by Amanda Ballard

Created on: March 28, 2009   Last Updated: April 01, 2009

Dogs, like most animals, can communicate non verbally very well. Most of the time animals in general have a lot to say but people don't usually know how to listen or "read" the animal. Animals can and do express themselves verbally as well as nonverbally. Dogs whine and whimper when they are scared, lonely or hurt. They growl to show anger, dominance, or they do it out of fear. Dogs bark to give a warning when something isn't right around their home. Dogs also bark while playing, they bark to greet people, or they bark just to bark and make noise. Dogs communicate non verbally too.

A wagging tail indicates a friendly, happy dog. A tail held between the legs or clamped down tightly shows submission and/or fear. Puppies or fearful dogs will often drop to the ground, roll over on their back and tuck their tail. This shows they are submissive and don't want to be hurt either by people or another dog. A stiff posture and straight, stiff tail, with hair raised on the back of the neck and down the back indicates a fight might be about to take place.

If you watch your dog, or any animal, on a daily basis you start to know their daily routine and what is normal behavior for them. A dog can talk to you by just altering something in the usual routine. A change in routine or behavior is an excellent way of knowing something isn't quite right with the dog. What is normal for one dog might not be normal for your dog and picking up on tiny clues can prevent serious health problems later on. A lot of training problems are actually behavioral problems and in most cases it is the dog reacting with it's natural instinct.

Dogs might growl out of fear and the owner thinks it is from aggression so the dog gets hit as punishment. This does nothing but establish that there is a reason to be scared, so the dog continues to growl when confronted with something that makes it fearful. A misunderstood, misread animal can become a dangerous, frustrated animal if not handled properly. If the growling is out of aggression then how you handle it would be different than if the dog were just scared. The same body language people use is sometimes similar to the way animals use it. Avoiding eye contact shows uneasiness, shyness, or fear in people and in animals.

An aggressive or dominant dog will often hold a person's gaze while a submissive dog will keep it's eyes lowered. An angry person will often be very stiff postured, with a raised voice, and won't hesitate to get in the other person's space to make a point. It is the same with dogs. When dealing with a dog, or any animal, you need to approach them differently if they are dominant or submissive. If you act dominant toward an already submissive, scared dog, you could do more harm than good and make the dog even more fearful. A dominant dog needs constant reminding who is alpha dog or you might see problems like food possessive, space possessive, etc. It isn't hard to hear dogs talk, you just have to know how to listen.

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