A faint scrape comes from beyond the fence, and your dog’s ears move before the rest of him does. One second he’s stretched out on the patio. The next, both ears have swung toward the sound.…
A visitor walks through the door, spots your dog, and bends down to say hello. Your dog stays where she is, but her ears slide backward until they almost disappear against her head.…
When a dog’s body senses danger, it stops treating digestion as a priority. Blood shifts toward muscles that might need to run or fight, saliva production changes, and the digestive tract slows down.…
Picture two different dogs at the same dinner party. One just spent five minutes leaning into a guest’s lap, tail going, tongue out, clearly having the time of his life.…
Here’s the strange thing about the guilty look: in one experiment, the dogs who had actually behaved themselves sometimes looked the guiltiest.
Researchers asked owners to tell their dogs not to eat a treat, then had the owners leave the room.…
Sudden fear from a dog who already knows you is a before-and-after problem.
If your dog has always been wary of handling or cautious around people, that history gives you somewhere to start.…
Why would a dog deliberately put his face somewhere he can see less?
He may press his nose into your side during a crowded gathering, bury his face against a blanket on the couch, tuck his muzzle between his paws, or wedge his head against the edge of a cushion.…
Dogs constantly interpret the signals around them. Changes in tone, unfamiliar situations, social interactions, or sudden activity in the environment can all influence how they respond in a given moment.…
The car hasn’t even left the driveway, and your dog’s chin is already wet. A few minutes later, strings of saliva are hanging from his mouth. He’s licking his lips, swallowing more than usual, and shifting around in the seat.…
Panting is first and foremost a cooling system. Dogs rely heavily on rapid breathing and evaporation from the respiratory tract to shed excess heat, so panting after exercise or on a warm day usually needs no emotional explanation.…