Maisy, a very sweet Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, tends to do submissive behaviors when greeting people and dogs. She is a sensitive dog and tends to approach with a wiggly but lowered body posture and tail; and will roll over and expose her belly when she gets to the person or dog. In this blog post, I’ll talk about sensitive dogs (also referred to as soft dogs), and how I helped Maisy have confidence in coming to me.
dog avoidance behaviors
Dog Body Language And Dog Stress Signals
How well do you understand dog body language? Do you know how to recognize dog stress signals? Being able to recognize your dog's communication is a very important step toward helping your dog to feel safe and giving your dog agency or choice. Being dog aware (a phrase coined by Family Paws) will also help you know when your dog is wanting less space or more space from something.
If your dog exhibits any of these signs of stress, take action to make a change that will make your dog feel comfortable in that environment. This may include stopping the way you are currently interacting with your dog, giving your dog distance, or changing your body posture. These are common ways a dog may show that it is not feeling good about what is happening, before your dog escalates to a hard stare, growl, or worse.
Closed Mouth
Turning Away Or Shifting Body Muscles Away
Half-Moon Eyes
Yawning
Nose Licking
Shaking Off
Breathing Changes
Stiff Body Muscles
Rolling onto back (exposing belly) with stiff muscles
Excessive Sniffing or scratching a body party
Hypervigilance scanning the environment
Inability to Settle
Zooming
Lowered Body Posture
Laying on back with belly exposed, tense body muscles
Humping
Rapid Panting/Heavy Breathing
Difficulty Learning
Blinking
If eating, speeding up or slowing down the pace
It is important to note the context as some of these behaviors may mean different things in different contexts. A dog may jump on the sofa next to you and flop over on his back indicating a belly message; however, if I lean over a dog and that dog rolls over, it very well could be that dog is asking for distance.
An excellent, easy-to-read book on dog body language (written for kids or adults) is Doggie Language by Lili Chin.