Bodies Gallery

Happy, Confident, Comfortable

Affiliative/soliciting affection

Body is loose and bouncy

Curious and exploratory

Play bow

Jumping to greet

Weight balanced, tail wagging

Distressed, Scared, Insecure

Body shifted away from threat

Paw is raised

Hackles raised, weight forward

Frozen over a resource

Making self small

Tail is tucked

Examples of Distressed Barking

Examples of Not-Distressed Barking

For more videos and to learn more about barking click here. 

How to Tell if It's Playing or Fighting

Self-Handicapping (A.K.A. pulling their punches)
Role Reversals
​Meta-Signals
Play bows and Play face
Running with a bouncy gait
What Are They Doing? Play-fighting, play-fleeing, play-feeding, play-courting (Yes! Even humping!)

Pro-Social (A.K.A. "Friendly") Behavior