Dog Body Language Snapshot
Monday, November 27, 2006
Odo the cattle-dog mix is trying to get Dakota (husky mix in middle) to play with him but he’s doing so using dominant body language: he follows her around and stands perpendicular to her—putting his head over her back. (He was just standing there doing so—of course he sat back a bit just as I took the photo.) That’s a dominant behavior—you’ll often see that in a dog park, especially between male dogs jousting for higher position in the doggy pecking order.
Little Maggie, on the other hand, is being submissive to Dakota—she’s sticking her snout and tongue in her mouth (something submissive wolves also do with more alpha wolves), which Dakota is responding to positively by playing with her and making light growly noises.
