Dogs sometimes do things that seem out of place. Maybe your dog runs to get a drink of water whenever company arrives at your house, or he whines and yawns when approaching a friendly dog. These out-of-context moments are examples of displacement behavior in dogs.

What is Displacement Behavior?

Displacement behavior is when your dog does something normal, but at a weird time that feels out of context. This occurs when your dog is experiencing conflict or frustration.

Conflict is when your dog feels pulled between reactions to a situation. The pressure can result from two different things that are positive to the dog but can’t be done at once, or one option could come with fear or anxiety. Some examples include if your dog:

• Wants to visit you when you get home, but also wants to chase cars.
• Wants to approach another dog, but is nervous.
• Wants to pull on the leash, but knows he isn’t supposed to.
• Wants to go to the person calling him, but is scared of an obstacle, such as a shiny floor.

Frustration is when your dog wants to do something, but is blocked or otherwise prevented from doing it. For example, she:

• Wants to visit a person, but on a leash.
• Wants to approach another dog, but is behind a fence.

Examples of Displacement Behavior

There are many things that a dog might do as a displacement behavior. These include:

• excessive licking
• yawning
• circling
• whining
• barking
• sniffing
• tongue flick
• grabbing a toy
• drinking
• eating
• scratching
• mounting

Which behavior the dog does can vary by the situation and the individual dog.

Here are three examples of displacement behaviors in action:

1. Many dogs want to greet other dogs but are unsure about how the other dog will respond. They respond to this conflict between wanting to play and wanting to maintain a safe distance by licking excessively, eating grass, or yawning.
2. My oldest dog prefers to be with me at all times. If my husband is holding her leash – even if I am within sight – she whines and paces side to side. She is with a person she likes, but is prevented from reaching me, her favorite person. This frustration comes out as whining and pacing.
3. My youngest dog is always in a hurry and tends to pull on the leash. I have worked on this a lot, primarily by standing still when she puts tension on the leash. She understands that keeping a loose lead means the walk will continue, but she really wants to go fast! Her solution to this conflict (wanting to be good and get to walk, but wanting to go faster) is to smush her face between my knees and walk beneath me for several steps.

What Displacement Behavior Means

If you notice your dog showing a displacement behavior, consider his overall body language and the situation that he is in. Is he mostly loosey-goosey and relaxed, or is his body language stressed? Displacement behavior can be a response to stress, but stress isn’t always a bad thing.

Stress is a normal part of life. Your dog experiences positive stress when he is excited about something, and negative stress when he is anxious. Short bouts of stress from conflict or frustration are nothing to be concerned about. The issue is when stress becomes a frequent occurrence or if it is interfering with your dog’s ability to enjoy day-to-day life.

If your dog quickly bounces back and is relaxed and happy or playing after showing displacement behavior, it just means he was temporarily unsure about or frustrated by the situation. For example, maybe he started eating grass as he approached another dog, but then they greeted each other politely and started playing. This is nothing to worry about.

However, if your dog continues to show signs of distress even after the initial conflict has resolved, or if frustration can’t be addressed, this could be problematic in the long term. Let’s go back to the example of a dog worried about a shiny floor. His owner is calling him, and he wants to go to her, but is afraid of the floor and starts whining and licking his lips. He finally goes to his owner but continues to pant and be tense with the whites of his eyes showing for ten minutes after the event. This dog is distressed.

If your dog barks hysterically out the window at dogs that he can’t approach for hours on end, he is staying in that stressed, hyper-aroused state for an extended period of time. This prolonged frustration isn’t great for him (plus it is probably driving you and your neighbors insane).

What to Do When You See Displacement Behavior

Consider what your dog is doing, why he is doing it, and how he behaves after the displacement behavior ends. All of these factors will affect how you should respond.

Does your dog’s displacement behavior stem from frustration? Try to identify the cause of the frustration and eliminate it. This will minimize your dog’s stress and prevent the reaction from becoming a bad habit. For example, if your dog screams when he sees other dogs out the window because he wants to play, prevent him from looking out the window by blocking access to that room or putting up opaque window clings.

