Our canine companions have been by our sides for tens of thousands of years, and though they may not utter words, every tail wag, ear flick and furrowed brow speaks volumes – if you know how to read them.
Often owners think they understand their pooches pretty well, but research suggests that dogs are much better at reading our body language than we are theirs.
Humans lost their tails millions of years ago, but dogs, you may have noticed, still have theirs. They have a myriad of uses including aiding balance, fending off insects and increasing or minimising scent.
But, of course, tails are also a great way for dogs to communicate. “When dogs are happy they wag their tail really wide and loose. Sometimes their whole body wags too,” [animal behaviour expert Dr Zazie Todd] says.
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On the other paw, “a vertical, tight tail accompanied by a narrow wag can be a sign that the dog is not feeling well, or is perhaps stressed or offensive.” And a tail that’s down likely means the dog is unhappy.
If you really want to understand your dog’s tail wagging, try paying attention to the direction of the swish too. Research published in the journal Current Biology, for example, found that happy dogs tend to wag their tail more to the right (from the dog’s point of view), while a less happy dog will have a more left-dominated wag.
