Dogs have two main ways of communicating with us, vocalizations and body language. If we watch our dogs' bodies in the context of the environment, we can infer what they may be feeling. When doing this we want to look at your Canine Companion's entire body including the ears, tail, body, and face. We want to look at how high or low the tail is. Is the dog's mouth open or closed? Are the dogs ears up and forward, down and flat, or something in between? Is the body loose and wiggly or stiff? Is the dog panting, holding her breath, or relaxed? There are many behaviors that dogs display to us and to each other to communicate what they are feeling. Reading a dog is very much like reading a sentence. There is no single letter or even word that will communicate the whole idea. We have to look at the whole sentence to understand what it says. No part of the sentence tells the whole story. A dog's body language can be very similar. You have to look at the whole of the dog's body as well as the context to understand what he may be thinking or feeling. If we pay attention and watch carefully, we may see things we may not have noticed in the past.
