Dog Speak is a fascinating topic.
Dog owners want to gain a deeper understanding of what their dog is signaling. Since the average dog can’t speak in your language, it becomes important to analyze what its body is saying.
This becomes important when learning how dogs communicate with humans.
Dogs communicate with humans using a combination of elements. This includes the movement of their tail (i.e. wagging), barking, whining, growling, maintaining eye contact, and their overall body language (i.e. sulking, standing upright).
Each situation is different and conveys a different emotion. This is why it’s important to look at each aspect of the dog’s body language as they are communicating with you.
A lot of dog owners are unaware of this and might not pick up on these signs promptly. To avoid a situation where you don’t understand dog speak, it’s time to break down what to look for as a dog owner.
Here are the four ways dogs communicate with humans.
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Top Ways On How Dogs Communicate With Humans
1. Eye Contact
Dogs communicate with humans with the help of eye contact.
This is done to build a stronger connection with the person in front of them. Dogs will often do this to figure out what the human is saying and/or what their body language is telling them.
This is where eye contact becomes important.
For example, a nervous dog might not make eye contact at all. They will be anxious and look to move away without making eye contact. On the other hand, a dog that is eager to please is going to maintain stronger eye contact and will be vigilant when communicating with you.
This in unison with the dog’s body language can tell you a lot about how they are feeling and what they are going to expect from you as soon as you begin talking.
2. A Wagging Tail
This is one of the more universal signs a dog owner is going to look for.
If a dog walks up to you with its tail wagging, this is likely a sign the dog is happy. They will be signaling this happiness with their wagging tail and it is going to come naturally to them.
On the other hand, a dog that has its tailed wrapped in between its legs might be signaling serious discomfort and/or anxiety based on its surroundings.
This is also something you can look out for when it comes time to manage the dog’s well-being and better understand what its tail is telling you.
The tail wagging is a great communicator and it’s something you will want to pay attention to as a dog owner.
3. Barks/Growls/Whines
Now, let’s begin to focus on dog speak.
It is going to come down to specific sounds the dog is going to make and it will let you know how the dog is feeling.
For example, a dog that is barking might be alerting you or warning you. This will depend on the tone and how aggressive the dog is with its body language.
If a dog is growling, it might also be aggressive and looking to assert its dominance. This is a common sound that is made by dogs when they are attempting to show a bit of dominance toward others.
Another sound that is made is when the dog begins whining.
This can happen for different reasons. Some dogs will do this out of frustration while others are going to do this when they are anxious.
4. General Body Language
It’s important to always pay attention to the dog’s body language.
Is it sulking? Is it upright?
These are details that will let you know a lot about how the dog is feeling and this is a part of the dog’s communication.
It will be letting you know a lot about how its body is at that moment.
Final Thoughts
These are the ways dogs communicate with humans using dog speak.
Dogs communicate with humans using a wide array of physical elements. This includes a wagging tail, barking, whining, growling, using eye contact, and/or their overall body language at that moment.
It’s recommended to pay attention to these signs in combination. This is how you are going to get a good read on what the dog is saying to you and what it is feeling.
It might take a bit of time to work on this as a dog owner but it can be managed. It will simply come down to analyzing how the dog feels and what it wants to convey to you. Be patient with the dog and continue to focus on these slight details.
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