Observe dogs

If you understand the dog’s habits, you will be able to better understand what it means. By observing, you will understand it naturally. Just as every person is unique, so is every dog.
Dogs’ language and expressions are subtle.
Learning to communicate with your dog can prevent the problem from getting worse. If its signs of stress and unhappiness are ignored, it will become more depressed.
This is a two-way understanding. Dogs also need to understand what your actions mean, so you should pay attention to your posture and movements.
A dog’s expression may be artificially limited. For example, some emotions cannot be seen in dogs whose ears or tails have been cropped.

Dogs will react to your eyes

If someone is staring directly at you, you will feel uncomfortable. Your dog may also feel confused or threatened if you stare directly at it. If your dog avoids your direct gaze, it is a sign of politeness and docility, and it is avoiding conflict.

Understand the basic social habits of dogs

Dogs are social animals and are born with a sense of hierarchy. Their behavior is related to their status in the group.
The more dogs you own, the more obvious this becomes. You have to figure out which of their actions belong to occupation, surrender, or challenge, in order to better understand and respond.
Use the Greek alphabet to represent the hierarchy of dogs within the group. α is the leader. You are supposed to be the leader, but some dogs think they are the leader.
The next levels are β, γ, δ, and so on, with the lowest level being ω.
If you have had a dog for several weeks, you will find that their play and daily habits have different meanings of occupation, surrender, and challenge. They are naturally wired to work hard to maintain their rank or move up, so even in a hierarchical group of dogs, you will find challenging behaviors.

Understand occupation and surrender

You can judge whether to train or repeat the training based on this. Don’t let your dog think he is the leader.
Rolling around and exposing its belly shows its respect for you. You can scratch its belly to increase its sense of presence and attachment.
Exposing the belly may also indicate resistance to a threat.
Crouching can indicate surrender or nervousness.
An arched back indicates stress, especially when a timid dog is wary of another aggressive animal. The dorsum is more difficult to deal with because it can also indicate occupation. It is necessary to carefully distinguish the meaning of this action and prevent the dog from jumping through training.
There are many other actions that indicate occupation, such as putting your head, chin or paws on another dog's neck or shoulders. It may also be accompanied by staring at other dogs or standing taller than them.
Dogs also use their tails to express occupation or surrender: their tails raised and shaking slightly indicate that they have encounteredChallenge, it expresses occupation; drooping tail and wagging rapidly, it is a sign of surrender.
A raised tail indicates confidence and excitement. Its level should be α.

Understand your dog’s body language

Understand your dog’s posture. A dog's posture can reveal emotions. Many of the actions are subtle and take some time to learn, but it's worth it.

A cheerful gesture. Dogs will use gestures to indicate that they want to play.
Confident stance: A confident dog will hold its chest out, lift its tail, and maybe shake it slowly, and its ears will stand up or relax, and the overall look will be relaxed. Pupils are smaller when relaxed.
Bow: Facing you, head lowered to the ground, front legs spread, butt and tail raised, an obvious invitation to play. Some owners mistakenly think that it wants to attack, but in fact it wants to play.
Wig your butt: This also means you want to play. For example, one dog waddles next to another dog and knocks the other dog down with his butt. If your dog faces you with its butt, it means it trusts you, or it may want you to scratch it. Wagging the butt indicates excitement and friendliness.
If the dog stretches its whole body, its buttocks are slightly raised, its legs and paws are stretched forward, and its head is on the ground, it means it is happy.
A dog touching your knees or other places with its paws indicates that it wants to attract your attention, wants something from you, or wants to play with you. This action developed from puppies asking for milk from their mother dogs, just like humans extending their hands to shake hands with others to express friendship.
Catching the air with paws is also a sign that the puppy wants to play.
If the dog’s tail is level with the body or slightly drooping, it means it feels safe.
If your dog’s tail is up and wagging rapidly, it means he is trying to play a joke on you or other dogs. It may also be an attempt to drive away other animals.
If your dog is looking at you and wagging its tail slowly, it means it is relaxed but ready to play with you.

Understand your dog’s discomfort

Pacing: Nervous, excited or bored. If your dog has been exercising or playing, you should look for signs of stress other than pacing.
Dogs will raise the hair on their neck and back when they feel threatened. This means it wants to appear more powerful. Not necessarily aggressive, but indicating that it is on high alert and ready to respond to threats. A frightened dog may bite, so be careful when the fur on your dog's back is raised. [16]
Dogs will curl up when they are scared and insecure. Curling up slightly indicates surrender or nervousness. Arching the back, bending the legs, drooping the tail (but not clamping the tail), and staring at something also indicate surrender or nervousness.
A dog with one paw extended and the rest of its body away from people, animals or other objects indicates uncertainty and confusion. The dog's head is tilted to one side, indicating that it is listening, or is unsure and waiting for more information.
The tail drooping slightly and wagging slowly indicates that the dog is confused, wants an explanation, or is testing a non-threatening thing.
If the dog’s tail droops slightly and remains still, it means that it is alert. The tail is drooping and not moving very much, indicating restlessness.
The tail droops and sways slightly, indicating unhappiness or discomfort.

Warning movements may lead to fights or attacks, and early detection can relieve tension
A dog’s tail hanging down and sandwiched between its legs indicates uneasiness, fear, and uncertainty. It may also sway slightly, which may be mistaken for happiness. It also indicates the need for protection.
The sudden movement of the dog may indicate that the dog wants to be left alone or is preparing to attack. [20] It is very common for dogs to hold bones in their mouths, so do not grab their bones.
If your dog leans forward and his movements are stiff, he may feel threatened. This behavior occurs when a dog encounters a threat or challenge. The tail is usually tucked or drooped and wagging in a panic.
When a dog is threatened, the white part of the eye will be obvious.
The dog showed aggression, but then shook its head and shoulders after a while, indicating that it was nervous at first and then relaxed after realizing that there was no danger.