Ready to get nerdy about the basics to dog body language? This video goes over very BASIC ways you can get started analyzing your dog’s body language to read into how they are feeling.
Improve your communication with your dog by utilizing this week’s tips. This is just the video to follow along with if you are ready to use science to read your dog and observe their behaviors.
Next, WATCH:
“Dog Body Language: COMPLETE GUIDE to Dog Stress Signals” https://youtu.be/Rqu1ChFFT9U
“What Is My Dog Saying When He Barks – Dog Barking Explained by Science” https://youtu.be/34honn90kAw
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Disclaimers: Jenna Romano is not a veterinarian. Always consult a veterinarian before giving your dog any food. Use of this information is strictly at your own risk. Jenna Romano will not assume any liability for direct or indirect losses or damages that may result from the use of information contained in this video including but not limited to economic loss, injury, illness or death to you or your dog. This video is not instructional. This video is for entertainment purposes only.
Of course we have a general guide a General book of what behaviors dogs do And what they mean however Like people People have their own mannerisms and Sometimes those generalities don’t Necessarily apply to an individual Depending on the individual’s behavior And experiences so is true for dogs dogs Have their own mannerisms dogs have Their own habits and we have to Interpret those mannerisms and habits Per the individual we have to know what It means for your dog specifically that Is what it means to become fluent in Speaking your doc’s language and so if You’re interested in taking a more Nerdier approach to understanding your Dog’s behavior then this video is for You let’s get into it [Music] Hey what’s up guys it’s jenna with dog Liaison where i coach you on how to Enhance your dog’s mental health on this Channel we like to take a nerdier Approach to dog behavior so if that’s Your vibe consider subscribing i’m a Professional dog trainer and in my Signature program the recovering rover Program i work with guardians of dogs Facing multiple anxiety related Disorders one of the very very very very First lessons that they do is start to Observe their dog’s behavior collect
Data And analyze and interpret what that Behavior means for their dog and so in This video i’m kind of taking a little Behind the scenes i’m going to share Some of my tricks so that you can learn How to read your dog better through Evolution humans are pretty darn good at Reading dog body language just Intuitively actually that’s been Scientifically proven we understand These overt behaviors pretty dang well We understand when a dog is growling That they want more space we understand When they’re super excited they will Probably make themselves small they’ll Approach us their tail will be wagging And they’ll actually move their hips a Little bit so there’ll be lots of Fluidity in the body we pick up on these Subtle behaviors and we understand them Pretty well however if you actually want To become a master at understanding your Dog’s behavior you kind of need to Forget about the overt behaviors instead I want you focusing on the subtle Behaviors the more discreet ones that Are harder to find for example is your Dog blinking a whole lot where’s your Dog’s cheekbones where’s your dog tail Posture you wouldn’t just say oh it’s up But you would say oh it’s at 12 o’clock Or it’s at two or it’s at three or it’s At six you would be more specific about
Where that tail posture is you’ll notice Oh his legs were positioned in different Places that is the level of subtlety That i want to talk about in this video Now when you’re analyzing your dog’s Behavior you want to be looking for both Bravery signals and stress signals Bravery signals being i’m going to Engage with that thing i’d like to learn More about it this is intriguing and Stress being this is causing me more Resources than i would like to expend Now for the purpose of this video when i See stress i mean that really neutrally I don’t necessarily mean stress in a bad Way like he hates it or he’s fearful of It necessarily and the reason is from a Scientific perspective when we think of Stress it’s very objective what that Really just means is that the body is Putting out more expenditure than it Would like to in a normal case right It’s it’s expending more Resources and so therefore it’s Requiring more effort and our bodies are Hardwired to automate behaviors as much As it possibly can automate experiences As much as it can in order to conserve Resources so when i talk about stress in This context just know that i don’t Necessarily mean it as bad i just mean It as arduous effort here are some more Subtle behaviors that you can be looking For in your data collection we have the
Play stretch a yawn the shake off a Banana curve which we see a lot of our Bully breeds do where they sort of lean Into their guardian and they push their Side up and they kind of curve their Body we call that the banana curve a Step forward in that stock position Dilated eyes quick scanning eyes Blinking sneezing scratching excessively Without obvious allergies gnawing on Paws or self-mutilation the forefoot Stab which is that pounce on the floor That we see a puppy pounce for example And the different sounds that a dog Barks all the way to how many dimes They’re actually barking now i did do a Full science explained on you know what Is my dog saying when he barks and i Definitely recommend if you’re Interested in digging deeper into the Bark that is a great video for you to Check out i’ll link it in the Description box below as well but you Wouldn’t just want to write oh he barked Instead you would want to notate it was A higher pitched bark or it was more Guttural and deep it was very loud and Obnoxious or it was just kind of a hoof You would also want to notate How many times the dog barked so was it A double bar like a roof Or was it just one single all of those Things mean different things for your Individual dog you’re not going to be
