Unusual Pet Communication Signals You Never Noticed
Animals might telegraph more symptoms than you know; not everything appears intended to evoke positive responses-some wag their tails in fear rather than contentment or yawn from anxiety rather than fatigue.
Everything from body posture and movement to ear position, facial expression, scratching, or whatever else a dog can muster, constitutes communication; oftentimes it is difficult to pin down what this might mean from the specific situation in which communication has occurred.
1. Extended Eye Contact
Gives you insights into the internal workings of the psyche. A recent study found that when applying eye contact, visual stimuli seem to recruit areas of the cortex and areas that have been associated with Theory of Mind-like mental states. This ability seems somewhat divergent in domestic dogs from otherspecies, hence allowing a stronger bonding with people.
Additional signals might include whining, barking, growling, tail-chasing, or actually attacking. So, we should really pay attention to our dogs' body language signals and have the odd behavior looked at by an animal behaviorist in Gaithersburg, MD.
Most people assume yawning in dogs means tiredness. Some dogs might choose to yawn to relieve their stress levels. For others, rolling over might be an invitation to play, while lifting up a paw could be respect to appease a possible threat to the well-being of the dog.
The really awful communication challenges about this might be these species' variations depending on their environment, but such distinctions are elemental in the welfare of any pet. Spend some time working out your pet's body postures, scent signals, and behaviors to learn more about their language and increase your bond with them.
2. Eyeball Whites
The whites of the eyeball semiround the top-most tip with exposure to approximately 80% of the eyeball's volume. Under normal circumstances, a healthy-looking sclera should be whiter than any other color. Any change in this is simply evaluated on the grounds of increased colors in sclerotic appearance. This often indicates discomfort or disease concern.
This negative or aggressive implication makes this signal all the more important in weighing the other signals presented by the dog. If need be, help may be warranted.
Has your dog shown this behavior when uncomfortable with certain people or situations? They display this by averting their gaze from the source of discomfort. It can include turning either their head or their shoulders or even turning their whole body away from the offending thing. The dog may also lick its lips.
Another classic display of discomfort is the lowering of the eyelids, called whale eyes, an indication of extreme discomfort in relation to your presence or whatever predicament they find themselves in-so this is a warning!
3. Tail Wagging
Tail-wagging in dogs is regarded by most as an expression of happiness; however, what about context? There could be many clues in how it's articulated.
Fast tail-wagging like helicopter blades could signal joy and excitement at greeting another person, whereas a stiff body and stiff tail movement would garner a warning-possible preemptive aggression-arousal and withdraw from this situation. Other signs include barking, pacing anxiously, and lunging toward the perceived threat.
The meaning of wagging could vary depending on which direction the wag is aimed at. Right wagging means feelings of positive emotion, while left wagging means disinclination or fear.
Further, take note of the height and direction of the wag; literally, more meaning can be read into that wagging action. In fact, even when a dog is not wagging her tail does have meaningful communication: like when she's rolled over on her belly and not wagging at all; that's her way of indicating "No thanks" to your attempt at attention-keep your distance which in appeasement can be coupled with lip-licking and whale eyes (eye whites) that is a signal of discomfort that could lead to a self-defense bite.
4. Now Freezing
Freezing can also be an interesting concept for students, depicting how the liquid molecules come closer to create solid objects. They mix together water and ice in a container and observe one group of molecules moving slowly across the liquid to solid-state before freezing completely together in an ice block. They see that in solid-state, molecules are held together by chemical attraction, an unbreakable force that makes the difference between what nature can create and what humans can.
In winter, the coolness affects your pet and distress signals by cold on the pet should be understood. Besides recognizing that pets suffer likewise as humans, one would call animal control or any other appropriate authority when signs exhibited are odd number-wise in view of a strange case.
Dogs use many other body language and behavior signals to communicate their feelings and intentions between themselves and their human housemates. Some signals may fall under the category of appeasement signals that help to deescalate issues while others could be outright assertive.
For example, a happy dog may roll over, exposing his belly for rubs, or some other happy behavior like licking his lips and tongue. But all those behaviors may also indicate fear or anxiety. A dog standing still gives the impression of being frozen-think of it as a sign that he is asking for some space from you-it is a really serious signal and should not be confused for a game of play with rolls.