- Not a substitute for professional veterinary help.
You’re walking through the park when your dog starts barking. In the distance, you can hear another dog starting to bark. Is this just a coincidence, or an example of how dogs communicate with each other?
As a pet parent, it’s important to understand how your dog communicates with other dogs and people. Knowing how to read your dog’s body language tells you if they need support, if they’re scared, or if they’re conflicted, says dog behaviorist Zoe Willingham.
This knowledge can help you support your dog in everyday life and help prevent them from getting into difficult situations, Willingham says.
Conversations between people can go into great depth and detail, but dog talk is mostly limited to communication “snippets”—and these can be verbal or silent. For instance, your dog might bark, yip, growl, or whine at another dog. They may also use body language, like putting their tail between their legs or dipping into a play bow.
Read on to learn the three main ways dogs communicate with each other.
1. Barking And Vocal Sounds
If you’ve spent much time around dogs, you probably already know that not all barks sound the same—and they don’t have the same meanings, either!
Research suggests dogs can create and identify barks based on the context of a scenario and who the bark comes from.
Dogs hear different messages in barks from other dogs, according to Willingham, who adds that there’s a distinct difference between a high-pitched “play” bark and a low, deep “stay away” bark.
Dogs use barking to express feelings, desires, and warnings. For example, Willingham says different barks might mean:
- I’m hungry
- Come play
- Stay away
- I’m scared
Why does this matter for pet parents? It’s important because learning to recognize your dog’s warning or angry barks can help you de-escalate a potential confrontation with another dog.
Dogs also communicate with each other using other vocal sounds, like growls and whines. Some growls can suggest a dog wants to play, Willingham says, while others might mean, “I’m not happy and likely to escalate my behavior further.”
When do puppies start barking?
Puppies generally begin barking when they’re about 2 months old—but many quickly make up for lost time!
Experts believe puppies learn to bark by mimicking sounds around them, so hearing more barks and whines from other dogs may help them become pros at canine communication!
Why do some dogs bark more than others?
Certain dog breeds, like the Basenji, very rarely bark. Others, like the Siberian Husky, are a lot more vocal and tend to make their presence known!
These differences in how dogs communicate depend a lot on the individual dog and what they learn works for them, Willingham says.
Breed and training may also play a role.
“Some breeds bark more because they are bred to be herding or guarding breeds,” Willingham explains. “Their job is to alert to danger or move other animals around.”
If a dog barks less often, that doesn’t mean they’re not communicating! All breeds have slightly different ways of communicating based on breed traits and what works for them,” she adds.
2. Body Language
Like people, dogs also communicate using a wide range of physical movements and expressions, from eye contact to turning their body away.
A dog might use body language to show their mood state, request space, or to try and reduce the chance of conflict, says Caroline Wilkinson, certified animal behaviorist and founder of digital pet coaching service Barket Place.
Canine body language includes an array of signals, she adds, which include:
- Ear positions
- Tail positions
- Teeth baring
- Body tension
- Bowing
- Yawning
Wilkinson says that as long as a dog enjoys appropriate and positive social interactions from an early age, they can generally understand another dog’s messages.
That said, dog communication can still be a little tricky, since one movement can convey different emotions.
“For example, a wagging tail can be happiness and readiness for social interactions—but it can also be a sign of aggression about to occur,” Wilkinson says. That’s why she emphasizes the importance of considering both the situation and other elements of your dog’s body language.
Body language between breeds
Dogs may have a harder time picking up on communication cues from certain dogs.
“Black dogs, fluffy dogs, those with harsh facial patterns (such as dark shapes on a sled dog’s face), and brachycephalic (short-nosed) dogs are typically harder for other dogs to read,” Wilkinson explains.
She adds that dogs who are less socially inclined may have a harder time building positive relationships with very social dogs—in much the same way that an introverted person might find it challenging to spend time with an extrovert!
How a dog reacts to another dog’s behavior can come down to factors like their first social experiences and play style. A dog’s body language skills also develop and evolve over time.