Does your dog’s displacement behavior come from a place of insecurity and conflict, but then resolve positively? For example, the dog who is nervous about approaching another dog but then plays happily. You can reduce this displacement behavior by building up your dog’s confidence and comfort around other dogs. Arrange playdates with calm, friendly dogs that you know will be gentle with your dog so he can have a lot of positive experiences approaching and interacting with other dogs.

Does your dog’s displacement behavior come from fear, and have the potential to end badly? For example, a dog who alternates between barking and lunging at another dog and retreating fearfully, even if the other dog is calm. This dog is distressed and could potentially bite the other dog if pushed too hard. If you find yourself in this situation, get your dog out of there as quickly and safely as possible. Strong fear of other dogs should be addressed with the help of a veterinary behaviorist and/or your veterinarian.

Does your dog’s displacement behavior come from insecurity or fear, and lead to prolonged anxiety? For example, the dog who is afraid of the shiny floor and stays stressed out even after getting to his owner. You can reduce this displacement behavior by avoiding shiny floors, providing rugs or mats for your dog to walk on, and/or a desensitization program to help your dog become more comfortable with the shiny floors.

Does your dog’s displacement behavior itself have the potential to cause harm? For example, a dog who obsessively licks one spot on his leg when he experiences conflict or frustration. This dog could eventually create bald patches and even damage the skin if he continues licking. Try to identify the cause of your dog’s behavior and eliminate the source if possible. You will likely also need help from your veterinarian or a behaviorist to prevent physical damage and break the habit.

Redirected Aggression

Redirected aggression is similar to displacement behavior, but works a little differently. The classic example of redirected aggression is when a dog wants to attack a dog on the outside of his fence but can’t get to it, so he bites his owner or a housemate instead. A dog showing redirected aggression is extremely frustrated, but instead of finding an innocuous displacement behavior such as grabbing a toy or whining to vent that frustration, he does exactly what he wants to do to the first poor soul who gets in his way.

The Bottom Line

Periodic, mild episodes of displacement behavior are a normal response to conflict or frustration. When possible, identify the source of your dog’s conflict or frustration so that you can address both the feelings and the behavior.

If your dog’s displacement behavior itself could cause harm, or if the result of the situation causes distress for anyone involved, start by avoiding the situation while you seek help from your veterinarian and/or a veterinary behaviorist.

When dog behavior doesn’t make sense to us, it’s easy to just shrug and say our dogs are stubborn or crazy. But often a productive answer is right there in front of us, if only we’re willing to look at dog body language—and our own.

The way we humans move matters. For example, do you stand tall and walk toward your dog when you’re calling him? That may be why he doesn’t come to you. On Planet Dog, that direct-facing approach sends a message to stop or back up. (Much better to angle to the side and start moving back a bit as you call—that tells your dog to come along.)

But it’s not just our human movement that deserves attention. The subtleties of our dog’s movement matters, too. When you sit down next to your dog for a cuddle, does she look away or lean away? Does she yawn or lick her lips? If she does those things, but you continue petting her, you may have an answer for why she “doesn’t listen” to you in general: You’re not listening to her, either, so she feels a bit on her own.

Instead, when you see one of those signals, give your dog space. Back up a foot. Now does she come over for a snuggle? Great! If not, also great, because you listened to her, which will build some critical trust.

Canids + Primates = Misunderstandings

Canids and primates use their bodies differently. Dr. Patricia McConnell’s classic book The Other End of the Leash powerfully illustrates how that’s at the root of an enormous amount of dog-human misunderstanding. Many of the issues that send people to dog trainers—and eventually veterinary behaviorists, as things escalate—stem from our human lack of attention to body language. It’s also the hidden cause of the confusion and disappointment that runs through countless dog-human relationships.

“We humans are talking . . . but our dogs are watching,” Dr. McConnell writes. “Once you learn to focus on the visual signals between you and your dog, the impact of even tiny movements will become overwhelmingly obvious.”

