Interpreting body language in dogs: A complete guide

Do you ever gaze into your fur-bestie’s sweet, soulful eyes and wish you knew what they were thinking?

While we can’t give your beloved pooch a human voice, we can help you to level up your canine communication skills by teaching you how to interpret their postural cues, tail and ear positions, and even their facial expressions.

Becoming fluent in dog body language can allow you to better understand your pup’s individual behavioural needs, so that you can respond with sensitive and effective handling and training techniques. These ‘Dr Dolittle’ abilities will not only strengthen the bond between you and your puppy, but will also help to keep your pet and everyone around them safe and happy.

Decoding the mysteries of canine communication in 3… 2… Wuff!

Postural cues

Just like in people, the way your furry friend holds themself can give you a pretty good indication of their state of mind. Useful postural cues to look out for include your pet’s weight distribution, stance, body tension, and any raising of their hackles (the fur along top of their shoulders and spine).

Common postural patterns include some of the following:

• A happy dog will have relaxed muscles, with their weight evenly balanced on all four paws.
• A scared or anxious dog is likely to have a hunched, tense body posture, and will lean, shrink, or turn away from what is making them nervous. A dog showing appeasement behaviours might also roll over and show their belly, which can be mistaken as a beg for belly rubs.
• A dog showing assertive or aggressive posturing will lean forward and be stiff-legged, and their hackles may stand up (although this can occur with excitement or high alert too!). They are more likely to stand directly face-on to their target.

Facial expression and eye signals

Canine facial expressions can be a little tricky to read at first, as they can be subtle and need to be considered in the context of your pup’s other body language and the general situation to avoid misinterpretation. For instance, did you know that dogs may yawn not only when they’re tired, but also if they’re nervous?

Here are a few more common canine facial cues to watch for:

Eye contact

• A happy dog will hold eye contact, as if to say, “what’s next?”
• A scared dog will avoid direct eye contact, but will often try to look at what is worrying them out of the side of their eye whilst turning their head away - this known as ‘side eye’ or ‘whale eye’ (due to the whites of their eyes becoming more visible than usual).
• A dog in an aggressive state will tend to ‘lock on’ with a hard stare.

Eyebrow movement

• A furrowed brow often means that your dog is feeling anxious or uncertain. However, a dog’s brow may also wrinkle when they are giving out aggressive body language signals.

Mouth positioning and movement

• A happy dog will either hold their mouth gently closed, or have a relaxed open, panting mouth (‘smiling’) with soft lips and tongue. Remember that dogs will also pant as a way of cooling themselves when they’re hot!
• A scared or unsure dog may have a closed mouth with their lips tensely drawn back at the corners, or may pant rapidly, yawn or lick their lips or nose. They may also show an ‘appeasement’ grin, with squinted eyes and a tense smile with the edges of their mouth pulled back.
• An aggressive dog may wrinkle their nose or lift their lips to show their teeth and gums. This may be as quick and subtle as a brief lip flutter.

Tail positions and wag meanings

A wagging tail means a dog wants to be friends, right? Well, it’s actually a bit more complicated than that! Look for these subtle tail cues to better interpret your dog’s mood:

• A happy dog will have a soft, relaxed wag, or may show circular ‘helicopter’ tail wags if they’re super happy (adorable!).
• A scared or unsure dog may hold their tail low and tense, tucked between their rear legs, or wag their tail hesitantly, typically from a lower position.
• Also, dogs are more likely to wag their tails to the right when they are feeling happy and confident and to the left when they are feeling stressed or anxious.
• A dog giving out signals of aggression or other high arousal emotions may ‘flag’ their tail, which means holding it high and stiff, and quivering it back and forth – this can be mistaken for a friendly wag.

Ear positions

Many of us are probably familiar with common dog ear position cues without realising it. For instance, you may already recognise that:

• Ears pricked forward tends to indicate excitement or alertness.
• Ears being held in a relaxed position tends to indicate calm relaxation or friendliness.
• Ears being held back can indicate unsure appeasement behaviours.
• Flattened or “pinned back” ears can indicate fearfulness or aggression.

Calming signals and stress indicators

Calming or appeasement signals are body language cues that dogs use to help defuse tense social situations with other dogs, in the hope of preventing a fight. Dogs may show these stress cues during uncomfortable interactions with people too, to indicate that they would like the threat to stop.

Unfortunately, the more canine subtle stress cues can sometimes be accidentally missed or ignored, particularly by younger children or people who are unfamiliar with dogs. This can result in an escalation in anxiety for the dog, which can trigger nips or bites if the dog feels sufficiently threatened.

