Hey can someone better with dogs help me figure out what Joey’s posture means? His ears are pricked forward and he seems really tense…my mom thinks he’s being playful but he looks really defensive and stiff to me…but like, I don’t know much about dogs. I just don’t want him hurting my brother’s kitten.
Ok so he looks curious and really unsure but not agressive in any way. He is behaving in a way that i would translate as “what is this tiny dog. Is it a dog? What is this tiny thing? Is it safe!” As long as you are relaxed and willing to show the dog that the cat is ok the dog should be fine.
Dogs are the opposite of humans as far as facial expressions go a lot of the time. A grin to them is agression because you are displaying teeth while a relaxed open mouth is basically a doggy smile. His forward facing pout is not an agressive expression but rather what I call “diving in nose first” smell is a dogs primary sence more than seeing so that intent sniffing is probably just trying to puzzel out what animal this is.
If you want to learn a lot about dog behavior and body language read “for the love of a dog”
My family is really involved with dog training and breeding and I have trained therapy dogs and of all the books on dog behavior I refer to this one the most.
Thank you and everyone else who responded! This helps a lot, I’m glad he’s being more “what is?” and not “how eat?” 😅 we’ll keep working with him to make sure both animals stay safe and relaxed.
He’s very confused because he’s trying to smell this critter and it’s smacking at him. I wouldn’t call it playful, he’s not necessarily trying to play, and it’s definitely good to supervise them, but he’s not going to hurt the kitten.
That tense posture is excitement and maybe a bit of concern at the smacking, he’s not scared.
BettSplendens Tumblr Evac 