The house has gone quiet. You’re stretched out on the couch when your dog appears in the doorway with a blanket gathered awkwardly in his mouth.
He walks over, climbs up beside you, turns twice, and drops onto the cushion.…
You’re standing by the front door looking for your other shoe when your dog appears around the corner carrying it.
For a second, the scene looks almost impossibly helpful.…
One dog drops her rump across another dog’s shoulders during a wrestling match, and somebody immediately says, “She’s showing who’s boss.” The position certainly looks unequal. One dog is physically above the other, sometimes with enough body weight to pin her partner for a moment.…
Is your dog tasting a scent you can’t detect? Waiting for food? Feeling nauseated? Reacting to an uncomfortable social moment? Or did her tongue simply continue into empty space after a lick?…
A hairbrush is an odd thing for a dog to deliver. It doesn’t squeak, bounce, dispense food, or look much like anything you would normally throw across the room.…
The room is dark except for the blue-white glow of your phone. You’re halfway through reading something when a cold, damp nose presses into the back of your hand.…
Some dogs seem to save their best head tilts for a remarkably short list of words.
You can talk through an entire story and get nothing. Then you say ‘ball,’ ‘walk,’ or the name of a favorite toy, and your dog’s head tips sideways almost on cue.…
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.…
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.…