We’re going to look at facial tension and facial expressions by looking at the dog’s eyes and muzzle. We’re going to look at them individually and then on the traffic management chart we’re going to combine them.
Here are images of some of the facial expressions looking primarily at the eyes. On the top left you see the Golden Retriever with soft eyes. He has a happy expression and generally his face is relaxed as well. In the center you have dilated pupils. If you are close enough to see the pupil, then you are probably too close to the dog. But what we normally look for with dilated pupils is the little bit of light reflecting from the dog’s eyes. It’s usually a flash of light that you can see reflecting in the pupil. On the top right is a hard stare of a dog that’s not particularly friendly or happy, and this is what we call hard eyes.
Moving down to the bottom, those half-moon eyes you see on the dog on the left, if you look at his left eye down towards the muzzle, you can see the white edge of that part of the eye. You normally can’t see the whiter edges of a dog’s eyes the way you can with a human. So when you start to see that in a dog, this is usually what we call half-moon eye. It means the dog might be starting to get a little bit stressed. In the center you see an elongated eye of a dog that is becoming a little bit more cautious and possibly moving towards more fear or possibly more submission then eye contact avoidance. That’s the dog that looks away completely because they are trying to avoid whatever is in front of them.
Here are some facial expressions in terms of muzzle. One of the easiest things to see is the difference between an open mouth and a closed mouth. That alone is one of the first indicators that a dog is starting to become uncomfortable.
If you approach a dog and they suddenly close their mouth, you should pause your approach and wait to see if the dog relaxes and opens his muzzle again. The other four pictures are obviously signs that the dog is not comfortable. They are obvious warning signals that indicate the dog is either in a yellow or red state.
Facial Expressions
The facial expressions and emotional states indicate when the dog is okay to approach and handle, and these are reflected in as green in our chart. In these green states the dog is either relaxed or playful, so it’s safe to approach.
As the dog becomes more nervous or confident, their mouths will close and their eyes will generally change to either dilated pupils or elongated eyes. In addition, they may begin to draw their lips back and snarl. There are yellow signals and you should proceed with caution and preferably stop and see if you can get the dog back to a green state as far as their eyes and facial expression.
In the red management signal, these dogs are not safe to approach and you should definitely stop and make sure you are safe. These dogs may be staring with a hard stare showing teeth and stiff or frozen. Your goal is to identify these dogs before they move to red. You want to find them in yellow and hopefully get them back to green before they go to red. If you see any of these expressions, you want to stop and get assistance from another employee or supervisor if you need to handle a dog with any of this body language.
Canine Facial Expressions Management Traffic Signal Chart
Management Signal | Facial Expression | Canine Emotion | Meaning |
---|---|---|---|
Relaxed Muzzle and Forehead Soft Eyes Blinking eyes Look away; avoids eye contact Mouth is slightly opened or softly closed. | I'm happy. I'm happy. I'm not a threat. I'm not a threat. I'm happy. | Relaxed Relaxed Friendly, but less confident. Less confident with a lower rank. Relaxed |
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Slight wrinkling of muzzle and forehead. Narrow and elongated eye. Mouth is pursed forward in a "C" shape and mostly closed. Lips drawn back and mostly closed. Mouth is wide open, lips are drawn back with panting. | I'm concerned. I'm not a threat. Go away. Go away. I'm afraid. I'm in pain. | Alert Less confident dog Annoyed; confident dog. Annoyed; subordinate dog. Fear in a less confident dog, stress signal |
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Hard eyes with direct staring. Half moon eyes Mouth pursed forward in a "C" shape and showing teeth. Lips are drawn back and showing a lot of teeth. Mouth is closed tight with tension. | I am challenging you. Stop that! I'm scared. Go away. Go away. I'm challenging you. Stop that! | Threat signal Threat Signal Warning; confident dog Warning; fearful dog Threat signal |
Below are some pictures to demonstrate the different facial expressions.
In the green category, you can see the softness in the eyes with a loose muzzle and forehead. You can also see the appeasement gesture “look away.” Generally, you see a softly closed or slightly open mouth.
If you see any body language from the yellow and or red category stop what you are doing and back away from the dog. These are warnings from the dog that should be headed.
In the yellow category, the tension in the muzzle and forehead is pronounced. Along with dilated pupils, and elongated eyes. The mouth tends to purse or lips draw back to show teeth.
In the red category, the muzzle and forehead stay tense and you can see hard direct stares, half-moon eyes, pursed mouth, lips drawn back with a lot of teeth showing. A mouth closed tight with tension is not a sign either.