Field Guide · Glossary
Stress signals
Body languageThe small behaviors a dog performs when uncomfortable, before any louder reaction appears.
How it works
The usual list is lip licks, yawns outside of tiredness, sudden ground-sniffing, a mouth that closes and stays closed, a lowered or stiffened tail, and a body that slows or freezes. Individually none of them means much, since dogs lick their lips and yawn all day. What makes them readable is clustering and context: several appearing together, at a moment where something is happening, is the pattern worth acting on. They matter because they arrive early, while there is still room to add distance.
What it looks like
Approaching a vet's door, a dog licks their lips twice, yawns, and stops to sniff a patch of pavement they have walked past a hundred times. None of it is dramatic, and all of it happens before the pulling back begins.
Commonly confused with
- Calming signals
- The two lists are almost the same behaviors. Stress signals treats them as indicators of how a dog feels. Calming signals treats them as messages sent to another party, which is a stronger and less settled claim.
Related terms
Where this comes up
In the reading list