Most people thought the dogs were playing based on body position and balance, tail carriage, the lack of tension in the face of the brown dog (no wrinkling on the muzzle), and the non-aggressive face of the dane and the fact that she’s not in a defensive posture.
So, to answer the question, here are some more photos of the interaction -
From these, you can clearly see that this is play, even though the brown dog has grabbed a bit of skin in the second shot. The Dane, who is a bitch about 15 mo old, has her teeth carefully protected by her lips, and neither dog is trying to get away from the interaction. Actually, it looks very much like a dance, with the brown dog taking the role of the friendly aggressor and the Dane as the “prey”, dodging and jumping in response to the other dog’s moves.
Here’s where I need to give a disclaimer. I’m a dog photographer, not a professionally trained canine behaviorist (although I am a PhD biologist). When I started taking photos at the local dog park just for fun, I was amazed to see the behavior of the dogs that had happened too quickly for me to follow by eye. There were lots of teeth, bulging eyes, and athletic moves that were really fascinating for me to see. It seemed to me that there was lots of information in these photos and that it would be useful to share them in some way. That’s how I came to start this “Fun or Fight” series.
If people find this interesting and useful, I’ll continue to develop it. Please let me know if you have any suggestions.
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2 comments
Thank you so much for sharing more of these two cuties playing!
Hi Carol have just come to your site via PDN photo of the day. You have some wonderful images here, very impressed!