For instance, puppies are more playful and less able to gauge canine physical cues, but this changes as they experience more social interactions with different ages, sexes, and breeds of dog, Wilkinson says.
Dogs become a lot more selective in who they want to communicate with as they get older, she adds. They often stick with more familiar dog companions instead of making new playtime pals.
Facial expressions
Dogs make plenty of different facial expressions—and research has found they’ll ramp these up around people.
A dog’s facial expressions may go unnoticed if you tend to focus on movements from the rest of their body, but facial expressions are a very important part of canine visual language, Wilkinson says.
Picking up on these more subtle expressions can help you better understand whether your pup is excited, relaxed, alert, or frightened.
Communication intent | Facial expression |
Relaxed and friendly | Closed or slightly open mouth, slow panting, “smiling” mouth, raised eyebrows |
Sadness or pain | Squinting, mouth turned down, grimacing, staring or locked gaze, flattened ears, wrinkled forehead |
Aggression or intimidation | Staring or locked gaze, prominent whites of the eyes, closed mouth, teeth bared, tense and forward-facing ears |
Frightened or anxious | Tension around the eyes and mouth, flattened or pulled-back ears, closed mouth or panting, darting eyes or sideways gaze |
Body movements
Communication intent | Body movements |
Relaxed and friendly | Strong and fast or loose tail wag, loose body, rolling on their back, play bowing |
Sadness or pain | Lying down, tail in a downward position, drooped posture |
Aggression or intimidation | Stiff tail (may be held still or wagging), stiff and tense body, standing tall |
Frightened or anxious | Stiff and tense body, pacing or restless movement, low and forward body position, panting |
3. Scent And Pheromones
Ever wondered why your dog smells everything? Sniffing things helps dogs understand the world around them—after all, smell is their primary sense. Dogs use their noses to pick up pheromones, aka chemical “scent messages” released by other dogs and people.
A small part of the nasal cavity called the vomeronasal organ (Jacobson’s organ) helps dogs detect pheromones. This organ sits towards the front of a dog’s nose, almost like a plate between the nose and mouth. Most other mammals have a Jacobson’s organ, though experts don’t think it plays a part in human scent detection.
Although invisible to the naked eye, pheromones carry all kinds of essential messages. Dogs can detect quite a lot of information from the pheromones of other dogs, including age, sex, and relatedness, as well as health and emotional state, says Dr. Katie Friel-Russell, veterinary behaviorist at Positive Pet Training.
She adds that sniffing pheromones can also help dogs understand time passage, how long ago a scent was left, and how relaxed or fearful the dog was.
Dr. Friel-Russell calls these pheromones “overwhelming” for dogs, though she adds that it’s hard to comprehend exactly how strong they are. Dogs can get information from pheromones from a distance—but they pick up even more information when they get closer.
While some breeds, such as Beagles, Retrievers, Dachshunds, and German Shepherds, are all known to have an exceptional sense of smell, this may not make as much of a difference when it comes to pheromones.
“All dogs will be able to detect these signals in such large doses,” Dr. Friel-Russell says. “Dogs don’t need to be expert sniffers to pick them up.”
Do Dogs Know What Other Dogs Are Feeling?
According to Dr. Friel-Russell, dogs can tell if and when to change their behavior based on the vocal, scent, and physical cues they get from other dogs—though experts don’t have the evidence to suggest empathy is part of this response.
She explains that a well-socialized dog will know how to approach another pup politely. For instance, they may approach steadily, giving space if they read signs that the other dog is uncomfortable. “Standing side-on allows dogs to clearly read each other’s body language and share how they are feeling,” she adds.
Dogs who haven’t been fully socialized, however, may become more easily scared or annoyed by other dogs. If they can’t pause to read the cues of another dog, this can lead to problems, Dr. Friel-Russell explains, even when approaching a well-socialized dog.
That said, it’s always possible to work on socializing older dogs to help them feel more comfortable around other dogs. A trained dog behaviorist can help you get started.