Reading Dog Body Language

Dogs communicate constantly and almost always warn before they bite. Bites that seem to come from nowhere are usually bites whose warnings were ignored or punished.

Stress signals

Lip licking with no food present, yawning when not tired, turning the head away, a tucked tail, and a half-moon of white showing in the eye.

A wagging tail is not consent

A high, stiff, fast wag is arousal, not friendliness. A loose wag that swings the hips is.

The warning ladder

Look away, move away, freeze, growl, snap, bite. Punishing a growl removes a rung from that ladder and produces a dog that goes straight to snapping.

What to do

When you see stress signals, increase distance from whatever is causing them. That is the entire skill.