🕵🏽‍♀️How Your Dog Secretly Communicates in 15 Ways.

🐶Welcome Back Wonderous Dog Parent, Here’s your latest brain buzz of dog-understanding. With the decode of 15 secret signals your pup uses to communicate with you. & the dog door opens on research revealing how dogs learn toys like human babies do (yes, & in more ways than you thought). PLUS why dogs growls aren’t just a warning, they’re an emotional signal smorgasbord, mixing pitch & purpose. Learn how we can understand them…& there’s more…

Enjoy!

🧐FACT or FLUFF??

‘All dogs feel guilty sometimes’

Dig down the page to find out…

THIS WEEK’S WOOF WISDOM

• 🕵🏽‍♀️How Your Dog Secretly Communicates in 15 Ways.

• 🧸How Dogs Think Like Babies When Learning Toys.

• 🐩Why Different Dog Growls Reveal Their Feelings.

• Well, This is a Different Kind Of Pooch Emergency.

• 🧐More to Chew On…

😏OK..NOW WHAT? (your Q & A)
How Your Dog Secretly Communicates in 15 Ways.

Your dog may not speak in words, but they’re constantly sending messages, through posture, movement, & micro-expressions that most humans miss. Learning their language isn’t just cute, it’s how you prevent confusion, misinterpretation, & missed cries for help.

Here are 15 ways dogs signal what they’re feeling:

1. Paw lift – Curiosity or concentration.

2. Yawning – Stress or self-soothing.

3. Head tilt – Processing sound or attention.

4. Whale eye – Discomfort or unease.

5. Leaning – Seeking comfort or connection.

6. Excessive licking – Stress, boredom, or medical issue.

7. Tail language – Context matters, wagging isn’t always joy.

8. Rolling over – Submission or play.

9. Pacing – Anxiety or anticipation.

10. Prolonged eye contact – Bonding, wanting attention, not confrontation.

11. Play bow – Invitation to engage.

12. Sighing/groaning – Contentment or release.

13. Ears pinned back (soft) – Affection or appeasement.

14. Stretching near you – A warm greeting.

15. Nose nudging – “Notice me” or “I need something.”

How to respond to your dog’s signals:
• Pause & observe before reacting.
• Match your energy to their emotional state.
• Redirect gently if stress signals appear.
• Reinforce calm behavior with affection or play.
• When in doubt, give space & safety.

Your dog is constantly communicating in their own way. The more fluently you listen, the stronger your bond becomes.❤️ 

🐾MORE HERE

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Thank you, P.K. & the Best DOGS Life team💗 

🎙YOUR POLL

🧠🌿WOOF WELLBEING
How Dogs Think Like Babies When Learning Toys.

The increasing research into understanding dogs continues to show us how truly amazing they are (which of course you already know 🥰).

Turns out your dog isn’t just chasing squeaky chaos, they’re categorizing, generalizing, & making cognitive leaps that mirror how human babies learn. According to new research, gifted dogs don’t just memorize toy names, they understand function.

That means “ball” doesn’t just mean one ball, it means anything that rolls, bounces, or screams “throw me!” It’s not just smart, it’s developmental. & it’s a reminder that your pup’s brain is doing far more than we give it credit for.

Let’s dig into what the study found:

1. Dogs can generalize words to new objects based on function.

2. This mirrors how human infants learn language & categories.

3. Gifted dogs (like border collies) show this ability more clearly.

4. Dogs don’t just memorize, they infer meaning from context.

5. They may prioritize what an object does over how it looks.

6. This suggests dogs have a flexible, adaptive learning style.

7. It also means your dog might understand “ball” better than “banana.”

8. The study used unfamiliar objects to test generalization.

9. Dogs chose items with similar use, not just similar shape.

10. This kind of learning is rare & cognitively advanced.

11. It shows dogs can form abstract concepts.

12. It challenges the idea that dogs only learn through repetition.

13. It supports the idea that dogs learn socially, like children.

14. It highlights the role of play in cognitive development.

15. It proves your dog’s toy obsession is actually brain work.

If your dog brings you a sock when you ask for a ball, don’t correct them, congratulate them. They’re not confused. They’re categorizing. & that’s genius in adorable furry perfection!🐶

🐾MORE HERE

🐩Why Different Dog Growls Reveal Their Feelings.

Your dog’s growls aren’t just noise, they’re emotional signals with pitch, purpose, & personality.

That’s why different dog growls reveal different feelings, from playful joy to protective tension. & when you learn to decode them, you stop guessing & start understanding.

7 Types of Growls & What They Mean:

1. Resource guarding – “This is mine, step away.” (Behavioral training can fix this)

2. Fearful or threatened – “I’m scared, give me space.”

3. Play growl – “This is fun, keep going!”

4. Pain growl – “Ouch, please don’t touch.”

5. Stranger growl – “I don’t know you, stay back.” In growls recorded in the context of a stranger approaching, the higher the pitch of the growl, the higher the fearfulness.

6. Long growls – Often signal higher aggression.

7. Short, high-pitched growls – Typically playful or less serious.

How Well Do Humans Understand Growls:
• Humans correctly identified growl meanings 63% of the time, because emotional tone & context are surprisingly intuitive.
• Women outperformed men, likely due to stronger emotional attunement & social listening.
• Dog parents scored higher than non-dog people, experience builds fluency.

Studies have shown that dog parent’s ability to understand different dog growls is influenced by the time between growls & the duration of the growls.

If you don’t already, when your dog growls take the time to lean into understanding. That sound isn’t defiance. It’s data. & when you respond with curiosity instead of correction you’re showing your dog they’re safe to speak.

🐾MORE HERE

🤔PAWSE TO REMEMBER

Empower Your Dog With Choices. Allow your pup to make decisions throughout the day, such as choosing their walking route or playtime activities. This has the benefit of activating reward centers in their brain which reduces stress & improves their overall wellbeing.

👃🏻QUICK SNIFFS
More to Chew On.

• 👩🏽‍⚕️Expert Warns…Why you can’t trust the dog breed stereotype.

• 🤔What about Diet! Ozempic for dogs, is this the next big thing in pet care?

• 🐕That’s Great… Dogs are living 2 years longer than they did ten years ago.

😮OH MY DOG
Well, This is a Different Kind Of Pooch Emergency..

We love how our mighty pups like to impress us by flexing their super sensing powers, & alerting us to emergencies & danger.

Adorable & very vocal, Lucie the Golden is no exception. Watch as she alerts Mum to an emergency…

That is…Lucies’ kind of emergency…& surely after such brilliant expert work she deserves the obvious reward she’s pitching for🙂

Enjoy.💗 

@lucieandkev

she can communicate perfectly when there is food involved 😂 #goldenretriever #dog #dogs #dogsvideo

🧐FACT or FLUFF??...Answer.  FLUFF

All dogs do not feel guilty sometimes because all dogs do not feel guilt. That guilty look so many dog parents believe they see is a learned fear response to human anger & other body language cues. It’s not a reflection of remorse for something they have done previously.

We are here to please🐶…

Thanks for being part of the pack 😀

Keep yourself & your pups, happy & safe & see you next time!

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