Being able to read your dog’s body language in different situations will help you socialise and support your dog throughout its life.
Even though a small part that makes up the whole dog, the eyes can tell us a lot about what the dog is feeling and why they are behaving in certain ways.
Direction of eyeline
Look at what position the dog is looking. If the dog is not comfortable in a situation, for example having their nails clipped, you will notice they will look anywhere but directly at their paws. If you have a reactive dog, then they will fixate on the object that triggers them. An example of this is my friend's west highland white terrier called Bertie. He was a rescue dog and hated if you were out in the garden and picked up a spade or shovel. Even if you let him out in the garden and a spade was propped up against the shed, he would fixate on it and then start barking at it if you then went near it.
Blinking
When a dog is relaxed and calm, they usually blink slowly. When a dog blinks rapidly this implies the dog is on alert or excited.
This is Timmy, a young Shih Tzu that was very happy playing in the mud!
Position
You may have heard the term “whale eye” and this is a significant eye movement. It is usually seen when a dog is resource guarding. This head is facing one direction, the eyes are looking in the opposite direction and the sclera (the white part of the eye) is shown. If a dog keeps displaying this behaviour, you want to change the situation quickly and do this by giving the dog space.
Here is my spaniel, Meg. She had not long been given this chew and when I came up to take her photo this is how she positioned her eye. (Yes, she does just have one eye!) She is worried either myself or my other dog at the time would take the chew off her. She is starting to resource guard the chew.
Hard or soft eyes
Soft eyes are seen when a dog is comfortable and relaxed. The muscles around the face will relax and the eyes move into an almond shape.
Here is Willow, a Labrador puppy showing her soft eyes. She is happy and content when this picture was taken.
Hard eyes are seen when a dog is feeling alert or triggered by something. The muscles around the face will tense, they have a furrowed brow and the eyes become rounded. Bertie, whom I mentioned before would have hard eyes when he saw a spade becomes this was a trigger for him. Another example is when a border collie is working and focused on the sheep it is herding.
Hyper Vigilance
This means a dog is constantly and quickly looking around and not focusing on one thing. In this situation, the dog will be on alert and over-aroused. This is their way of trying to cope with a situation.
Now you can watch your dog in different situations and read what are their eyes saying to you. If they are showing signs of stress or being uncomfortable in a situation you can pick it up sooner and help them.
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