Able to find a book that says a double Bark means this and a triple bark means That or if you do find that book you Just have to know that it’s pretty much Bs there’s no science that necessarily Says a double bark means this and a Triple bark means that so you want to be Able to Recognize there’s a pattern here and Then you interpret what it means for Your dog here’s an example of what i Mean in the rop we have team fiona and What mom noticed about fiona was that She really enjoyed crossing her legs and She was most content and comfortable in A lay position if her front legs were Crossed however if she wasn’t Demonstrating that cross legs that they Were put off to the side that was Indicative of more stressed fiona and so They could actually tell how fiona was Feeling around them based on how fiona Was laying down was she crossing her Legs or was she not that’s not something That you can find in a book guys you are Not going to be able to see you know Whenever a dog crosses their legs that Means they’re more content and if a dog Has uncrossed their legs that’s less Content if you actually read that Anywhere that would be such an over Generalization that there’s no way to Prove that that’s not scientific but you Can examine patterns within your own dog
You can look for what does it mean when Your dog crosses her legs what does it Mean when your dog scratches her ear What does it mean when your dog has more Tension in her cheekbones what does it Mean when your dog is standing more Tense in the rear and scrunching up her Butt you know that is what we’re Tracking now you’ve heard me say the Phrase tracking and data collection You’ve heard me say you know analyzing Here’s where we get nerdy my friends Okay i’m just gonna put it out there i Understand that not everybody wants to Take a scientific approach to working With their dog on this channel we do Like doing that and i am a huge huge Proponent of tracking your dog’s Behavior on objective logs and what this Means is you’re going to set up a Particular context and repeat it for Control you would not necessarily want To examine your dog’s behavior across The board in every single context right Out of the gate you probably could do That more intuitively and you probably Actually already are and that will get You decently far But That’s just it it’s intuitive it Wouldn’t necessarily be very concrete And you might find that you’re not Getting the results out of that that you Really want so instead you want to do
What a researcher would do what a Scientist would do they would pick a Specific context and repeat that context Repeat that event over and over and over Again so perhaps you decide i’m going to Only examine my dog at the dog park when He is best friend is there or i’m only Going to study my dog when he’s on walks In the morning with me or i’m only going To study my dog right now when we’re Playing a small game in the living room In the afternoon like you pick a context And you repeat that context over and Over and over and over and over again And then you study your dog’s behavior And this is something that’s really Important is you’re not actually Studying your dog’s behavior in the Moment i don’t really recommend that Instead i want you to be present with Your dog in the moment i want you to Listen in real time to what you’re Intuitively picking up then later on When you’re not in that moment you Actually watch a video of the event Which is to say you have recorded these Events On your phone on instagram whatever you Want and you are going back watching the Video again and really paying attention To those minut subtle behaviors you’re Logging them write them down on a piece Of paper then you want to do this Experiment probably five to ten times i
Don’t recommend much less than five Unless it’s a very difficult event to Track right because it just doesn’t Happen very often but primarily you want Several several several experiments to Collect that data and analyze it and Then when you go back into that data You’re looking for Trends you’re looking for events that Occur repeatedly you’re not just saying Oh you know he kept giving me eye Contact that Is okay but i would consider he’s giving Me eye contact a pretty overt behavior Most dogs especially when they’re Enriched and when they’re in a healthy State will offer their guardians eye Contact we know this so instead you want To look for you know what was really Interesting is there’s always a pause Before he brings the ball back to me or What’s really interesting is every Single time we hit that corner on our Walk he always licks his lips you’re Looking for those trends that keep Occurring now Same thing if you just kind of look at Your data sheet blindly with no focus You’ll probably pull your hair out You won’t actually Find what you’re looking for because You’re looking too vastly instead you Want to get more narrow so i do Recommend you start off with that hunch