For this reason, it’s important that interactions between children and dogs are always supervised by an adult who can recognise the early canine stress signals, so that they can intervene for everyone’s safety and wellbeing.

Early stress cues in dogs include:

• ‘Whale eye’/’Side eye’ or wide eyes with dilated pupils
• Yawning
• Lip or nose licking
• Excessive drooling
• Pulled back ears
• Looking away
• The dog leaning away or backwards
• A tucked tail
• Panting
• One paw being lifted

Ideally, your furry mate would be given space at this point to help them calm down. However, if the threat persists and your pup becomes increasingly stressed, they might progress to showing signs such as:

• Rolling over submissively to show their belly
• Freezing
• Trying to escape
• Attempting to ward off the threat with signs of aggression, such as growling, lip lifting, barking, snapping or biting

Some dogs may skip to biting more rapidly, particularly if they have previously been punished for growling (which is usually given as a warning sign!).

Play vs. aggressive behaviours

A dog that wants to play will have a relaxed posture and bouncy movements, and may perform the delightful ‘play bow’, with their chest lowered to the ground, bottom up in the air, and a loose tail wag. They will have a relaxed facial expression, often with a soft ‘smile’ or pant.

It’s important to be able to differentiate playfulness from aggressive behaviours, which can also involve tail movement known as ‘flagging’, where the tail is held stiff and high, and may vibrate rapidly back and forth. Aggressive dogs will generally lean forward and stand stiff-legged and tense, have locked-on eye contact and flattened ears, and may curl their lips, growl or snarl. They may also have raised hackles.

Remember that stressed pets can resort to aggressive behaviours if they feel significantly threatened. If you notice signs of stress or aggression in your pet (in response to certain handling), try to back off immediately to prevent the situation escalating. If your pet shows unprompted or worsening aggression, it’s best to consult your veterinarian.

Contextual and environmental factors

To fully interpret your dog’s body language signals, it’s important to consider the context in which they are occurring. This means taking into account your dog’s current environment: for instance, are they in a situation where they might feel threatened, such as the vet’s clinic or an overwhelmingly crowded dog park? Are they in possession of a valuable resource (e.g. a tasty treat) that they may wish to guard?

Remember that human body language can influence a dog’s behaviour too. For instance, direct eye contact will be threatening to an anxious dog, as will someone leaning over them or reaching for their head and neck. For this reason, some dogs also find hugging to be stressful.

Owner response strategies

To help nurture the best mental health and behaviour in your pet, try to implement training sessions where you reward calm behaviour. Anytime your pet shows calm behaviours (such as lying down near you), quietly place a few treats on the ground in front of them.

With any dog training, it’s best to avoid punishment-based techniques, as these can cause stress to your pet and can make them fearful in the long-run. ‘Positive punishment’ techniques (i.e. doing something your pet doesn’t like with the aim of discouraging a particular behaviour) are also associated with increased aggression in dogs. Never punish your dog for growling, as this can train them to skip straight to biting if feeling threatened in the future.

To help de-escalate aggression in dogs, try to remain calm and give them space, ideally when you notice early stress signals. If your dog appears to be showing inappropriate or increasingly frequent anxious or aggressive behaviours, it’s best to consult your vet. Pets can be checked over for any medical causes of behavioural changes (such as a source of chronic pain) and then can be referred to a qualified trainer or behaviourist for professional behavioural modification help.

Training tips and desensitisation techniques

If your furry-friend is noted to have particular triggers for anxiety (such as nail clips or even direct eye contact), your vet should be able to recommend a qualified trainer to help you with desensitisation and counterconditioning training. Desensitisation involves gradually exposing a pet to one of their triggers in a staged fashion, starting with a very low intensity and gradually increasing the intensity of the trigger as the pet learns to tolerate each stage. Counterconditioning involves pairing something the pet finds unpleasant with something positive (such as a tasty treat or a game with a favourite toy), so the pet starts to find the previously unpleasant activity enjoyable.

If performed correctly, these behavioural modification techniques can gradually change your pet’s perception about things that have previously made them anxious, so that they can build positive associations and learn to feel more comfortable and relaxed in these situations in the long-term.

Professional advice should always be sought for the management of aggressive behaviours in dogs, due to the potential risks involved for both people and pets.

Keeping your dog’s tail wagging (and not ‘flagging!’)

Learning to read your dog’s body language cues will help you to better understand their behaviours, allowing you to support their mental health and train them more effectively. Get ready to bring a whole lot of paw-sitivity to your dog’s life!

Some signals or body language can’t be ignored. If your dog’s showing concerning signs, early vet care can be key! Stay prepared with Buddy Pet Insurance so you’re not caught out financially if the unexpected happens to your fur-bestie.

17 Jun 2025