The Grumpy Bitch - a little more than body language

In dog social situations, such as at the dog park, my dog, Pico, often eschews calming signals to be a grumpy bitch (bitch here in its original definition of female canine.) This is behavior that we humans tend to think is rude, but most dogs immediately understand and take in stride.  Essentially, this is how a mother dog behaves with her puppies when they are getting old enough to be self-sufficient and they are bugging her.  I've only seen this from bitches who have had at least one litter, but I would imagine that non-dams and males could pick it up by observation.

For Pico, this behavior follows a specific pattern.  First she will move to a stance that shows she is uncomfortable with the situation standing with a rounded topline, erect tail, and braced legs (similar to the position she is displaying in this video.)  If the dog or dogs in question don't take the clue and leave her alone at this point, she'll lift her lip when other dogs come too close.  Next she moves to growling. If that doesn't work, she'll move to warning nips from a large distance - for instance she'll snap her teeth from a foot or more away.  Adult dogs pretty much always "get it" early on and leave her alone.  Sometimes puppies (or dogs that were removed from their dam and litter too early) don't get it.  I always try to step in and protect Pico from dogs that are bugging her - that's part of our contract.  I usually intervene by blocking Occasionally, on our walks we come across neighborhood puppies that are better at running off than their owner's expect and we need to corral the puppy until the owner catches up - so Pico has to put up with them. If her initial signals don't work, she gives up and just lies down and lets the offending puppies swarm all over her while she ignores them (though her eyes roll and you can see that she wishes that she'd never have to see a puppy again.)

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Is this a relaxed or stressed dog?

Does this video show a hot, tired dog or a stressed, pained dog?



Answer and explanation below the tags...

Don't be distracted by the staples and recent cauterization marks. They use cauterization because most dogs don't even notice it and the first time this particular dog had a staple, she was running around showing it off like she would a new collar.

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red cross, challenge, dog pulls when on leash, images of dog body language, pacing dog behavior, dog stress behavior pacing, understanding dog body language, dog body language, dog body language visual, Brenda Aloff, dog in pain

This dog is in fact in pain, but not from any of the visible surgical marks. Her collar irritated and opened a cauterized area on her neck and she has a large painful open sore under her neck (note, this video was taken while waiting for treatment.)

However, you don't need to see the sore to recognize that she is under stress. She is giving off at least 3 clear signs of stress in the video. Her silhouette shows a rounded topline and braced legs. Her tail is down. If you look closely at her tongue as she pants you can see the wide bottom of what Brenda Aloff calls a "spatulate tongue" from muscular effort as compared to the the lolling tongue of a hot or tired dog. It's important to get this question right, because a dog in pain or stress deserves help, and they are also much more likely to bite or nip.