Understanding tail wagging: Decoding dog emotions beyond the wag

A dog wagging its tail is commonly perceived as happy. A behaviourist explained that assessing our pets' moods is more complicated.

Many studies have shown that four-legged friends have a beneficial impact on human mood. Owning a dog can reduce our loneliness, decrease stress and anxiety, and even lead to a longer life. Can we reciprocate? Every dog owner cares about their pet's well-being. How can we tell if we're succeeding? Are common signs of happiness, such as wagging tails or "giving kisses," indicators that dogs are happy?

The hosts of the podcast "Am I Doing It Wrong?" asked this in their conversation with Dr. Emily Levine, a certified veterinary behaviourist and owner of the Animal Behavior Clinic of New Jersey in the United States. Dr. Levine surprised the hosts by stating that tail wagging doesn't necessarily mean a dog is happy.

The behaviourist explained, "We have to look at more than the actual wag. You have to look at the rest of the dog’s body — you can’t just look at one body part to tell what they’re feeling because there are dogs who will, quote, ‘happily aggress.’" To determine whether this arousal is positive or negative, Dr. Levine advised looking at the overall body language of the dog and the context in which you observe it.

Dr. Levine stated, "I usually just tell people if you want to guarantee this means the dog is happy, their whole back is going back and forth, side to side. That — they’re happy." The behaviourist also suggested looking for a "dog smile" in our pets. She explained: "They sort of have their mouth halfway open with their tongue hanging out... and they just have loose body language."

It turned out that "dog kisses" are more complex than they might seem. The behaviourist explained, "Dogs can lick your face for different reasons. Sometimes they’re just super excited to see you — it’s their greeting. I read and hear a lot of people say 'kiss to dismiss’ — like [the dog] is just saying, ‘Please go away’ or ‘Don’t move further,’ but I don’t know that we know that. It’s a theory — I think more science has to be done on that, but licking can certainly be done as a positive thing, and I’m sure there are times when it can be not so positive. I think we have a lot to learn on that."

Dr. Levine concluded that the best thing dog owners can do is learn to read their pet's body language. She emphasized, "They’re constantly telling us how they feel. We just have to learn how to read it. We’re not born knowing that — no dog owner should feel guilty about not knowing how to read their dog. But there are lots of resources — body language videos and other resources — where you can learn how they are communicating."