A good amount of dog bites every year come from a lack of reading the biting dogs’ body language. Often, people get bitten approaching an unknown dog and attempting to pet it. This is NEVER a wise thing to do. Even if the approached dog doesn’t bite the human, it will almost always still lead to excitement/dominant jumping and other behaviors that you don’t want to be reinforced in any dog.

Being able to read a dog’s body language is not only a must for any reputable trainer but also a busy dog owner who visits places like dog parks, doggy daycares or anywhere else you run into unknown dogs on regular occasions.

What does a dog’s body language look like? Are they universal with every breed? Let’s discuss.

Dogs only have four energy states they can be in. Natural, forward, disengaged and retreat. Each state represents a specific body language they are showing. A reputable trainer can read these states without ever interacting with the dog. Once the trainer observes the state of energy the dog is in, they can proceed.

This gives the trainer the tools needed to not only interact with the dog but also interact correctly with the dog.

The goal is to always have the dog in a natural, calm, happy state. Want to learn more about your dogs body language and what it means? Contact your local certified Always Faithful Dog Trainer today!