Stiffening
Remember that a dog’s body language is fluid. Stiffening happens in really short moments initially. So the dog might be relaxed, then there will be instantaneous stiffening in his body, then he will relax again…then stiffen again. As the dog gets more uncomfortable, those stiffening moments become longer. So it might go from one to two seconds to five to six seconds of stiffening. It is important to be able to recognize those brief moments when the dog freezes.
Stiffening vs. Loose Behavior
As you view this video, watch carefully for signs of stiffening vs. loose behavior.
Direct Stare
Earlier we talked about hard eyes vs. soft eyes and dilated pupils. A dog that looks at you with a direct stare will make you feel cold and seem unfriendly as opposed to a happy “can I have a treat from you” moment look that is more social. In this image you can see that the dog looking at the baby has a very direct stare and looks very uncomfortable. This is a potentially dangerous situation.
Snarling and Growling
When dogs snarl and growl, people will often use pseudonyms like the dog is grumpy or he doesn’t feel good. For pet care professionals, it’s very important that we identify this behavior for what it really is. It is an early warning sign of aggression and we need to be very appreciative that we get these warning sign so that we can take action and respond before the dog feels like it is forced to push the aggression further to something that would include a bite.
Resource Guarding
Earlier we learned that dogs can guard whatever they consider to be valuable and this is from their perspective…not ours. So a valuable item to the dog can be toys, food, locations…such as their bed or their sleeping enclosure and even other people. When a dog is guarding something, the body language that you’ll observe is that they will often hover over the object, lower their posture or head, stiffen, stare, and possibly even growl. It is very important as pet care professionals that you are able to identify resource guarding and see the individual aggressive displays that make up this behavior in dogs. This os one that is actually encountered quite frequently in pet care facilities.