WHISKYBARK BODY LANGUAGE DECODER
TOOL / 03Dogs say plenty. Just not with words.
Choose what you can actually observe. Whisky will read the signals together — because one tail, ear or glance rarely tells the whole story.
READ THE WHOLE DOG ↓BUILD THE PICTURE
What are you seeing?
Don't guess what your dog feels yet. Start with what you can actually see.
UNDERSTANDING DOG BODY LANGUAGE
One signal is a clue. The whole dog tells the story.
Dogs communicate through combinations of posture, movement, facial expression and behaviour. A wagging tail, lowered body, pinned ears or a yawn can be useful clues, but none should automatically be translated into a single emotion.
Look at several signals together, consider what is happening around your dog, and notice what changes next. That's why the WhiskyBark decoder asks about the whole picture rather than one isolated behaviour.
Look at the whole body. Compare the tail, ears, eyes, mouth and posture.
Notice the situation. The same signal can appear in very different contexts.
Watch what happens next. Behaviour becomes easier to understand when you observe how it changes over time.
A clue is not a conclusion. Keep watching the whole dog.