The way dogs express themselves

"Litter brothers develop multiple behaviors, which are important in living in a pack". Between themselves dogs have developed subtle methods of expression. They do so with all their body, fur, it's ears and tail. When a dog is moving expectantly towards something it remains steady and forward using it's entire body, head, ears, neck and tail. The dog will stand up in order to enlarge it's image, intimidating everyone around and therefore making the act of expectancy a threat. The Ethnologists refer to this act as an imposition conduct.

Imposition: means showing the teeth without having to necessarily use them; make it look bigger than it necessarily is by making it's hair stand up, raising head and it's ears, positioning it's paws and lifting up it's tail in a straight, rigid way. When it is confronted by it's adversary it looks at it straight in the eye, keeping it's head fixed but it's body in a sideward position. This encounter between two dogs gives each of them a sense of hierarchy without having a fight. Now, if for a dog the size seems to be of much importance and can even mean a threat then I ask myself, what kind of impression do we have on them? According to the kinds of breeds our size will double or even sextuple them. For this reason my advise is to not consciously make your size intimidating for the dog in order to intimidate it, although it can be helpful if your dealing with a dominating dog. There are some cases when a dog bites because the person is lying on the floor and there is no sense of superiority.

Gestures of Submission: This represents the exact opposite characteristics of the imposition conduct; the dog refuses to move at all. It's head, ears and tail fall and it's hair gets stiff. It surrenders, stops threatening and moves away as soon as possible.

Dog Ear Language