A Brief Look at the Language of Dogs

Guest post by Sara Enos

Founder, CEO American Pit Bull Foundation

As a doting pet parent, here’s a fact that may surprise you - dog’s don’t speak English. Yes, they learn what we want when we say “sit”, or “come”, or “off”, however, mastering the English language is not at the top of the canine agenda, (like food and attention are) though they typically are rather attentive to your talk so that they can be pleasing to you. We can say “stint” or “dumb” or “cough” and chances are, our four-legged friends will perform the tasks that they have associated with the sound of the word, not the actual meaning of the word.

 

Dogs communicate a number of ways. They do communicate verbally, however, much of what our dogs are trying to communicate with us can be translated through their body language.

 

Language begins with behavior. Whether it’s a desired behavior that you are asking of your dog, or a behavior that your dog is exhibiting to communicate with you. Though it may seem elementary, it is important to state that dogs exhibit dog behavior. Humans often have the expectation that other animals exhibit human behavior and make decisions as a human would. The term for this is anthropomorphism - ascribing human characteristics to nonhuman things. Ultimately, we are responsible for the behaviors that dogs exhibit based on how we interact with them, train them, and the environment that we provide for them. It should be noted that genetics play a role as well but for the sake of simplicity, we are just focusing on external influences.

 

So what are some of the basics in dog body language? First, is that dogs generally communicate with multiple signals at once. It’s not just the tail, or the ears, or the fur that we are looking at to determine the message they are transmitting, it is a combination of signals. Secondly, just as how there are similar words with different meanings in the English language, (for example their, there, and they’re), some canine communication has more than one meaning. Take a tail wag for example - a slow and low tail could signify tentativeness or nervousness, where as a tail that is positioned at average height and whipping around like a flagella on a mission, can be a sign of happy excitement.

 

Now couple that whipping, seemingly excited tail, with a low head and a lip curl. The tail alone may have led you to believe this dog was happy. Looking at the total picture, we can see a frightened dog that may be having apprehensions based on the environment. That’s a warning sign that shouldn’t be ignored.

 

Some additional signs of stress, again, generally paired together, include hypervigilance (constant watchfulness to surroundings), lip-licking, heavy panting, growling, backing away, barking, bowing head and hunching down, etc.

 

Panting can also be a sign of overheating, lip-licking can be a sign of appeasement and barking can be a sign of excitement. This sounds a lot like the confusion of English language rules such as i before e, except after C, except in “their”, “beige”, “eight”, and so on, right? To simplify, here’s a math analogy to better explain. You can look at understanding canine communication like an equation.Total body signals + environment, (familiar/new/possible stressors) = cumulative language assessment.

 

We learn foreign languages to communicate with other humans. Learning dog is similar but oh so unique in that we are communicating with a completely different species, incapable of mastering our own language and vice versa, (at least from a verbal standpoint thus far). What’s also interesting is that canines receive input from our body language. How we are standing, how we position ourselves, communicates a message to the dog. Standing over a dog can often come across as intimidating whereas kneeling and sitting at a dog’s side can be seen as a friendly gesture.

 

Knowing what your dog is trying to communicate with you can save frustration, can strengthen the bond between you and your dog, and ultimately, can help prevent bites.

 

Learning a new language can be fun so why not learn dog?.Once you’ve gotten the hang of your dog’s communicative gestures, teach others - family members, friends, etc. -  that interact with your dog to recognize what communication your furry friends are imparting. Look at every interaction as a training experience for all involved.

 

Happy learning!

 

For more information about how your body is communicating with your dog, visit How to Greet a Dog and What to Avoid.

 

Related Reading Recommendations:           

1. How to Behave so Your Dog Behaves,  Dr. Sophia Yin, DVM
2. Decoding Your Dog, Debra F. Horwitz DVM (Editor), John Ciribassi DVM(Contributor), Steve Dale (Contributor)