Understanding dog's body language

From the time immemorial, dogs are considered as the best companion animal of man. Dogs have played a role in religion, myths, tales and legends of many cultures and religions. According to 2024 consumer insights study, 33 percent of Indian household own a dog, which makes the domestic dogs the most popular pet, followed by cat and fish. Dog’s roles in society are also expanding day by day. This pet animal serves the mankind by assuming significant roles starting from security to amusements and also medical and veterinary research works. In the present society, parallel to the economic growth of urban people, the eagerness of possessing a beautiful dog of good pedigree has become a status symbol in the society. These priceless pets do communicate with us using a complex language of body signals which reflects their thinking and feeling. Through their behaviors and body signals, dogs can indicate how they are feeling and what will be their action at that moment. Unlike their pet parents (human), dogs communicate mostly through body postures and scent (olfactory cues) rather than vocalization. The pet owner should learn to read their body language to understand what they are trying to communicate to us and also to other dogs nearby them. With this information, we can make sure that they have more things that bring them happiness or need to remove them from a situation they find threatening. Unhappy dogs will have a poor quality of life. Being able to recognize and attend to the dogs’ needs is not only part of being a responsible pet parent but it also helps to build a positive relationship with them. It is also crucial for safety, because a dog can pounce or bite when people fail to recognize the signals that a dog is feeling distressed.