Calming signals are signs your dog give off to you when they are feeling stressed or not handling a situation well. Dogs communicate like this all the time to each other, but us humans can't read them and don't recognise them. Understand what your dog is telling you by the way they use their body language.

1. Calming Signals In Dogs
This is something I have wanted to write about for a while. When I first discovered calming
signals all those years ago, I was blown away. I had misinterpreted what my dogs had been
telling me and now, I teach people what their dog is trying to tell them simply by looking at the
behaviour their dog is exhibiting.
What Are Calming Signals
In a nutshell, they are things a dog does that tells us it is feeling stressed. Dogs have been
exhibiting this behaviour naturally since they evolved. This is how they communicate with each
other. A lot of how dogs communicate is non-verbal so body language plays a huge role in dogs
telling each other how they are feeling.
The problem exists once we humans come into the picture. We have been misinterpreting a lot
of dog behaviour as stubbornness ignorance, laziness (all human characteristics by the way,
dogs wouldn’t have a clue what any of that means) when in essence, our dogs have been telling
us…
“Hey Dude….Chill Out….I’m Feeling A Little Stressed Here….” or “Hey, All Good
Here…I’m Not Going To Pull You On”
Turid Rugaas
The mother of calming signals is one of the leading canine behaviourists in the world. 25 years
experience gives her a lot of credibility but she is amazing at identifying and interpreting dog
body language. She identified that the large variety of body signals that dogs exhibited using
their body, ears, talk, face sounds movement and expression signalled to other dogs of their
intentions and their reactions to the situation at hand. Dogs have a huge variety of non-verbal
communicators, but none more important than the calming signals. These signals are used to
maintain a healthy social hierarchy in a pack and used as conflict resolution.
Often when dog’s greet each other, there is a display of non-verbal communication going on that
is telling each other how they are feeling about the situation. Dogs are always giving out these
cues to us as well and if we can identify them, we can understand more readily how our dog is
feeling.

2. Calming Signals Diagram
I have borrowed this image from this blog, as it depicts quite well the certain body language that
dogs exhibit when are using calming signals.
I have seen many people, and I admit, I have misinterpreted some dogs language and thought
they were ignoring me or just mucking around, but if you see certain behaviours like these ones,
they might be just telling you..they are feeling a little stressed.
Alert Behaviour
When your dog is moving its body into a stiff erect position, it’s ear’s raised, it is preparing to
identify a new situation. I see this often when I see dogs out walking. When are coming across
a dog, a jogger, a new thing, they extend their neck and prick their ears. Something
new, possible a threat. This is a precursor to the next step. They could rush, show fear
aggression, or throw in a calming signal, like sniff the ground or like their nose.
Stressed Behaviour
If you see your dog licking its nose, sniffing the ground, yawning, turning their head away from
you, they are saying they are feeling stressed. Some more subtle cues are using a sit or lying
down. How often when we have been doing training do we see our dogs throw in one of
these unsolicited This might be a good time to ramp back the pressure.

3. Submissive Behaviour
These are much easier to see, laying on their back, maybe the ears back, cowering. These are
pretty tell-tale signs that dog is quite stressed and it telling you, I give up, you have it all over
me.
Summing Up
These are quite simple to learn and easy to recognise. Watch how your dog reacts around other
dogs and in certain situations. See if you can read their body language and identify any of these
signals.
About Glen Wilson
Glen was a Police Dog Handler with the Queensland Police Service for 14 years. During that
time, he handled and trained 5 police dogs.
The police dogs were trained in tracking, manwork (attack) work, drug detection, finding lost
people, cadaver detection and obedience.
Now he has a website called Ozdogtrainer found at http://www.ozdogtrainer.com.au where he
helps dog owners with their dog problems
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