other signals to express emotion, understanding their body language will assist you to keep your own pet or a visiting pooch<\/a> happy, comfortable and safe.\n\nDog trainer and behaviour counsellor Jolanta Benal says if we decode our dogs\u2019 body language we can bail them out before they get overwhelmed.\n\n\u201cWhen we recognise our dogs\u2019 stress signals and take action to help them out, we\u2019re taking care both of the dog and of ourselves,\u201d Benal said.\n\nEven the gentlest animal in a threatening or scary situation might get snappy, so being able to recognise this behaviour and removing or distracting from the cause is helpful.\n

\"Find<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\nTo help you, here is a guide to eight of the most common messages your dog is sending you, sourced from Modern Dog Magazine.\n

\n
\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n \n

Find local Vets, store your Pet’s Health, etc, download PetCloud today.<\/p>\n\n \n

Download IOS: https:\/\/apple.co\/2PifzXs<\/a> Android: https:\/\/bit.ly\/3aFeK2m<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n

<\/div>\n<\/div>\nRELAXED AND APPROACHABLE<\/strong><\/span><\/span>\n\nRelaxed and reasonably content, this dog is unconcerned and not feeling threatened by its immediate environment and is usually approachable.\n\nIf you are approaching someone else dog, it is always important to ask for permission before approaching and petting even if the dog is relaxed.\n

\"Dog\nIllustration by: Emma Trithart<\/span><\/p>\nPLAYFULNESS<\/strong><\/span><\/span>\n\nBasic invitation to play, may be accompanied by excited barking or playful attacks and retreats. An indication that any previous rough behaviour was not meant as a threat or challenge.\n

\"Dog\nIllustration by: Emma Trithart<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Petbarn\"<\/a><\/p>\nALERT \u2013 CHECKING THINGS OUT<\/strong><\/span><\/span>\n\nAlert and paying attention to something they have detected, something of interest or unknown. Assessing the situation to determine if there is a threat or any action required.\n

\"Dog\nIllustration by: Emma Trithart<\/span><\/p>\nDOMINANT AND AGGRESSIVE<\/strong><\/span><\/span>\n\nHighly dominant and confident animal. Expressing social dominance and threatening aggression if challenged.\n\nIf you have a dominant dog and are introducing a new dog the first meeting should be in a neutral location away from the distraction of territorial protection and make sure to watch diligently.\n

\"Dog\nIllustration by: Emma Trithart<\/span><\/p>\nFEARFUL AND AGGRESSIVE<\/strong><\/span><\/span>\n\nFrightened and not submission, may attack if pressed. Generally a dog will give these signals when he is directly facing the threatening individual.\n

\"Dog\nIllustration by: Emma Trithart<\/span><\/p>\nSTRESSED AND DISTRESSED<\/strong><\/span><\/span>\n\nUnder social or environmental stress. A general \u201cbroadcast\u201d of the dogs feeling, not addressed to a particular individual.\n\nYour dog may also be distressed if they are in pain. Read more: “Top 5 Signs Your Dog or Cat Is in Pain”<\/a>\n

\"Dog\nIllustration by: Emma Trithart<\/span><\/p>\nFEARFUL AND WORRIED<\/strong><\/span><\/span>\n\nSomewhat fearful, offering signs of submission designed to pacify the individual of higher social status or whom the dog sees as a potential threat. Dogs show these signals to avoid any further challenge and prevent conflict\n

\"Dog\nIllustration by: Emma Trithart<\/span><\/p>\nEXTREME FEAR \u2013 TOTAL SUBMISSION<\/strong><\/span><\/span>\n\nTotal submission and surrender, acceptance of their lower status by grovelling before higher ranking or threatening individual in the aim to avoid physical confrontation.\n

\"Dog\nIllustration by: Emma Trithart<\/span><\/p>\n\n

\n\n
\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n \n

Find local Vets, store your Pet’s Health, etc, download PetCloud today.<\/p>\n \n

Download IOS: https:\/\/apple.co\/2PifzXs<\/a> Android: https:\/\/bit.ly\/3aFeK2m<\/a><\/p>\n\n

