Dog Comms
Part 2: Dog-to-Dog Body Language: Ears
How do dogs interpret ear signals from each other?
This is the second part in an occasional series looking at aspects of dog communication. We will be looking at signals between humans and dogs in both directions and also of course dog to dog. This month we are examining how dogs use their ear position to communicate.
Some dogs appear to get overly excited or aggressive at the sight of another dog. But not always. It can be perplexing. Sometimes owners tell me it’s difficult to fathom any pattern to this. And occasionally I agree! It can be a stronger than usual motivation to engage and play or equally a more aggressive reaction. Either way we are usually too focused on our own dog to notice the signals the other dog may be showing. Could there be some clues in dog-to-dog body language? Maybe their ears?
Often we can label things because we are so familiar with our dog’s perception: she doesn’t like black dogs, he doesn’t like bigger dogs and so on. But let’s take a moment to understand dog comms. Because often this can tell us what is making our dog excited or stressed, when it wasn’t so obvious before. A great starting point for this month is the ears.
Appearances alone
Appearances alone can be a powerful driver. Dogs of the same or similar breed can be very skilful at reading each other. Their anatomy is the same. They were born and raised by a mother who looked like them, as did their siblings. Their ears, tail, coat and mouth shape are the same. They use these to express their feelings and moods in the same way. Of course, dogs that are too similar in the same household can have competitive urges that can get out of control, particularly if they are of the same sex and similar age. But generally when seeing other similar dogs outside, they can at least read each other’s intentions well. Mishaps are less likely.
Through natural selection but particularly with managed breeding over many centuries, these days we now have a huge variety of dogs of all shapes and sizes. Different temperaments and skillsets too. But a powerful genetic constant from their canine ancestors is the way dogs use their bodies to communicate. This can’t be bred out and remains the same. Often we have bred a dog to look a certain way, and their appearance alone can sometimes lead to a breakdown in dog-to-dog communication.
Cocker Spaniel meets German Shepherd
A training instructor David Ryan talks about a real example to illustrate this, and here’s a short version. Two off-lead dogs in a park appear to each other 20 metres away, face-on. The spaniel is immediately alarmed at the shepherd’s appearance, especially those naturally pointy ears.
‘Why is this dog looking at me so alarmed and alert? This doesn’t look good. I’ll raise my ears too to show I am also on alert! Hopefully he won’t come any closer.’
The problem is the cocker’s long, floppy ears appear not to be raised, neither to her owner, nor to the shepherd. (They very subtly do lift, but her ears are so heavy and long it’s only barely perceptible close up.) To the shepherd, the spaniel’s ears are totally relaxed.
‘Hey’, thinks the shepherd, ‘you look pretty cool, think I’ll come over and say hello’.
‘Whoa’, thinks the spaniel, ‘those ears aren’t coming down and he’s coming over to me! This is really bad! Why is my human just standing there? I’ll need to take control and tell him to go away…’
Spaniel reacts aggressively, shepherd reciprocates out of surprise…
So here we have an incident based entirely on each dog innocently misreading the other’s intentions. Purely based on appearance, and a lack of fluency across breed recognition. A GSD’s ears always look pointy, a spaniel’s floppy. Of course their tails may have been telling a different story, but as they were face-on, this was by-passed. Both dogs had already made up their mind.
But my dog’s ears are small/fixed
Of course different breeds have different anatomies and this can especially apply to the ears. And things like ear-cropping thankfully is illegal in the UK now and has been since the Animal Welfare Act in 2006. But because of selective breeding a lot of physical ‘manipulated’ ear traits continue to exist. Whatever, your dog’s breed or cross-type, you may find it difficult to read your dog’s ears if they are proportionally small or seem fixed in position. Your dog too will find it difficult to use them as an effective method of communication because of this, even though they will still be using those muscles to move them. But there will be subtle differences and changes you can notice if you observe your dog. Give it a go!
So what can ears tell us?
Here is general guide for what ear signals might tell us about our dog’s emotional state:
Erect ears
Alert, aggression, confidence, alarm, or intense listening
Raised ears
Curious, listening, confidence, intent, or playful
Lowered ears
Relaxed, tired, or playful
Low ears, flat against the head and/or ‘behind’ the head
Anxious, fearful, aggression (fear), or stressed
There can be subtle variations on this. And what your dog is doing with other parts of their body will complete the picture. But an important aspect of dog-to-dog body language is how they use their ears. The more you notice this, the better your understanding of dog comms. …Why they sometimes do the things they do…!