Right you know i see that my dog Lays this way on his side i don’t know What that means i don’t know how to Interpret that but i see that he’s Laying on his side so i’m going to only Look at when is my dog laying on his Side when in our data does it repeatedly Happen or you know My trainer told me that i need to pay More attention to him yawning i don’t Know why i don’t know what that means i Don’t know if it’s a good stress a bad Stress the bravery signal i don’t know But i’m going to study when is my dog Yawning does it happen around the same Time of day does it happen around the Same event at the context does it happen After the same behavior so maybe you Notice that he always yawns after he Plays stretches he does a play stretch And then he does a big like audible yawn Right then once you have analyzed what The patterns are then you can start to See hmm Do i think this is a good thing or a bad Thing and you can Usually indicate whether or not a Behavior is a bravery signal or a bad Thing a bad stress for example based off Of what comes next what is the behavior That follows is it more engaging or is It more distant is he more exhausted or Is he more rejuvenated you can interpret A behavior based off of what follows
That behavior and then you can start to See if there’s a trend do i notice that Every single time my dog yawns he is Telling me i’m really tired i want to go To bed or i want to leave or whatever For example i can tell you that my dog Max you can see his little picture back There My dog max when he’s stressed he’s going To start off by the happy taps right He’s gonna start pacing he’s gonna happy Tap with me and then he’s gonna start Putting his head in in my lap he’s gonna Come over and he’s gonna put his head in My lap he might jump on me and then he’s Gonna start barking at me and that is His progression of i’m frustrated i’m Stressed i don’t like this i need Something that is the progression that He’s gonna go so what that tells me is If he’s giving me those happy taps i Need to change how i’m communicating With him or else he’s just going to Progress in negative stress he’s just Going to progress in frustration this is Understanding your dog’s behavior Interpreting what it means for your dog You’re doing this through trends you’re Doing this through data collection You’re doing this through analyzing now A lot of times people may say jenna i Don’t want to have to do all this data Collection i don’t want to have to Analyze can’t i just go to a trainer to
Just tell me what it means My friend I can assure you no Trainer Is ever going to be able To interpret your dog’s behavior at the Proficiency and skill that you will Period even if they have read every Scholastic journal under the sun they’ve Read every peer-reviewed study that Exists Even if they have worked with millions Of dogs they will not be able to Interpret your dog to the same Proficiency that you will Why because They don’t have the intuitive connection With your dog that’s one and two Because they have literally by mere Hours there’s no comparison you’ve spent An exorbitant amount of hours far beyond What that trainer is willing to commit To your individual dog you have seen These behaviors far more frequently i’m A firm believer that even if i had a Photographic memory I could point out a behavior was Happening but i would not be able to Fully interpret it Fully know what it means unless i have a Rapport with that dog A deep rapport Here’s a human example of what i mean You might see an individual you might
See me kind of sit back Cross my arms slouch a little maybe i Have a little bit of pout Right and our human behavior our human Brains are hardwired to recognize that As more shut off right less approachable We do this intuitively we do this Subconsciously we just know Shut off However you won’t necessarily know just How shut off or just how distant an Individual is unless you have rapport With them so for example when my husband Sees me cut off and shut down he knows That i’m thinking it’s not that i’m mad It’s not that i’m i may have rbf but It’s not that i’m angry it’s that i’m Heavy into thought and i’m in my little Cocoon and he just has to let me have His moment i’m not mad at him we’re not In an argument i just need space but we Know he knows that because of our Rapport he knows that because we’ve Built context we built relationship Another individual who just met me Yesterday would think i was angry but Think i was really mad at something Right That is what i mean by just because you Have a behavior just because you know a Behavior doesn’t mean you can interpret It for an individual Until you have rapport and experience With that individual i promise that if
You put in the work you put in the Analyzing you put in the effort to Interpret your individual dog you will Be speaking With your dog at such a proficient Dialogue that you didn’t even know was Possible i have guardians dm me and say You know i heard you say in this episode And in that video that you know i’m Supposed to have a conversation with my Dog i’m supposed to ask my dog questions And supposed to hear their answers how Do i do that this is how you do that This right here by putting in the work To listen and analyze your dog’s Responses this is how you start to have A fluent conversation and speak the same Language as your dog where you can Freely just ask them a question and you Know what the answer is you don’t even Have to think about it because you can Read their behavior if you enjoyed this Video make sure you hit like consider Subscribing and hitting the notification Bell so you get notified when i drop a New video and i’ll see you guys next Week