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Hi Pals! Welcome to #LearnWithFlynn Usual reminder, Mum's not a qualified trainer. Always seek professional advice for reactivity. Today we are looking at the absolute basics of reading dog body language and signs of stress. Let's look at each part separately, then together... 
EARS: 1. Each poking out at 90°angle, "bat ears" = emotional conflict, happy/anxious 2. Pricked up = Alert/focus, +ve or -ve 3. High & back = appeasement sign, asking for peace 4. Low & back = fearful. Seal ears = so far back ears nearly disappear. Big fear sign!
EYES: 1. Soft, almond shape: relaxed, happy 2. Hard stare, tense muscles: focused or stressed. NEVER look strange dogs in eye or allow 2 dogs to give eye contact. This is a direct threat to dogs. 3.Whale eye: whites of eye showing. BIG FEAR SIGN. Get dog out of situation ASAP
MOUTH. 1 Open, loose jaw & tongue: relaxed dog. 2 Closed, tight at sides: Stress, fear. 3 Lip licking, panting, yawning : All classic signs of stress, fear, anxiety. Next, is the tail. Tails tell us so much about our dogs' feelings. Waggy tails don't always mean happy dogs!
1. Loose wagging, broad strokes: happy, relaxed. 2. Tail up: alert, focused, mentally stimulated 3. Floppy & still: concern, appeasing. STRESS/FEAR signs: Slow wag, short strokes, tucked tail, wagging to left, rattlesnake tail = only tip of tail wagging
POSTURE: 1. Fluidity, relaxed/flexed legs: Relaxed dog 2. Tense, stiff muscles, wide stance: Stress or fear 3. Stood still, fixed on trigger: Scared dog. We have "freeze" as well as fight/flight response to scary situations. 4 Raised paw: Stress, trying to appease threat
This is not an exhaustive list, there are SO MANY signs we give our humans. To learn more, I pawsonally recommend this book by S. Gutteridge. Great pics, easy to read. For now we should have enough to recognise some signs of fear/stress in dogs. See what you can spot in the video
What signs can you spot? Can you identify the stressor?
The stressor here is a man in high-vis vest. Ways I show stress are: bowed head, slow wagging tail, tail stopped completely, lip licking, tense posture with stiff legs, bat ears and backwards pointing ears, using table as a barrier
I will add another example of me showing anxiety, and some really great resources. The bright dog academy vid on YouTube is definitely worth watching. Here's a list of sites I borrowed pics from. Please join in discussion using #LearnWithFlynn
Let me know how you're all getting on and if #LearnWithFlynn has helped at all. Until next time, my friends! 🐾🐾🐾
example of how ignoring signs can result in reactivity (and why forceful punishment is NOT a good idea!)
how to read body language, explained simply
