Dog Behavior Explained 
Your dog looks at you, glances toward the leash hanging by the door, then looks back. A moment later, he paws your leg.
Which part was the message?
The useful answer may be the whole sequence.…
Some dogs seem to organize their day around a person. You stand up, and they stand up. You walk into the kitchen, and footsteps follow a few seconds later.…
The dog had just come out of the bath, towel-dried but still faintly damp behind the ears, and for a moment she stood there blinking, sheepish about the whole ordeal.…
A dog props his back against the couch, lets his hind legs slide forward, and sits with his torso upright. From across the room, the resemblance can be startling.…
Here’s a strange little fact: a sound most people find mildly annoying is, to a dog, one of the most rewarding noises in the house. Squeak a toy in a quiet room and watch what happens.…
You’re sitting on the couch when another dog starts walking toward you. Yours has been lying quietly at your side, but something changes as the distance closes. She lifts her head, gets up, and steps into the narrow space between you and the approaching dog.…
A visitor kneels to greet your dog, the interaction gets lively, and then the person stands up. Your dog steps away, plants her feet, and sends a ripple from her head through her shoulders, ribs, and tail.…
Here’s the experiment: put a dog in a room with a person. Have the person yawn several times. Then repeat the setup with similar mouth movements that aren’t yawns.…
Long before dogs slept on couches or waited by front doors, their wolf ancestors were already fluent in a language that had nothing to do with words. Posture did the talking.…
You’re scratching your dog’s chest when you stop to answer a message. A paw lands on your forearm.
Later, you’re eating at the kitchen table and the same paw reaches toward your leg.…