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Photo Safari – join the challenge and learn together!
When I was first learning about canine body language, I did something that was a total game changer: I started trying to capture what I thought the dogs were saying using a camera. I found that the challenge of trying to accurately time the shutter and label canine body language was the BEST way to really notice the small signals dogs were giving.
Therefore, jumping off into our monthly theme, we’re going on a PHOTO SAFARI!
Get ready to capture your dogs doing all the things! Each week, we’ll have a category for our behavior photo hunt. We’re starting off the month with OBSERVING.
Please snap a photo of your dog doing ANYTHING (candid shots, not posed, will work best for this) and then share it with your observations of the body language signals they are offering.
Look at eyes, ears, mouth, tail, orientation, body tension and the context.
Try to avoid INTERPRETATION. Focus just on observation. Share a photo and let’s learn to observe, together.
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3 Replies
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Here’s an example:
Observation: Dog is stiff, head held high and lying on the ground. He is pulling away from the reaching hand. Face shows ridges above the eye and tight lips. Wisker bed is forward in a pucker. Eye is wide, dilated and the white is showing. Ears are tight to head. Toes are curled with claws grasping.
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Hi Catherine. Thanks for the pic. Here’s one I thought I’d share of my Tuff’s sibling with some interesting body language. The obvious one is the ears pinned back :). It had been a very long time since she had seen me and I think she was taking me in lol. I’m sensing mixed emotions here.
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Great photo of you, @ZaneB ! And I agree this pup doesn’t look altogether relaxed in this moment. This is why context matters soooo much.
I’ve noticed that a LOT of the time, my very excitable (and slightly small-skulled) Aussie, looks “whale-eyed”, but the rest of her body isn’t fearful or anxious or anything bad. She’s simply aroused/excited like we might be, given a couple hundred dollars we didn’t expect! WOW!
Looking at the WHOLE dog, in the context of the micro behaviors you noted, is important. And Tuff’s sister’s ears? Are they pinned, do you think, or open, showing the inner ear?
Pinned ears on a Lab I think look very flat on the head – TIGHTly closed ear flaps. I’ll see if I can quickly find a photo…. Here’s one, not quite what I was looking for, but you get the idea.
The tension in that ear is tight, and tho aimed forward, checking out the puppy, the rest of the body agrees with the an interpretation of fear in this moment. (weight shifted back, tension in the body, tight commissure which is drawn back, white of eye showing, raised eyebrow peaks, flared nostrils, agonistic pucker, hackles raised).
I tend to think of “open ears” as being affilitative (friendly), like in this second picture of my Vizsla (may she rest in peace) greeting a young weimaraner pup.
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