Although a dog's eyes may be the window to its soul and its lips and tail can reveal a wealth of information about its motivations and mental condition, a dog's ears are a trickier subject. Since dogs ear are more difficult to read and comprehend, they are typically evaluated together with other visual clues to help understand them. Particularly when the canine's ears have been pulled back and held near the head. If you want to know more about this subject, read till the end to understand your dog more clearly.
1 - Fear/Nervousness
1 - Fear/Nervousness
When a dog flinches back its ears, one of the most popular interpretations is that it is scared or at least wary of something. If you notice this cue together with additional "fear" cues in the body language, this can be especially accurate. A frightened or nervous dog might additionally be yawning, lip-licking, avoiding eye contact, holding their tail down and tight to the body, squatting down low, and/or positioning their body far from whatever is causing them to be uneasy.
2 - Sadness
One explanation is sorrow, which frequently causes the ears to droop down towards the sides of the head. Dogs may exhibit this behavior when a beloved person leaves. When a dog spotted some of his puppy friends playing but couldn't join them since they were on a leash.
3 - Appeasement
A dog usually shows that they are at ease in a situation when they have their ears in their usual resting posture. Dogs often greet each other by maintaining their typical ear posture, which suggests that they feel at ease, while the other dog puts the ears back, which suggests the opposite. In this situation, pushing the ears back may be an appeasing tactic.
4 - Danger
When preparing to bite, dogs frequently pin their ears firmly to the head. It's been proposed that this may just serve to keep their ears safe from harm by keeping it from getting in the way of any nearby teeth. This would be used in conjunction with other signs of danger as a warning message, such as growling, barking, lunging, showing teeth, stiffening up, tongue flicking, charging, hard looks, and tense or terrified facial expressions.
5 - Warning Sign
Your dog may also be trying to warn you by folding its ears back before taking a bite. If the ears lie flat on the head, this is especially true. That typically corresponds to angry or terrified body language. The sounds your dog makes are another indicator that they are preparing to bite. Snarling and growling are blatant indications of the will to protect oneself brutally if necessary. Another aggressive indicator to watch for is curled lips.
Although it is unsettling to witness, you shouldn't correct your dog if it growls or snarls. They will learn from this that throwing out warning signals can land them in trouble.
The next time they experience anxiety or discomfort, they can conceal their symptoms and instead bite right away. Let children express all of their emotions, even the unpleasant ones. Find out the reason they are acting that way rather than punishing them to make them stop growling or snarling. They might sense something unusual, such as being surrounded by unfamiliar people. When a dog displays indicators of how they are feeling, it is crucial to take their surroundings into account.
6 - Anxiety
When a dog is anxious, their ears may occasionally turn back. This is frequently accompanied by other anxiety-related body language, such as tongue flicks, huffing, tension throughout the body, and other symptoms. This is a typical reaction in dogs that must go in the vehicle but don't like going on long drives or in dogs that are stressed out by too many kids at once. When your dog does this while you are petting them, it is a sign that they are not having fun.
7 - Feeling Pain
Your dog may draw its ears back to indicate that it is hurt or in discomfort. They act in this way out of concern about further harm. As was already said, it serves as a safeguard for them. The dog won't want its ears to be the next prey item when they are in discomfort. Dog ears have a lot of veins. They run the risk of bursting a blood vessel if they scrape too vigorously inside an ear flap. The flap will then become blood-filled and start to appear bloated, puffy, or pillowy. If that's the case, you must take your dog to a doctor.
Rarely, a serious ear infection in your dog may cause them to pull their ears back. It would be an excellent decision to visit the vet or get help if you cannot think of any other explanation for why they have reached this situation. If an ear infection is not treated, it may worsen. Additionally, a dog in continual agony may probably snap on you and bite. To make sure, have a veterinarian examine them. Ear drops can help lessen the itching sensation they experience. That lessens the possibility that they will hurt or damage their own ears as they scratch.
8 - Courting
One of the various ways a man can communicate interest in a woman through body language is by pulling his ears back when he is courting her. The act of drawing one's ears back is pretty straightforward, but the meaning isn't necessarily as clear in the end. Unfortunately, it is quite challenging for people to understand how dogs are feeling. Understanding canine body language is crucial if you want to accurately gauge your dog's mood and prevent conflicts when you engage with them.
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