<\/div>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It is a common misconception that if a dog\u2019s tail is wagging it is happy, today we explore how to understand a dogs\u2019 body language better. Decoding a dogs’ body language will allow you to understand how they are feeling and what their intentions are with the human and other pets around them. Dogs also […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":181327,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3788,4278],"tags":[1834,1835],"class_list":["post-181326","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","category-dog","tag-how-to-read-dog-body-language","tag-the-basics-in-dog-body-language"],"yoast_head":"\nHow To Read Dog Body Language: The Basics<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Decoding a dogs body language will allow you to understand how they are feeling & what their intentions are. Here's the basics of how to read dog body language.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.petcloud.com.au\/d\/blog\/how-to-read-dogs-body-language-the-basics\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How To Read Dog Body Language: The Basics\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Decoding a dogs body language will allow you to understand how they are feeling & what their intentions are. Here's the basics of how to read dog body language.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.petcloud.com.au\/d\/blog\/how-to-read-dogs-body-language-the-basics\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"PetCloud\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/petcloud\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-09-14T12:19:25+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-01-19T05:15:07+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/cdn.petcloud.com.au\/d\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/18151215\/blog_image-1505355061.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"940\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"788\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"petcloud\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"petcloud\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"BlogPosting\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.petcloud.com.au\\\/d\\\/blog\\\/how-to-read-dogs-body-language-the-basics\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.petcloud.com.au\\\/d\\\/blog\\\/how-to-read-dogs-body-language-the-basics\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"petcloud\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.petcloud.com.au\\\/d\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/3ba42241ed3998c89e268d51fb5d74cd\"},\"headline\":\"How To Read Dog Body Language: The Basics\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-09-14T12:19:25+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-01-19T05:15:07+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.petcloud.com.au\\\/d\\\/blog\\\/how-to-read-dogs-body-language-the-basics\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":573,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.petcloud.com.au\\\/d\\\/blog\\\/how-to-read-dogs-body-language-the-basics\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cdn.petcloud.com.au\\\/d\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2021\\\/05\\\/blog_image-1505355061.png\",\"keywords\":[\"How to read dog body language\",\"The Basics in Dog Body Language\"],\"articleSection\":\"Dog\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.petcloud.com.au\\\/d\\\/blog\\\/how-to-read-dogs-body-language-the-basics\\\/#respond\"]}],\"description\":\"It is a common misconception that if a dog\u2019s tail is wagging it is happy, today we explore how to understand a dogs\u2019 body language better. Decoding a dogs’ body language will allow you to understand how they are feeling and what their intentions are with the human and other pets around them. Dogs also […]\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.petcloud.com.au\\\/d\\\/blog\\\/how-to-read-dogs-body-language-the-basics\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.petcloud.com.au\\\/d\\\/blog\\\/how-to-read-dogs-body-language-the-basics\\\/\",\"name\":\"How To Read Dog Body Language: The Basics\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.petcloud.com.au\\\/d\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.petcloud.com.au\\\/d\\\/blog\\\/how-to-read-dogs-body-language-the-basics\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.petcloud.com.au\\\/d\\\/blog\\\/how-to-read-dogs-body-language-the-basics\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cdn.petcloud.com.au\\\/d\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2021\\\/05\\\/blog_image-1505355061.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-09-14T12:19:25+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-01-19T05:15:07+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.petcloud.com.au\\\/d\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/3ba42241ed3998c89e268d51fb5d74cd\"},\"description\":\"Decoding a dogs body language will allow you to understand how they are feeling & what their intentions are. Here's the basics of how to read dog body language.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.petcloud.com.au\\\/d\\\/blog\\\/how-to-read-dogs-body-language-the-basics\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.petcloud.com.au\\\/d\\\/blog\\\/how-to-read-dogs-body-language-the-basics\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.petcloud.com.au\\\/d\\\/blog\\\/how-to-read-dogs-body-language-the-basics\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cdn.petcloud.com.au\\\/d\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2021\\\/05\\\/blog_image-1505355061.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cdn.petcloud.com.au\\\/d\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2021\\\/05\\\/blog_image-1505355061.png\",\"width\":940,\"height\":788,\"caption\":\"A beagle and a white terrier face each other on a grassy surface with fallen leaves. Text overlay reads, \\\"How To Read Dog Body Language: The Basics.\\\" The PetCloud logo is in the bottom right corner.\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.petcloud.com.au\\\/d\\\/blog\\\/how-to-read-dogs-body-language-the-basics\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.petcloud.com.au\\\/d\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"How To Read Dog Body Language: The Basics\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.petcloud.com.au\\\/d\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.petcloud.com.au\\\/d\\\/\",\"name\":\"PetCloud\",\"description\":\"Pet Care, Pet Health, Pet Nutrition and more\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.petcloud.com.au\\\/d\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.petcloud.com.au\\\/d\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/3ba42241ed3998c89e268d51fb5d74cd\",\"name\":\"petcloud\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.petcloud.com.au\\\/d\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.petcloud.com.au\\\/d\\\/author\\\/petcloud\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"How To Read Dog Body Language: The Basics","description":"Decoding a dogs body language will allow you to understand how they are feeling & what their intentions are. Here's the basics of how to read dog body language.