Dogs talk with their bodies. It can happen so fast that we miss subtle nuances, and then we wonder why they\u00a0behave a certain way. To understand our pups\u00a0better,\u00a0we must learn to pay better attention to their body language. Dog paw lifts are one expression that often go ignored, except by hunters, of course, such as in the\u00a0image below of a bird dog.\u00a0Here, your dog lifts\u00a0a paw and\u00a0positions his ears forward in alert, directly stares at prey, put his tail out and poises his body to create a message of high drive and excitement, not anxiety.<\/p>\n It’s the paw lifts by non-hunting dogs that can be a sign of anxiety, stress, and\/or fear. I translate this\u00a0body language in my Dog Decoder smartphone app using\u00a0illustrations by\u00a0Lili Chin of Doggie Drawings<\/a>. There are 60 different poses and scenarios. Each pose\u00a0features three parts; The Pose, The Info and The Details about the pose and the app’s star, Diamond:<\/p>\n The Pose<\/strong><\/p>\n The Info<\/strong><\/p>\n The Details<\/strong><\/p>\n In the above\u00a0illustration, a dog is showing fear in multiple\u00a0ways, including a paw lift.\u00a0Dogs will often lift a paw when anxious, so it’s important to look at all of the body — including ears, tail, eyes, and paw — when reading\u00a0your pup. It’s also important to speed read. Dogs talk a mile a minute with their body, changing signals in an instant. Don’t be discouraged if you miss subtle signs at first — the more you pay attention, the better you will be\u00a0at understanding\u00a0your dog.<\/p>\n In fact, I have a mantra all of\u00a0my clients use whenever they are with their dogs. In training, just hanging out, playing fetch, riding in the car… they ask themselves,\u00a0“What does my dog need now?” This helps them\u00a0become more aware of what their\u00a0pup is saying. Try it yourself!<\/p>\n Paw lifts also can be an expression of anticipation, as shown above. In this\u00a0context, you see that Diamond\u00a0has high hopes that the\u00a0turkey is for him. Ears and eyes alert,\u00a0head and sniffer up and ready, tail out, and a paw lifted combine to signal anticipation.<\/p>\n Dogs also may tuck a paw to convey fear. Typically, when a dog tucks a paw while lying down, it’s a sign of relaxation, but not always as shown in the image above. Diamond is hiding under the table, not wanting to interact. Notice that his\u00a0left front paw is tucked and he\u00a0is indirectly staring at the boy. Diamond also has\u00a0pulled his body in and away from the boy, becoming\u00a0small and tight — these are all signs that he is scared and could bite. If the boy doesn’t retreat or the parents don’t step in\u00a0to translate these “stay away” signals, he\u00a0could be in serious danger.<\/p>\n Often,\u00a0when a dog lifts a paw or tucks it, it’s one of the first signs of stress, and if it goes unnoticed could lead to, at best, frustration\u00a0for you if an undesired behavior follows — at worst, it could lead to a bite.<\/p>\n Our dogs rely\u00a0on us to learn their language, and by gaining\u00a0this skill, you’ll find that your dog is not being “stubborn” or “bad.” Instead, you will understand that he is\u00a0anxious, excited, or afraid. With this newfound knowledge, you’ll be better equipped to help your dog.<\/p>\n For more insight,\u00a0download the\u00a0Dog Decoder<\/a>\u00a0smartphone\u00a0app\u00a0via iTunes and Google play.\u00a0You can also learn more from Sarah Kalnajs’s DVD\u00a0The Language of Dogs<\/a>\u00a0as well as from the book\u00a0Decoding Your Dog: Explaining Common Dog Behaviors and How to Prevent or Change Unwanted Ones<\/a><\/em>\u00a0by John Ciribassi, Debra Horwitz, and Steve Dale.<\/p>\n Thumbnail:\u00a0Photography by Dvorakova Veronika | Shutterstock.<\/em><\/p>\n Read Next: <\/strong>6 Things to Remember When You Have a Fearful Dog<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n The post What Does It Mean When Your Dog Lifts a Paw?<\/a> by Jill Breitner<\/a> appeared first on Dogster<\/a>. Copying over entire articles infringes on copyright laws. You may not be aware of it, but all of these articles were assigned, contracted and paid for, so they aren’t considered public domain. However, we appreciate that you like the article and would love it if you continued sharing just the first paragraph of an article, then linking out to the rest of the piece on Dogster.com.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<\/p>\n The post What Does It Mean When Your Dog Lifts a Paw?<\/a> by Jill Breitner<\/a> appeared first on Dogster<\/a>. Copying over entire articles infringes on copyright laws. You may not be aware of it, but all of these articles were assigned, contracted and paid for, so they aren’t considered public domain. However, we appreciate that you like the article and would love it if you continued sharing just the first paragraph of an article, then linking out to the rest of the piece on Dogster.com.<\/p>\n Dogs talk with their bodies. It can happen so fast that we miss subtle nuances, and then we wonder why they\u00a0behave a certain way. To understand our pups\u00a0better,\u00a0we must learn to pay better attention to their body language. Dog paw lifts are one expression that often go ignored, except by hunters, of course, such as in the\u00a0image below of a bird dog.