Body language questions

[JudyN]

We walked for some time yesterday with a lovely 2-year-old Rottie who asked Jasper to play through play bows and a little bit of bouncing. Jasper didn't want to play and mostly just seemed to ignore him, which the Rottie mostly respected. Jasper did have one small grumble when the Rottie had maybe asked one too many times, but it was all low-key - there was no animosity, and mostly the Rottie left Jasper alone when he realised he didn't want to play (but at 2 years old it's only understandable he should try again a couple of times).

it got me wondering - when invited to play, how does the normal well-adjusted dog (who is happy to be with another dog but just doesn't want to play) tell the other dog that they're not interested? Do they just ignore them, or is there some other form of body language to communicate this more directly? I have seen Jasper stand still and turn his head to the side at times, but I've had a feeling that there was a bit more tension in that than just a relaxed 'No thanks, I'm really not interested'? It's quite possible Jasper was conveying something in his body language and I just missed it, of course.

[Nettle]

Avatar lady does the same as Jas - head turned away, barest rumble of a growl. She is not reactive like Jas, but she likes her own space. Babydog puts her head down and motors off away from the other dog, but if cornered will say "see these teeth?". If other dog persists, she will run up behind me and hide in my legs. "Deal with it, Mum".

[JudyN]

She is not reactive like Jas, but she likes her own space.

With almost all dogs now, he's not reactive at all and does a really good impersonation of a well-adjusted dog He'll show infinite patience with a female sighthound puppy even when she's hanging off his ears... a boy (or probably girl) lab doing the same thing would get a telling-off. I really just need to be wary of the young entire males and the very occasional small fluffy nervous dog he thinks it might be fun to treat like a squeaky toy

I did think that how he was with the Rottie was how it 'should be' but don't really trust him as a yardstick for 'well-adjusted behaviour'

[Ari_RR]

Ari will first just stand there, with head turned away + slight growling.

If the other dog persists, he will growl loudly and bark and lunge and make it look like he is about to eat the dog.. This often wakes up the other dog's humans and they scramble over, grab the dog, and take her away. Sometimes with a disapproving look Tempts me to say "he is very friendly!" every time

But if the other dog still persists, she has a decent chance of eventually engaging Ari in a game. I guess at some point he decides that it's just easier to play than not to play...

[HaroldNHulsey]

Dogs are very expressive animals. They communicate when they’re feeling happy, sad, nervous, fearful and angry, and they use their faces and bodies to convey much of this information. Dog body language is an elaborate and sophisticated system of nonverbal communication that, fortunately, we can learn to recognize and interpret.