Subscribe

The best in health, wellness, and positive training from America’s leading dog experts

Home Behavior Reading Your Dog’s Body Language

Reading Your Dog’s Body Language

Dogs lay on your feet to show how much they care for her.

Why Do Dogs Lay on Your Feet?

We think that dogs may lay their head on our feet as a way to show they love us by being close.
Licking can be a sign of displacement behavior in dogs.

Recognizing Displacement Behavior in Dogs

Displacement behavior is when your dog does something normal, but at weird times that feel out of context due to your dog experiencing conflict or frustration.
Dog dogging away from a person who is hovering over him.

How to Win the Body-Language Game

The key to dog body language is recognizing stress signals, and understanding what our own body language communicates to our dogs.
Some dogs are ticklish, and some of these enjoy being tickled.

Are Dogs Ticklish?

Like humans, enjoyment of tickling sensations differs between dogs. Some love it. Others loathe it.
A depressed dog may have a reduced appetite and lethargy.

How to Tell If a Dog Is Depressed

Depression in dogs typically involves a significant behavioral change. Often starting with a gradual loss of interest in once-loved games. It can also start with a bang with aggressive or destructive behaviors.
A woman introducing a cat to a dog, the cat is clearly upset.

How to Introduce a Cat to a Dog

There are millions of homes where cats and dogs live together in perfect harmony – mine included. How does that happen? Careful introductions of...
copyspace in the grass area between two dogs resting on the grass

Why Dogs Sneeze When They Play

When a dog sneezes due to an irritation in her nose, the sneeze is forceful and may include nasal discharge. A social sneeze is small and delicate with no nasal discharge and very little head movement.
Dog jumpimg over the fence or net. Dog exercise. Spring day

Do Dogs Have Periods?

Do female dogs have periods? No, dogs do not have periods. During one stage of the dog's reproductive cycle there is a bloody vaginal discharge that superficially resembles a period.
A black lab sits on its hind legs on an empty wooded trail with fallen autumn leaves, licking its tongue humorously.

Why Dogs Lick Excessively

Dogs may lick their lips in anticipation of food or a tasty treat. However, the behavior can indicate a variety of health issues when it isn't associated with food, a treat, or a reward.

Dog Kisses: Is Your Dog Really Kissing You?

You either love it or hate it: the wet, warm sensation of a dog licking your face. Many of us seek out this kind...

Do Dogs Smile?

A well-accepted theory among dog behavior experts is that dogs smile because they know that we humans love it. We see our dogs lounging on the rug with their mouths hanging open, lips pulled back, looking utterly satisfied with themselves, and we go ga-ga with praise and pets. Dogs probably also observe their humans smiling at them and among themselves; they know people smiles are inherently positive (at the very least, benign), and that they can communicate amicability by miming that behavior.

Is My Dog Depressed?

When a dog is suddenly no longer interested in their favorite activities, whether it's playing Frisbee in the park or chasing squirrels in the backyard, most animal behavior experts will tell you to look for a physical explanation, not a mental-health recommendation. Taking your four-legged friend to the vet for a physical exam should always be the first response to what seems like depression. A change in behavior can usually be attributed to underlying physical conditions like arthritis or pain.

Latest Blog

Rehoming Your Old Dog

Rehoming a dog due to loss of income, loss of a home, or another extreme circumstance is understandable. In other scenarios it's less clear if rehoming is the best option.