\u00a0Here, your dog lifts\u00a0a paw and\u00a0positions his ears forward in alert, directly stares at prey, put his tail out and poises his body to create a message of high drive and excitement, not anxiety.<\/p>\n It’s the paw lifts by non-hunting dogs that can be a sign of anxiety, stress, and\/or fear. I translate this\u00a0body language in my Dog Decoder smartphone app using\u00a0illustrations by\u00a0Lili Chin of Doggie Drawings<\/a>. There are 60 different poses and scenarios. Each pose\u00a0features three parts; The Pose, The Info and The Details about the pose and the app’s star, Diamond:<\/p>\n The Pose<\/strong><\/p>\n The Info<\/strong><\/p>\n The Details<\/strong><\/p>\n In the above\u00a0illustration, a dog is showing fear in multiple\u00a0ways, including a paw lift.\u00a0Dogs will often lift a paw when anxious, so it’s important to look at all of the body — including ears, tail, eyes, and paw — when reading\u00a0your pup. It’s also important to speed read. Dogs talk a mile a minute with their body, changing signals in an instant. Don’t be discouraged if you miss subtle signs at first — the more you pay attention, the better you will be\u00a0at understanding\u00a0your dog.<\/p>\n In fact, I have a mantra all of\u00a0my clients use whenever they are with their dogs. In training, just hanging out, playing fetch, riding in the car… they ask themselves,\u00a0“What does my dog need now?” This helps them\u00a0become more aware of what their\u00a0pup is saying. Try it yourself!<\/p>\n Paw lifts also can be an expression of anticipation, as shown above. In this\u00a0context, you see that Diamond\u00a0has high hopes that the\u00a0turkey is for him. Ears and eyes alert,\u00a0head and sniffer up and ready, tail out, and a paw lifted combine to signal anticipation.<\/p>\n Dogs also may tuck a paw to convey fear. Typically, when a dog tucks a paw while lying down, it’s a sign of relaxation, but not always as shown in the image above. Diamond is hiding under the table, not wanting to interact. Notice that his\u00a0left front paw is tucked and he\u00a0is indirectly staring at the boy. Diamond also has\u00a0pulled his body in and away from the boy, becoming\u00a0small and tight — these are all signs that he is scared and could bite. If the boy doesn’t retreat or the parents don’t step in\u00a0to translate these “stay away” signals, he\u00a0could be in serious danger.<\/p>\n Often,\u00a0when a dog lifts a paw or tucks it, it’s one of the first signs of stress, and if it goes unnoticed could lead to, at best, frustration\u00a0for you if an undesired behavior follows — at worst, it could lead to a bite.<\/p>\n Our dogs rely\u00a0on us to learn their language, and by gaining\u00a0this skill, you’ll find that your dog is not being “stubborn” or “bad.” Instead, you will understand that he is\u00a0anxious, excited, or afraid. With this newfound knowledge, you’ll be better equipped to help your dog.<\/p>\n For more insight,\u00a0download the\u00a0Dog Decoder<\/a>\u00a0smartphone\u00a0app\u00a0via iTunes and Google play.\u00a0You can also learn more from Sarah Kalnajs’s DVD\u00a0The Language of Dogs<\/a>\u00a0as well as from the book\u00a0Decoding Your Dog: Explaining Common Dog Behaviors and How to Prevent or Change Unwanted Ones<\/a><\/em>\u00a0by John Ciribassi, Debra Horwitz, and Steve Dale.<\/p>\n Thumbnail:\u00a0Photography by Dvorakova Veronika | Shutterstock.<\/em><\/p>\n Read Next: <\/strong>6 Things to Remember When You Have a Fearful Dog<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n The post What Does It Mean When Your Dog Lifts a Paw?<\/a> by Jill Breitner<\/a> appeared first on Dogster<\/a>. Copying over entire articles infringes on copyright laws. You may not be aware of it, but all of these articles were assigned, contracted and paid for, so they aren’t considered public domain. However, we appreciate that you like the article and would love it if you continued sharing just the first paragraph of an article, then linking out to the rest of the piece on Dogster.com.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8573","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n![\"dog](\"https:\/\/s36700.pcdn.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/shutterstock_501476125.jpg\")
1.\u00a0The anxious dog paw lift<\/h3>\n
![\"dog](\"https:\/\/s36700.pcdn.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/DogDecoder_FearPerson.png\")
![\"DogDecoder_FearPersonInfo\"](\"https:\/\/s36700.pcdn.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/DogDecoder_FearPersonInfo.png\")
![\"DogDecoder_FearPersonDetails\"](\"https:\/\/s36700.pcdn.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/DogDecoder_FearPersonDetails.png\")
2. Sometimes, a dog lifts a paw in anticipation<\/h3>\n
![\"dog](\"https:\/\/s36700.pcdn.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/DogDecoder_Anticipation-563x1000.png\")
3.\u00a0The\u00a0fearful paw tuck<\/h3>\n
![\"dog](\"https:\/\/s36700.pcdn.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/SpaceGuarding-Person-e1480528232707.jpg\")
Bottom line: Keep an eye on your dog’s paws<\/h3>\n
1.\u00a0The anxious dog paw lift<\/h3>\n
2. Sometimes, a dog lifts a paw in anticipation<\/h3>\n
3.\u00a0The\u00a0fearful paw tuck<\/h3>\n
Bottom line: Keep an eye on your dog’s paws<\/h3>\n