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.petcloud.com.au\/d\/blog\/how-to-read-dogs-body-language-the-basics\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"How To Read Dog Body Language: The Basics","og_description":"Decoding a dogs body language will allow you to understand how they are feeling & what their intentions are. Here's the basics of how to read dog body language.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.petcloud.com.au\/d\/blog\/how-to-read-dogs-body-language-the-basics\/","og_site_name":"PetCloud","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/petcloud","article_published_time":"2017-09-14T12:19:25+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-01-19T05:15:07+00:00","og_image":[{"width":940,"height":788,"url":"https:\/\/cdn.petcloud.com.au\/d\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/18151215\/blog_image-1505355061.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"petcloud","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"petcloud","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"BlogPosting","@id":"https:\/\/www.petcloud.com.au\/d\/blog\/how-to-read-dogs-body-language-the-basics\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.petcloud.com.au\/d\/blog\/how-to-read-dogs-body-language-the-basics\/"},"author":{"name":"petcloud","@id":"https:\/\/www.petcloud.com.au\/d\/#\/schema\/person\/3ba42241ed3998c89e268d51fb5d74cd"},"headline":"How To Read Dog Body Language: The Basics","datePublished":"2017-09-14T12:19:25+00:00","dateModified":"2025-01-19T05:15:07+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.petcloud.com.au\/d\/blog\/how-to-read-dogs-body-language-the-basics\/"},"wordCount":573,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.petcloud.com.au\/d\/blog\/how-to-read-dogs-body-language-the-basics\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/cdn.petcloud.com.au\/d\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/blog_image-1505355061.png","keywords":["How to read dog body language","The Basics in Dog Body Language"],"articleSection":"Dog","inLanguage":"en-AU","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.petcloud.com.au\/d\/blog\/how-to-read-dogs-body-language-the-basics\/#respond"]}],"description":"It is a common misconception that if a dog\u2019s tail is wagging it is happy, today we explore how to understand a dogs\u2019 body language better. Decoding a dogs’ body language will allow you to understand how they are feeling and what their intentions are with the human and other pets around them. Dogs also […]"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.petcloud.com.au\/d\/blog\/how-to-read-dogs-body-language-the-basics\/","url":"https:\/\/www.petcloud.com.au\/d\/blog\/how-to-read-dogs-body-language-the-basics\/","name":"How To Read Dog Body Language: The Basics","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.petcloud.com.au\/d\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.petcloud.com.au\/d\/blog\/how-to-read-dogs-body-language-the-basics\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.petcloud.com.au\/d\/blog\/how-to-read-dogs-body-language-the-basics\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/cdn.petcloud.com.au\/d\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/blog_image-1505355061.png","datePublished":"2017-09-14T12:19:25+00:00","dateModified":"2025-01-19T05:15:07+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.petcloud.com.au\/d\/#\/schema\/person\/3ba42241ed3998c89e268d51fb5d74cd"},"description":"Decoding a dogs body language will allow you to understand how they are feeling & what their intentions are. Here's the basics of how to read dog body language.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.petcloud.com.au\/d\/blog\/how-to-read-dogs-body-language-the-basics\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-AU","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.petcloud.com.au\/d\/blog\/how-to-read-dogs-body-language-the-basics\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-AU","@id":"https:\/\/www.petcloud.com.au\/d\/blog\/how-to-read-dogs-body-language-the-basics\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/cdn.petcloud.com.au\/d\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/blog_image-1505355061.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/cdn.petcloud.com.au\/d\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/blog_image-1505355061.png","width":940,"height":788,"caption":"A beagle and a white terrier face each other on a grassy surface with fallen leaves. Text overlay reads, \"How To Read Dog Body Language: The Basics.\" The PetCloud logo is in the bottom right corner."},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.petcloud.com.au\/d\/blog\/how-to-read-dogs-body-language-the-basics\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.petcloud.com.au\/d\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"How To Read Dog Body Language: The Basics"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.petcloud.com.au\/d\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.petcloud.com.au\/d\/","name":"PetCloud","description":"Pet Care, Pet Health, Pet Nutrition and more","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.petcloud.com.au\/d\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-AU"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.petcloud.com.au\/d\/#\/schema\/person\/3ba42241ed3998c89e268d51fb5d74cd","name":"petcloud","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.petcloud.com.au\/d"],"url":"https:\/\/www.petcloud.com.au\/d\/author\/petcloud\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.petcloud.com.au\/d\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/181326","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.petcloud.com.au\/d\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.petcloud.com.au\/d\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.petcloud.com.au\/d\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.petcloud.com.au\/d\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=181326"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.petcloud.com.au\/d\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/181326\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":184913,"href":"https:\/\/www.petcloud.com.au\/d\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/181326\/revisions\/184913"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.petcloud.com.au\/d\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/181327"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.petcloud.com.au\/d\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=181326"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.petcloud.com.au\/d\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=181326"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.petcloud.com.au\/d\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=181326"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}