For example, let’s say there’s a new dog you’re hoping to befriend. In your human (primate) style, you’re inclined to move in close, get face-to-face, reach out and even hug, just like chimps and bonobos would. But when dogs (or wolves and coyotes) have a friendly intent, they would not do any of those things. Oops. No wonder the dog ducks away, backs up, or even growls if he doesn’t have the ability to retreat.

Let’s say you knew enough to approach that dog in a more canine way; you start by giving the dog some space, angle slightly to the side, crouch, and glance away. McConnell notes that a human leaning in just half an inch makes a dog move away, where leaning back just slightly works as an invitation. The difference of an inch is dramatic in terms of building a relationship!

“Felt Safety” is Critical

Given how important body language is, why is it that beginner dog training classes never seem to spend any time on it? I suspect the answer is that we humans are in a rush to learn something that feels “real” and seems obviously helpful, like sit or stay.

Well, ask any veterinary behaviorist who’s counseled folks after dog bites, and they’ll tell you learning two-way body language is plenty useful and frankly a lot more important than “heel.”

Your skill in this area determines whether your dog feels safe with you and whether you’re able to assess when your dog feels uncomfortable.

It typically doesn’t even cross our minds that our dogs don’t feel safe. After all, we know they’re safe! But being safe and feeling safe are two very different things, and if an animal (humans included) doesn’t have “felt safety” it can affect an enormous range of behaviors. Dogs who feel safer become less skittish, obviously—but also less barky, less jumpy, more able to settle, and more attentive because they trust that listening to humans will work out well for them.

This is where the importance of body language comes in: Our body movement can either make our dogs feel safer or less safe. And our attention to their body language can either make them feel safer or less safe. It’s not an exaggeration to say that getting this right will transform your relationship with your dog.

Body Language 101

For me, Body Language Lesson #1 is teaching humans to get in the habit of giving their dog agency, the ability to choose. By being intentional with our own body movement, we can offer the relationship-building gift of distance. We can train ourselves to stop a foot or two away and invite the interaction rather than forcing it. We can stop the striding in with big footsteps and a direct approach. We can stop looming, cornering our dogs in small spaces, and swooping in to pick them up and hold them prisoner. In short, we can stop smothering them with our primate displays of affection.

If that key lesson is absorbed, it becomes a little less important to become an immediate expert at what is a trickier subject: truly reading your own dog’s body language. Almost everyone can see that a dog who’s running away, pulling away, or shaking is afraid. But sometimes we need a trainer to teach us how to look for loose, relaxed body language versus a stiff, still posture that signals uneasiness. There is much more to learn to recognize in time—tucked tails, lip-licking, rolling over, the lifting of one paw, a whale eye, etc.—but giving space and agency is an immediate game-changer.

Charades Mindset Helps

While most of the critical body-language-reading moments of the day do not happen during a training session—bites happen at Thanksgiving, not during training! —casual daily at-home sessions are incredibly helpful. Frequent practice in a predictable, rewarding situation will smooth the communication path between you and your dog. I encourage folks to make a daily habit of a handful of relaxed, fun, two-minute lessons. Teach easy, low-pressure stuff, such as touch and spin. By working on these things that “don’t matter,” you’ll be building your fluency together, which is the whole ballgame.

Have you ever played the game charades? When you’re trying to get better at body language, I think it’s helpful to use that game’s mindset as you train. The skills it takes to win at charades are 100% relevant to the skills it takes to build solid two-way communication with your dog:

• Think through what you’re going to communicate beforehand.
• Keep it simple or you’ll throw your teammate off.
• No extraneous body movements or you could get onto a tangent you can’t get back from.
• Clear your mind as you’re trying to decipher their clues, because your own thoughts will take you down the wrong road.
• Give your full attention to your partner.
• Understand that each round is half their job, but also half your job.

Your dog has actually been trying to play charades with you forever! He’s been watching your every move, trying to assess its meaning, and hoping you’ll respond to the clues he offers. Imagine his delight when he finds his teammate is suddenly coming to practice and engaged in the game! You’ll both end up enjoying the prize, which is a deepening interspecies friendship filled with trust and understanding.