When To Give Your Dog Space

Don't ignore these requests for space!

We'll explore signs of anxiety and fear and when your dog is communicating that they need some space, typically through the 'ladder of aggression'. The 'Ladder Of Aggression' ranges from licking of the lips and excessive yawning all the way to the bite. It's very easy to overlook the early signs of anxiety and fear in dogs as they are quite small to begin with. We'll go through them so you know what to keep an eye out for next..

• Yawing, Blinking, Licking the Lips - LOW LEVEL

These are the very first signs of anxiety and stress in dogs. It's very easy for excitement to turn into fear or anxiety as they are on the same plane for dogs; this may be why we see dogs turn to biting when they are excited. If you see your dog displaying these signs excessively when you go to pet them or there's certain stimuli around them, ease off and let them come to you when they are ready.

• Turning the Head/Body Away, Walking Away to create space

The next few signs are vital to notice. When the dog is displaying a clear indication that it wants to divert itself away from the situation it's in, then it's a good time to back off to benefit everyone involved.

• Creeping - Ears Back, Crouched - Tail Tucked, Lying down - Leg up

All of these body language signs are a clear show of wanting to make themselves look small or unthreatening in hope that the scary thing will go away. When the body is hunched, the ears are back and the tail is tucked, they are in a clear state on fear, stress and anxiety, and this is where these emotions are likely to turn into aggression.

When a dog is lying down with its leg up and belly exposed, it's important to figure out why they are doing so; are they doing it because they want belly rubs, or are they doing it to show submission because they feel uncomfortable or scared? Think about the set and setting they are in to help you figure out if they want to play or submit.

• Stiffening Up, Staring

We can tell a lot from the dog's eyes. Narrow slit, staring eyes will usually some after whale eyes (wide, scared looking), and at this point the dog has turned to dominance because it may be the only way to protect itself from the thing that's scared it. Showing a tense body by stiffening up, tail out, hackles up, and ears up is an obvious sign they are about to snap or bite.

• Growling, Snapping and Biting - URGENT

These are the very last actions a dog will take to protect itself. They will only do this when they have no where else to go and we haven't seen the many signs they have tried to give us. Dogs can only communicate in their body language and facial expressions, so it's down to us to know our dogs and how they react to certain stimuli and figure out what we can do to help to prevent these last resort actions from happening. We don't want to encourgae our dog to escalate from this behaviour as it can become a regulalr occurence.